Muslim members of Congress face spikes in death threats

[AProudLefty]

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., one of Congress’ highest-profile progressive members, said she worries for her children’s safety as her office is inundated with profanity-laced threats.

One of the few Muslim members of Congress told NBC News she feels her life may be in danger after being inundated with threats since a terror attack sparked the war in Gaza, reflecting wider fears among Muslim Americans who feel they are being targeted to a degree unseen since the days after 9/11.

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., whose family fled Somalia’s civil war before emigrating to the United States, unequivocally condemned the Hamas attack, but her longstanding criticism of Israel policy toward Palestinians and Washington’s support for the country has made her a lightning rod.

The U.S. Capitol Police and the House Sergeant at Arms briefed Omar and other progressive lawmakers critical of Israel — including the only other Muslim woman in Congress, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., who is Palestinian American — over potential threats last week, according to a Democratic aide familiar with the meeting.

Voicemails shared with NBC News include profanity-laced death threats calling Omar a “terrorist Muslim.” Another claimed a vigilante group spying on the congresswoman and “your children” had obtained “all your addresses and handed them out to rapists.”

“I’m from a militant group,” the male caller of a third voicemail claimed. “I can’t wait ‘till our group sees you one day and I can rip your f------ rag off your head... I hope the Israelis kill every f------ one of you.”

In a statement, Omar said she and other Muslim Americans have been victims of a “dishonest smear” that equates criticism of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians with support for Hamas, which has created an environment where threats proliferate.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/muslim-ilhan-omar-congress-spikes-death-threats-rcna121248

Also words have consequences. The congress people who have spewed vile hatred against the "Squad" should be held responsible. For example:

Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., has called them the “Jihad squad,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., dubbed them the “Hamas caucus,” and the official campaign arm of House Republicans has labeled the pair “Hamas spox,” Washington slang for spokesperson.

Oh my! That's Ultra Ugly!

This is all racist Ultra MAGA doing.

 

[Dutch Uncle]

...https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/muslim-ilhan-omar-congress-spikes-death-threats-rcna121248

Also words have consequences. The congress people who have spewed vile hatred against the "Squad" should be held responsible. For example:

Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., has called them the “Jihad squad,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., dubbed them the “Hamas caucus,” and the official campaign arm of House Republicans has labeled the pair “Hamas spox,” Washington slang for spokesperson.

Oh my! That's Ultra Ugly!

This is all racist Ultra MAGA doing.

Political extremism is always overly emotional, often filled with hate and people willing to commit violent, criminal acts for their beliefs.*

That said, Omar has long been guilty of antisemitic remarks. So much so that the Democrats thought about taking action against her as noted in the link below. Also note that the Republicans are not without their Islamophobes also spreading hate and bigotry:

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/3/6/18251639/ilhan-omar-israel-anti-semitism-jews
The Ilhan Omar anti-Semitism controversy, explained
Why her comments about “allegiance” to Israel created such a firestorm — and why it all matters.

The long-simmering controversy over Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN)’s heated language on Israel has reached a boiling point — with House Democrats weighing a plan to vote on a resolution clearly designed to punish one of their own rising stars.

Omar had already stirred controversy with comments last month attributing pro-Israel sentiment to the financial clout of the pro-Israel lobby. Then last week, she spoke about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on a panel with Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), who, like Omar, is a first-term member of Congress and a Muslim.

“I want to talk about the political influence in this country that says it is okay to push for allegiance to a foreign country,” Omar said as part of a discussion about past anti-Semitism allegations lobbed at her.

In full context, Omar doesn’t explicitly identify who or what this “political influence” is coming from other than the pro-Israel lobbying community in general. But given her previous comments, the latest remarks struck many observers as playing into well-worn anti-Semitic tropes about Jewish attachments to Israel making them disloyal to the United States. Some were no longer inclined to give her the benefit of the doubt. On Monday, House Democrats unveiled plans to vote on a resolution condemning anti-Semitism that reads as a clear rebuke of Omar personally, criticizing the “insidious, bigoted history” of “accusations of dual loyalty.”...

...t’s true that Omar’s comments on Israel keep falling into well-worn anti-Semitic tropes — and her defenders often prove too willing to paper this over and dismiss criticism from even progressive Jews as “smears.”

It’s also the case that Republican officials frequently call on anti-Semitic tropes and say worse about other minority groups without nearly so much bipartisan condemnation. Pushing for a House vote on anti-Semitism really did feel like unfairly singling out Omar — and whitewashing the GOP’s record in the process. That’s why progressives rallied to Omar’s defense, and why the Democratic leadership has been forced to reconsider its initial resolution.

In short, the entire situation is a mess — and an example of how difficult it is for Democrats to carry on an important conversation about anti-Semitism on the left without downplaying the far more pressing problem of anti-Semitism on the right.

*IMO, politics and religion do not make people violent or crazy, but violent and/or crazy people are drawn to the extremes of both to justify their actions.

 

[ExpressLane]

Meanwhile Talib's hate speech rhetoric may have caused an actual murder of a Detroit Jewish woman.

 

[Yakuda]

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., one of Congress’ highest-profile progressive members, said she worries for her children’s safety as her office is inundated with profanity-laced threats.

One of the few Muslim members of Congress told NBC News she feels her life may be in danger after being inundated with threats since a terror attack sparked the war in Gaza, reflecting wider fears among Muslim Americans who feel they are being targeted to a degree unseen since the days after 9/11.

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., whose family fled Somalia’s civil war before emigrating to the United States, unequivocally condemned the Hamas attack, but her longstanding criticism of Israel policy toward Palestinians and Washington’s support for the country has made her a lightning rod.

The U.S. Capitol Police and the House Sergeant at Arms briefed Omar and other progressive lawmakers critical of Israel — including the only other Muslim woman in Congress, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., who is Palestinian American — over potential threats last week, according to a Democratic aide familiar with the meeting.

Voicemails shared with NBC News include profanity-laced death threats calling Omar a “terrorist Muslim.” Another claimed a vigilante group spying on the congresswoman and “your children” had obtained “all your addresses and handed them out to rapists.”

“I’m from a militant group,” the male caller of a third voicemail claimed. “I can’t wait ‘till our group sees you one day and I can rip your f------ rag off your head... I hope the Israelis kill every f------ one of you.”

In a statement, Omar said she and other Muslim Americans have been victims of a “dishonest smear” that equates criticism of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians with support for Hamas, which has created an environment where threats proliferate.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/muslim-ilhan-omar-congress-spikes-death-threats-rcna121248

Also words have consequences. The congress people who have spewed vile hatred against the "Squad" should be held responsible. For example:

Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., has called them the “Jihad squad,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., dubbed them the “Hamas caucus,” and the official campaign arm of House Republicans has labeled the pair “Hamas spox,” Washington slang for spokesperson.

Oh my! That's Ultra Ugly!

This is all racist Ultra MAGA doing.

So lets see if I understand this correctly, the towelhead believes hamas was justified in killing innocent Jews because Israel is mean to Palestinians but she should be able to say whatever she wants and no one should have anything to say about it.

 

[Dutch Uncle]

Meanwhile Talib's hate speech rhetoric may have caused an actual murder of a Detroit Jewish woman.

Just like Trumper Islamophobia may have caused the actual murder of a six-year-old boy and his mother severely injured?

 

[BartenderElite]

So lets see if I understand this correctly, the towelhead believes hamas was justified in killing innocent Jews because Israel is mean to Palestinians but she should be able to say whatever she wants and no one should have anything to say about it.

You've gotta be kidding me.

 

[NiftyNiblick]

So lets see if I understand this correctly, the towelhead believes hamas was justified in killing innocent Jews because Israel is mean to Palestinians but she should be able to say whatever she wants and no one should have anything to say about it.

I don't like her either, but unless I'm mistaken, she ran against a Republican.

 

[volsrock]

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., one of Congress’ highest-profile progressive members, said she worries for her children’s safety as her office is inundated with profanity-laced threats.

One of the few Muslim members of Congress told NBC News she feels her life may be in danger after being inundated with threats since a terror attack sparked the war in Gaza, reflecting wider fears among Muslim Americans who feel they are being targeted to a degree unseen since the days after 9/11.

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., whose family fled Somalia’s civil war before emigrating to the United States, unequivocally condemned the Hamas attack, but her longstanding criticism of Israel policy toward Palestinians and Washington’s support for the country has made her a lightning rod.

The U.S. Capitol Police and the House Sergeant at Arms briefed Omar and other progressive lawmakers critical of Israel — including the only other Muslim woman in Congress, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., who is Palestinian American — over potential threats last week, according to a Democratic aide familiar with the meeting.

Voicemails shared with NBC News include profanity-laced death threats calling Omar a “terrorist Muslim.” Another claimed a vigilante group spying on the congresswoman and “your children” had obtained “all your addresses and handed them out to rapists.”

“I’m from a militant group,” the male caller of a third voicemail claimed. “I can’t wait ‘till our group sees you one day and I can rip your f------ rag off your head... I hope the Israelis kill every f------ one of you.”

In a statement, Omar said she and other Muslim Americans have been victims of a “dishonest smear” that equates criticism of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians with support for Hamas, which has created an environment where threats proliferate.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/muslim-ilhan-omar-congress-spikes-death-threats-rcna121248

Also words have consequences. The congress people who have spewed vile hatred against the "Squad" should be held responsible. For example:

Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., has called them the “Jihad squad,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., dubbed them the “Hamas caucus,” and the official campaign arm of House Republicans has labeled the pair “Hamas spox,” Washington slang for spokesperson.

Oh my! That's Ultra Ugly!

This is all racist Ultra MAGA doing.

She can go to Gaza

 

[Nordberg]

Meanwhile Talib's hate speech rhetoric may have caused an actual murder of a Detroit Jewish woman.

Wow. The Detroit cops said they have no idea who killed her or why. They should talk to you, you have it figured out.

 

[domer76]

Meanwhile Talib's hate speech rhetoric may have caused an actual murder of a Detroit Jewish woman.

Meanwhile, Trump’s rhetoric caused J6, threats against poll workers and even against Congressmen. No “may have” about it.

You’re merely guessing about Detroit. No surprises there.

 

[TOP]

Wow. The Detroit cops said they have no idea who killed her or why. They should talk to you, you have it figured out.

Let's hope they come up with an idea soon...very strange timing that such a beloved leader would lose her life so violently...right in front of her home...with no clues? I hope that transparency isn't being avoided because of the sensitivity of the situation....that would just be so wrong...

 

[NiftyNiblick]

Just like Trumper Islamophobia may have caused the actual murder of a six-year-old boy and his mother severely injured?

Short of getting an order from a superior officer or a mob boss,

shooting off one's mouth shouldn't precipitate a murder.

Our citizenry is heavily diseased with highly deficient members.

Has anyone a solution for that?

 

[Yakuda]

You've gotta be kidding me.

Nope. You can act stunned all you like but if beheaded babies doesn't bother you then threats to the towelhead don't bother me.

 

[PostmodernProphet]

all of them or just the ones accusing Israel of causing this situation?......

 

[PostmodernProphet]

Meanwhile, Trump’s rhetoric caused J6, threats against poll workers and even against Congressmen. No “may have” about it.

You’re merely guessing about Detroit. No surprises there.

are you trying to equate your lies against his.....doesn't that mean you've both lost?......

 

[PostmodernProphet]

Nope. You can act stunned all you like but if beheaded babies doesn't bother you then threats to the towelhead don't bother me.

I can see the logic of that.....

 

[Yakuda]

I can see the logic of that.....

LMFAO I admit it's not my best sentence. It's rather simple though, talib and omar say Hamas is justified in their actions based on the behavior of the Israelis. If that's the case then people threatening them would be justified based on their behavior. I'm getting tired of leftists demand for a double standard.

 

[Dutch Uncle]

Short of getting an order from a superior officer or a mob boss,

shooting off one's mouth shouldn't precipitate a murder.

Our citizenry is heavily diseased with highly deficient members.

Has anyone a solution for that?

...or from an elected Federal representative. On 1/6, Trump and the others who spoke, were not "a superior officer or a mob boss"...although the argument could be made that Donnie is a wannabe Mob boss.

Disagreed that political rhetoric from political leaders can't precipitate murder.

That's one of the reasons such talk results in murders; mentally ill wackos.

Better mental health care and legislation to back it up.

 

[Dutch Uncle]

LMFAO I admit it's not my best sentence. It's rather simple though, talib and omar say Hamas is justified in their actions based on the behavior of the Israelis. If that's the case then people threatening them would be justified based on their behavior. I'm getting tired of leftists demand for a double standard.

Agreed those who call for a double standard are tiresome, but the Leftists are not the only ones doing it, Yak.

 

[RB 60]

Meanwhile, Trump’s rhetoric caused J6, threats against poll workers and even against Congressmen. No “may have” about it.

You’re merely guessing about Detroit. No surprises there.

A little "off topic," aren't you?