Ilhan Omar, the First Refugee Black Veiled Muslim Female to Be Member of US Congress
Ilhan Omar won the Minnesota House of Representatives elections in 2018, becoming one of the first two Muslim women elected to the US Congress.
She is the first female congressional representative to wear a headscarf. Her family's origins are in Somalia, and she has sought asylum in the United States.
Ilhan has faced racist attacks because of her Islam, and was accused by Laura Lommer, a far-right journalist, of being linked to "Muslim terrorists."
"When people ask me who my biggest competitor is, I don't mention names, I tell them it's Islamophobia, racism, xenophobia and misogyny, we can't let the bearers of these ideas win," says Ilhan.
Commenting on her achievement, Ilhan Omar said, "I am proud to be the first refugee elected to Congress, and one of the first Muslim women to be elected to Congress. We are working to protect the families of immigrants, their neighbors and their children, to defend our planet and defend minorities."
Early Childhood
Omar was born on October 4, 1982, in Mogadishu, Somalia. Her mother passed away when Omar, the youngest of seven children, was 2. After this loss, her father, sisters and aunts took care of her. Omar grew up at her middle-class family's compound in Mogadishu, where her grandfather didn't enforce traditional gender roles.
Omar's childhood was upended by Somalia's civil war. When she was 8, her family fled the country. They ended up living at a refugee camp in Kenya for four years.
Omar and her family were granted asylum in the United States in 1995. The family first settled in Virginia, where Omar confronted bullies while attending middle school.
When she arrived, Omar could read some English but couldn't speak it. One tool her family used to get up to speed conversationally was watching reruns of Baywatch.
She excelled and learned English within three months, and during her studies she worked as a translator when she was only 14.
Omar moved to Minnesota in 1997. Her family settled in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood of Minneapolis, which is home to many Somali immigrants. Her father drove a taxi before getting a job with the post office. She became a U.S. citizen in 2000 at the age of 17.
Omar went to Minneapolis's Edison High School and graduated from North Dakota State University in 2011.
Ilhan’s Political Career
She graduated from the College of Political Science and International Studies at the University of North Dakota, USA, in 2011.
She began her career as a nutrition educator at the University of Minnesota from 2006-2009.
After her studies, she served as campaign manager for Kari Dzidzic's re-election to the Minnesota Senate for the year 2012.
Then she worked as a child nutrition awareness coordinator in the Ministry of Education between 2012-2013.
In 2013, she campaigned for candidate Andrew Johnson for the Minneapolis City Council. After the latter's victory, she worked as his political assistant to him.
Omar was attacked by five people in late 2015 the day before she attended one of her party conferences.
In 2015, she became Director of Policy and Initiatives for the Women's Organizing Network in which she advocated for immigrant women from East Africa to assume civic and political leadership roles in the country.
Omar achieved a historic achievement and was the spotlight of the local media after defeating a Republican candidate for a seat in the Minnesota State House of Representatives in 2016. In November 2018, she managed to win the midterm elections to become a member of the US Congress.
Trump’s Fiercest Opponent
Ilhan Omar is a fierce critic of US ex-President Donald Trump's policy, who has criticized her more than once. Once he tweeted "We will never forget" and posted a video showing footage from the September 11, 2001 attacks with a clip of Omar's speech.
The clip shows the female congressional representative saying "some people did something" between footage of planes hitting the World Trade Center and people fleeing from them.
Ilhan was widely criticized at the time for her speech, and Republicans accused her of downplaying the attacks, but Democrats rallied to her defense, saying her words were taken out of context, and accused Trump of inciting violence against her and against Muslims.
Trump also called for Omar, and other "Squad" members, to "go back" to where they came from, and labeled Omar "unpatriotic." Chants of "send her back" about Omar were heard at Trump rallies.
He even attacked her in front of a crowd of his fans and supporters, saying, "She tells us what to do with our country, does she explain to us where she came from? How was her country... We want to keep our country the way it is going, we are the best country on earth, and we will preserve it in this way, we do not need the socialists, nor the communists to run our country."
Ilhan Omar responded to Trump's comments, saying, "First of all, this is my country and I am a member of the council that impeached you. Second, I fled the civil war when I was 8. An eight-year-old does not run a country even though you run our country like one” referring to the civil war in Somalia in the 1990s.
Israeli Entry Ban
In August 2019, Omar was banned from entering Israel, a reversal from the July 2019 statement by Israeli Ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer that "any member of Congress" would be allowed in.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attributed the ban to Israeli law preventing the entry of people who call for a boycott of Israel (as Omar had done with their support for the Palestinian-led movement promoting boycotts, divestments, and economic sanctions against Israel).
Netanyahu also cited that Omar mentioned her destination as Palestine instead of Israel, claiming he thus viewed her visit as an attempt to "hurt Israel and increase its unrest.”
Netanyahu also said that Omar did not plan on visiting or meeting with any Israeli officials from the government or the opposition, and additionally accused Miftah, the sponsor of Omar's trip, of having members who support “terrorism” against Israel.
Less than two hours before the ban, President Trump tweeted that Israel allowing the visit would "show great weakness" because Omar "hates Israel & all Jewish people.”
Omar has voiced support for a two-state solution to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. She criticized Israel's settlement building in the occupied Palestinian territories in the West Bank.
In 2018, Omar came under criticism for statements she made about Israel before she was in the Minnesota legislature.
In a 2012 tweet, she wrote, "Israel has hypnotized the world, may Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel." The comment, particularly the notion that Israel had "hypnotized the world," was criticized as drawing on anti-Semitic tropes.
When asked in an interview how she would respond to American Jews who found the remark offensive, Omar replied, "I don't know how my comments would be offensive to Jewish Americans. My comments precisely are addressing what was happening during the Gaza War and I'm clearly speaking about the way the Israeli regime was conducting itself in that war."
