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Ilhan Omar attacks Sen. Blackburn's 'dangerous stance' on Columbia protesters

 
 US Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN) is seen in Statuary Hall ahead of U.S. President Joe Biden’s State of the Union Address in Washington, US, February 7, 2023. (photo credit: REUTERS/ELIZABETH FRANTZ)
US Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN) is seen in Statuary Hall ahead of U.S. President Joe Biden’s State of the Union Address in Washington, US, February 7, 2023.
(photo credit: REUTERS/ELIZABETH FRANTZ)

Ilhan Omar criticized Senator Marsh Blackburn's stance that students encouraging or committing acts of terror on behalf of Hamas should be put on a watch list and a No Fly List.

United States Rep. Ilhan Omar, in a Tuesday X post, critiqued Senator Marsha Blackburn’s stance that students encouraging or committing acts of terror on behalf of Hamas should be put on both a terrorism watchlist and the US’s No Fly List.

Blackburn posted on X that “any student who has promoted terrorism or engaged in terrorist acts should be immediately added to the terrorist watchlist and placed on the TSA No Fly List.”

In response to the post, Omar wrote, “A sitting senator labels Americans protesting against a foreign country accused of carrying out a genocide funded with our tax dollars as terrorists and puts a target on their back to be attacked. This is insanely dangerous and somehow no one will condemn it.”

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Hamas is a registered terrorist organization in the United States.

 U.S. Democratic House Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN) visits the student protest encampment as protests continue at Columbia University, during the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in New York City, U.S., April 25, 2024. (credit: REUTERS/CAITLIN OCHS)
U.S. Democratic House Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN) visits the student protest encampment as protests continue at Columbia University, during the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in New York City, U.S., April 25, 2024. (credit: REUTERS/CAITLIN OCHS)

A precursory look at Blackburn’s past X posts showed that the senator regularly criticized the violence at pro-Palestinian protests and the hostile rhetoric expressed during such events but also that none of her posts labeled all pro-Palestinian protesters as terrorists.


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Further, Blackburn had expressed similar remarks in the past to those that she had made about the watchlist. For instance, she called to “deport foreign students on visas who support Hamas and call for death to America.”

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Ilhan Omar’s history of controversial statements  

Commenting on the topic of campus protests last Friday, Omar referred to Jewish students as either “pro-genocide or anti-genocide” in reference to Jews who supported or condemned the State of Israel.

Omar’s remarks about Jewish students came while visiting Columbia University, a campus that has seen a number of violent protests and pro-Palestinian encampments occupy student spaces – incidents that are still unfolding.

Notably, Israel was found not guilty of committing genocide by the International Criminal Court of Justice, despite accusations by pro-Palestinian figures.

In 2021, Omar grouped together the United States and Israel with the Taliban and Hamas, causing controversy within her own party. She later defended the comparison.   

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