(USA Features) Democratic House leaders took one of their own members to task over her “false equivalencies” in comparing the U.S. and Israel to Hamas and the Taliban.
On Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland, Majority Whip Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, Assistant Speaker Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries of New York, and Vice Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar of California admonished Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota for recent statements suggesting that Western democracies were on the same level as terrorist organizations.
“Legitimate criticism of the policies of both the United States and Israel is protected by the values of free speech and democratic debate. And indeed, such criticism is essential to the strength and health of our democracies,” the leaders wrote.
🚨Statement from pelosis leadership team on
— Jake Sherman
“But drawing false equivalencies between democracies like the U.S. and Israel and groups that engage in terrorism like Hamas and the Taliban foments prejudice and undermines progress toward a future of peace and security for all,” they added.
“We welcome the clarification by Congresswoman Omar that there is no moral equivalency between the U.S. and Israel and Hamas and the Taliban.”
During the brief war between Israel and Hamas last month, Omar took to Twitter to accuse Israel of committing “crimes against humanity.”
“The United States should not stand idly by while crimes against humanity are being committed with our backing,” she tweeted with a “statement on proposed arms sale to Israel amidst escalating violence and human rights abuses in Gaza.”
And this month, Omar directly accused the U.S. and Israel of being on the same level as Hamas and the Taliban.
“We have seen unthinkable atrocities committed by the U.S., Hamas, Israel, Afghanistan, and the Taliban,” she wrote in a tweet containing video of her questioning Secretary of State Antony Blinken during House testimony.