“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 Democratic leadership team said in its statement.
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“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, the statement adds.
In her clarification, Omar, a progressive Minnesota Democrat and one of the first Muslim women elected to Congress, explained that her original comments had focused on ongoing International Criminal Court probes “not a moral comparison between Hamas and the Taliban and the U.S. and Israel.
House progressives rallied behind Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) on Thursday as she sought to clarify that her discussion of alleged international human rights abuses wasn’t drawing false equivalence between the U.S.