Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib Introduce Bill Supporting Antisemitic BDS after Condemning Trump as ‘Racist’

Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib (Carolyn Kaster / Associated Press)
Carolyn Kaster / Associated Press
Aaron Klein

NEW YORK — Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib introduced a resolution today aimed at supporting the antisemitic Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which targets the Middle East’s only democracy.

The extremist legislation comes one day after the Democrat-controlled House passed a resolution claiming that President Trump made “racist comments” about four far-left Democratic congresswomen, including Omar and Tliab, known for their controversial remarks about the U.S.

“We are introducing a resolution … to really speak about the American values that support and believe in our ability to exercise our first amendment rights in regard to boycotting,” Omar told Al-Monitor. “And it is an opportunity for us to explain why it is we support a nonviolent movement, which is the BDS movement.”

At a House hearing on Tuesday about the resolution, Omar went so far as to compare boycott movements like the anti-Israel BDS campaign to the Boston Tea Party.

The text of the resolution makes a similar comparison, stating, “Boycotts have been effectively used in the United States by advocates for equal rights since the Boston Tea Party.”

In her speech about the resolution, Omar likened Israel, which goes to extreme lengths to minimize civilian casualties, to Hamas, a terrorist group which deliberately targets civilians and routinely utilizes civilians as human shields. Omar stated that she condemns “in the strongest terms violence that perpetuates the occupation whether it is perpetuated by Israel, Hamas or individuals.”

The BDS movement tweeted that it “warmly welcomes” Omar’s resolution.

The resolution itself, H.R. 496, does not explicitly state that it supports BDS, but Omar openly touted the legislation as intending to do just that. The text says it opposes “unconstitutional legislative efforts to limit the use of boycotts to further civil rights at home and abroad,” and “urges Congress, States, and civil rights leaders from all communities to endeavor to preserve the freedom of advocacy for all by opposing anti-boycott resolutions and legislation.”

Rep. Lee Zeldin slammed Omar for “propping up the BDS movement and blaming Israel for all of its challenges.”

Omar’s anti-Israel sentiment is routinely coupled with comments criticizing the U.S. Speaking last weekend at the radical Netroots Nation conference, Omar mocked the very idea of “America the Great” and said she is “ashamed” of the U.S. “continuing to live in its hypocrisy.”

“There is something that I get criticized for all the time—it’s not what you think—so don’t, like, don’t gasp,” Omar said at the Netroots Nation event. “It is that I am anti-American because I criticize the United States.

“And because I am ashamed of it continuing to live in its hypocrisy that I work so hard to make sure that others who’ve had that, like, why, just be American,” she said. “Why don’t you be more like an American, can just continue to say that. Why can’t you be more like an American? It used to be a very positive thing.

“We export American exceptionalism,” Omar continued. “The Great America. The land of liberty and justice. That is, you know, you ask anybody in, walking on the side of the street somewhere in the middle of the world, they will tell you America the Great.”

“But we don’t live those values here,” Omar stated.

“And, so, that hypocrisy is one that I am bothered by,” she said. “I want America the Great to be America the Great.”

Trump has repeatedly defended his tweet clearly referring to Omar, Tlaib, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ayanna Pressley, advocating that the controversial, extreme left politicians can “go backand help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.”

Trump doubled down on Tuesday, saying, “Go wherever they want, or they can stay. But they should love our country.”

“They shouldn’t hate our country. You look at what they’ve said, I have clips right here — the most vile, horrible statements about our country, about Israel, about others. Uh, it’s up to them. They can do what they want. They can leave they can stay but they should love our country and they should work for the good of our country.”

He tripled down today and criticized “the vicious young Socialist Congresswomen.”

Aaron Klein is Breitbart’s Jerusalem bureau chief and senior investigative reporter. He is a New York Times bestselling author and hosts the popular weekend talk radio program, “Aaron Klein Investigative Radio.” Follow him on Twitter @AaronKleinShow. Follow him on Facebook.

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