Top Republican swipe at ‘pro-terrorist’ Ilhan Omar after Squad member rounded up anti-Israel students at University of Minnesota and demanded information on school protocol to protect Jewish students
Whip Tom Emmer wrote a letter to the University of Minnesota demanding the administration explain how it will protect Jewish students from a wave of pro-Gaza protests that have at times turned anti-Semitic.
Demonstrations by fiery young progressives have spread across the country this week, including at the University of Minnesota, where Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., appeared in solidarity with protesters. The House GOP whip lashed out at his Minnesota colleague.
‘Representative. Ilhan Omar’s recent comments at the University of Minnesota should be seen for what they are: the total embrace and encouragement of pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic protests across the country,” Emmer said in a statement to DailyMail.com.
“Jewish students at the U of M deserve to know they are safe on campus. That’s why I’m making sure the university does everything it can to avoid becoming the next Columbia.”
Whip Tom Emmer wrote a letter to the University of Minnesota demanding the administration explain how it will protect Jewish students from a wave of pro-Gaza protests that have at times turned anti-Semitic
Omar was expelled from the Foreign Affairs Committee last year because of posts on X that invoked anti-Semitic tropes. Earlier this year, Emmer called for an ethics investigation into Omar over her controversial “Somalia first” comment.
Emmer accused Omar of “publicly praising the actions of the students who created a hostile and anti-Semitic campus for Jewish students.”
“We see students justifying their unlawful and non-compliant campus activities as an exercise of their First Amendment rights, which is not the case,” Emmer continued.
Omar represents Minnesota’s Fifth District, where the university is located in Minneapolis.
The House of Representatives’ number three Republican noted that the protests in Columbia had turned violent at times, with some students chanting “Jews, Jews go back to Poland” and “Hamas we love you.” We also support your missiles.’
“Unfortunately, students at the University of Minnesota have taken inspiration from the protests at Columbia University and have repeated similar anti-Semitic activities,” Emmer said.
Students in Minnesota shouted the pro-Palestinian rallying cry “From the river to the sea Palestine will be free” while carrying a flag of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a US-designated terrorist group.
Hundreds of people gathered on the University of Minnesota campus on Tuesday, April 23, 2024, to protest Israel’s war with Hamas
. Earlier in the day, nine anti-war protesters were arrested as police demolished an encampment that organizers said had been set up to show solidarity with the people of Gaza and Palestine.
Emmer asked the university to announce its protocol for protecting Jewish students from the rise of anti-Semitism since October 7, its tools to “de-escalate” if protests turn violent and what the disciplinary measures will be for students living in the encampment have been arrested.
He said he was “pleased” to see that the university “does not take this unlawful behavior lightly,” but noted that “this has not deterred protesters and the threat of escalation remains.”
“Columbia University allowed their ‘Gaza Solidarity Camp’ to escalate to the point where they had to move to hybrid classes. Does the University of Minnesota plan to take drastic measures, such as online learning, if things continue to escalate?” he asked.
Omar appeared in Minnesota on Tuesday evening, hours after university police arrested nine who had set up camp near the campus library and ignored police warnings to disperse. Hundreds had gathered to demand their release.
The Minnesota Democrat praised the student activists for “putting your bodies on the line to end the genocide in Gaza.”
She railed against President Joe Biden and all elected leaders who have condemned anti-Semitism at such protests for not focusing more on the 300 Palestinian bodies now found in a mass grave at a hospital in Khan Younis.
“It’s been incredibly painful over the last five days to watch as a mass grave is discovered…that our media, our elected politicians, our president, every elected leader is spending time and energy talking about the protests as if you are here not all to give voice to the genocide taking place in Gaza.’
The congresswoman then headed to Columbia University in New York City, where her daughter, a 21-year-old student there, said she was left homeless and without food after a suspension and an arrest for her involvement.
Omar’s daughter Isra Hirsi, 21, was among 100 pro-Palestinian protesters arrested at Columbia University on Thursday.
Omar praised the protesters arrested along with her daughter as “brave and patriotic students” who did not stand up on my time, are you going to invest in state complacency and genocide, not under my watch, are you going to forget that 34,000 people were killed in Gaza? slaughtered… to use our tax dollars to make possible the largest number of children killed in war in a decade.”
The congressman was one of 37 Democrats who voted against Israeli aid this weekend as the Palestinian death toll in Gaza surpassed 34,000 since October 7.
During an appearance at her daughter’s campus in New York, Omar toured Columbia’s Gaza encampments, which have become the epicenter of a nationwide movement.
“I had the honor of seeing Columbia University’s anti-war encampment with my own eyes,” Omar posted on X after her visit.
“In contrast to the right-wing attacks, these students are joyfully protesting for peace and an end to the genocide taking place in Gaza. I am in awe of their bravery and courage.”
The students largely demand that their universities get rid of arms manufacturers that supply weapons to Israel
Protests at other institutions have descended into such chaos that the University of Southern California canceled its “main stage” opening ceremony and arrested 97 protesters.
About 108 were arrested Wednesday evening at Boston’s Emerson College, and protest camps have sprung up at universities including Harvard, Brown, the University of Michigan, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt.
On Wednesday, a group of New York House Republicans led by Speaker Mike Johnson traveled to Columbia’s campus in solidarity with Jewish students — and called on President Minouche Shafik to resign if she cannot restore order to the campus.
Johnson was met with cheers and boos of “go home Mike!” and ‘Mike, you’re bad.’
The speaker denounced the “anti-Semites” who are “gnashing their teeth and demanding that the State of Israel be wiped off the map and our innocent Jewish students be attacked.”
Despite the outcry from student activists, Johnson persevered.
“Things have gotten so out of hand that the school has canceled in-person classes and now they’ve come up with this hybrid model where they’re going to discriminate against Jewish students. They are no longer allowed to come to class for fear of their lives,” he said. “And it is reprehensible, as Columbia has allowed these lawless agitators and radicals to take power.”