by Liora Rez
All eyes are on Minnesota, now that Vice President Harris has picked Governor Tim Walz to be her running mate in November. But that is not the only North Star State race voters should be watching.
Unbeknownst to many, Minnesota has an open primary system. This means that, according to Ballotpedia, “a voter can participate in the party primary of his or her choice.” Whether residents of the district are Republicans, Independents, or Democrats they can all vote in the Ilhan Omar primary on August 13th.
StopAntisemitism has been monitoring Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05) for over five years. She has achieved the dubious “honor” of being named our Antisemite of the Week, and, in 2019, was voted as the Antisemite of the Year.
Congresswoman Omar has repeatedly promoted antisemitic tropes. On Twitter she claimed that “Israel has hypnotized the world” and is guilty of “evil doings,” and maintained that Jews use nefarious means to control the government. These actions earned her condemnation from members of both parties, even under former Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Last year, her bias against Israel caused her to be removed from the House Foreign Affairs Committee. And this year, again, a colleague had introduced a resolution to censure Rep. Omar for referring to Jewish students as “pro-genocide.”
Yet when it comes to actual genocidal terrorists, Omar refuses to condemn their atrocities. She was one of just 10 House members, and the only one from Minnesota, to vote against a resolution, which, in the immediate aftermath of the October 7 massacre, reaffirmed Israel’s right to self-defense and condemned “Hamas’ brutal war against Israel.” And, when it comes to the horrific September 11 attack on the United States, Rep. Omar shockingly described it as “some people did something.”
In addition, she has likened Israel and the United States to terrorists who commit atrocities, tweeting “we have seen unthinkable atrocities committed by the U.S., Hamas, Israel, Afghanistan, and the Taliban.” This, too, earned her condemnation from fellow House Democrats who declared, “Ignoring the differences between democracies governed by the rule of law and contemptible organizations that engage in terrorism at best discredits one’s intended argument and at worst reflects deep-seated prejudice.” Her record indicates not only antisemitic deep-seated prejudice, but also horrifying anti-American sentiment.
Every decent American should be outraged that a bigot like Ilhan Omar sits in the United States Congress. And many are. Millions of Americans are appalled that a person who believes America is no better than the Taliban and that September 11 was anything less than a uniquely evil act has the power to influence American law and policy. But only the residents of Minnesota’s fifth Congressional District can actually do something about it!
Thankfully, in the United States, we have the right to vote for our representatives. And because of Minnesota’s open primary system, all citizens of conscience in Omar’s district—whether they be Democrats, Republicans, or Independents—can go to the polls on August 13th, get a Democratic primary ballot, and cast it against this embarrassing Member of Congress. Everyone can do their part to ensure anti American values are off the ballot in the general election.
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Liora Rez is the Founder and Executive Director of StopAntisemitism, a grassroots watchdog organization. Follow them on X @StopAntisemites.
Photo “Rep. Ilhan Omar” by Rep. Ilhan Omar and “US Capitol” is by DiegoCue CC3.0.
