Anti-semitic remarks: US ousts Omar Ilhan from powerful committee

Washington: US Congresswoman and Democrat Ilhan Omar has been ousted from a powerful committee alleging anti-semitic comments. The US House of Representatives voted for the same on Thursday.

Omar, a former refugee from Somalia, is the third Democrat to be removed from the committee assignments by the Republicans. Her removal was based on her critical comments on Israel in 2012.

During her floor speech ahead of her removal, the 40-year-old said that she is a Muslim, an immigrant and "interestingly" from Africa. She wondered if anyone was surprised that she was being targeted and deemed unworthy to speak about American foreign policy.

"I am a Muslim, I'm an immigrant, and, interestingly, I'm from Africa. Is anyone surprised that I'm being targeted? Is anyone surprised that I am somehow deemed unworthy to speak about American foreign policy?" Agence France-Presse quoted Omar.

The voting came after Speaker and a top Republican in Congress, Kevin McCarthy, made a campaign promise of denying seats to the Intelligence Committee to Adam Schiff, the panel's last Democratic chairman, and Eric Swalwell, Agence France-Presse reported.

Omar had alleged that Republicans support Israel after receiving donations from a pro-Israeli lobby group. In 2019, she apologised for the statement. Before that, she had alleged that Israel had hypnotised the world and urged people to recognise the nation's evil doings.

Ahead of the voting, Democratic minority leader Hakeem Jeffries said that Omar's comments were dealt with already and added that the ouster was not about accountability but political revenge.

Based on AFP report