Eleven pro-Israel organizations on Monday delivered a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot Engel calling for the immediate removal of Rep. Ilhan Omar from the Committee in light of her recent keynote address seeking to raise funds for Islamic Relief USA, an organization that has documented ties to terrorist organizations, the Endowment for Middle East Truth (EMET) reported. EMET is one of the signatories.
The 11 groups wrote:
“Speaker Pelosi, you demonstrated wisdom and leadership in rebuking Rep. Omar on February 11 following her use of anti-Semitic stereotypes, and Chairman Engel, your reaction to the classic anti-Semitic trope of the charge of “dual loyalty” about American Jews, that Rep. Omar uttered this weekend at a Washington establishment, was highly appropriate, and we applaud you both for that.
“We hope you will continue to demonstrate your commitment to the high moral standards of your office by removing Rep. Omar, a woman who has repeatedly exhibited strong biases against the State of Israel and the Jewish people, from this critically important and sensitive committee.
The pro-Israel groups told Speaker Pelosi that Omar’s appearance before Islamic Relief USA had shocked US Jews because both the UAE and Israel designated the group as a terrorist organization many years ago.
“Rep. Omar’s presence as a keynote speaker to raise funds for Islamic Relief USA, whose parent organization and chapters have documented ties to terrorist organizations, demonstrates that she has learned next to nothing over the last few weeks when she was reprimanded by your office and by other Democrats for posting ugly, anti-Semitic attacks on Jews and their organizations,” they wrote, adding:
“Islamic Relief’s ties to terrorist organizations are well established. The United Arab Emirates in 2014 designated Islamic Relief as a terrorist organization with ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.
“In 2016 the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency reported Haytham Rahmeh, a former imam of Stockholm’s mosque, “was long active in Islamic Relief, but in recent years he has been involved in supporting militias linked to the Muslim Brotherhood in the war in Syria through lobbying and weapons purchases.”
“Bangladesh relief authorities in 2017 banned Islamic Relief workers from assisting Rohingya Muslim refugees for fears of Islamic radicalization.”
“We hope you will continue to demonstrate your commitment to the high moral standards of your office by removing Rep. Omar, a woman who has repeatedly exhibited strong biases against the State of Israel and the Jewish people, from this critically important and sensitive committee,” the letter said, citing the late Tom Lantos, the beloved Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee—and Holocaust survivor—who used to say, “The veneer of civilization is paper-thin.”
“We therefore respectfully request that Congresswoman Omar be removed, immediately, from the sensitive work of the House Foreign Affairs Committee,” the letter to Pelosi concluded.