We were extremely disturbed that the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, gave huge honour and respect to Congresswoman Ilhan Omar when she visited London this week.
Ilhan Omar has served Minnesota’s fifth congressional district since 2019 and is part of “The Squad” – a group of six Democratic members of the House of Representatives who have been described as being the most progressive and left-wing members of Congress.
She has in the past been accused multiple times of antisemitism, after using inciteful and racist language when describing Jews living in Israel.
Some of her previous statements include “Israel has hypnotised the world, may Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel.”
Omar has also suggested that Jewish people “buy” political support. She once tweeted: “It’s all about the Benjamins baby”, referencing a song about a $100 bill and AIPAC, the pro-Israeli lobbying group.
It was not a surprise that Ilhan Omar also met with Conservative peer Baroness Sayeeda Warsi and Labour MPs Naz Shah, Zarah Sultana and Sarah Owen, all of whom have been extremely critical of Israel and Jewish people in the past.
Warsi has previously opined that British Jews who volunteer for the Israeli Defence Force should be prosecuted as though they had been fighting for genocidal terrorist groups such as ISIS.
Shah suggested that Jews should be deported from Israel to America and Sultana and Owen have a long history of inflammatory remarks against Jewish people.
London’s Mayor, Sadiq Khan, should have been aware of this and therefore should NOT be embracing Ilhan Omar and describing her on his twitter account as “upholding progressive values of equality and inclusion in the face of those who seek to divide us”.
She may be “upholding progressive values” but when she talks about “inclusion”, she has demonstrated on many occasions that she does not include Jews. It is Omar and her brand of politics that is “dividing,” and we are extremely disappointed that Mayor Khan chose to laud Ilhan Omar as he did.
We advocate zero tolerance for any form of racism which includes all forms of antisemitism and the demonisation of Israel.
END
For further information or additional comment:
Email: Press@NJA.org.uk Telephone: 020 7289 2323
National Jewish Assembly website: www.nja.org.uk
