Congresswoman Ilhan Omar said Friday that she has been receiving death threats in the wake of Hamas's 7 October attack on Israel, which left approximately 2,000 Israelis dead.
Ms Omar is a Muslim; her family fled Somalia's civil war before they emigrated to the US. She condemned Hamas's attack on Israel, but has no less become a target for hate, potentially due to her longstanding criticism of Israel's treatment of Palestinians and Washington's ongoing support for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government.
She and other progressive lawmakers critical of Israel were briefed by the US Capitol Police and House Sergeant at Arms last week, warning them of potential threats, according to a Democratic aide speaking to NBC News.
Representative Rashida Tlaib, a Palestinian American, was among those briefed on the potential threat to their safety.
Angry voicemails shared with NBC News show the intensity of hate directed at Ms Omar; in one a caller describes her as a "terrorist Muslim," and another claims a vigilante group has been watching her and her children and has given her address "to rapists."
“I’m from a militant group,” a male caller of a third threat claimed. “I can’t wait ‘till our group sees you one day and I can rip your f****** rag off your head... I hope the Israelis kill every f****** one of you.”
Ms Omar released a statement saying that she and other Muslim Americans had been the victims of a "dishonest smear" that takes any criticism of Israel's treatment of Palestinians as support for Hamas.
Congresswoman Ilhan Omar said she has been receiving numerous death threats in the wake of the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel— (Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)
“It directly endangered my life and that of my family, as well as subjected my staff to traumatic verbal abuse simply for doing their jobs,” Ms Omar said. “More importantly, it threatens the millions of American Muslims.”
She said the "toxic language and imagery has real-world consequences."
“House Republican leaders stay silent as their party unleashes these toxic attacks and refuse to hold extremists in their ranks accountable," she said. "Since assuming office, two men have pleaded guilty to threatening to kill me. This is very real. I fear for my children and have to speak to them about remaining vigilant because you just never know.”
Right-wing extremist Republican lawmakers have only added fuel to the first. Congresswoman Lauren Boebert once called "The Squad" — a group of progressive lawmakers including Ms Omar, Ms Tlaib, and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, among others — the "Jihad Squad," and joked about Ms Omar having a bomb in her backpack.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Green called the "Squad" the "Hamas caucus," and the official campaign entity of the House Republicans referred to Ms Omar and Ms Tlaib as "Hamas spox," with spox being an abbreviation for spokespeople.
Democrats across the ideological spectrum have also added suspicion to the lawmakers; Senator John Fetterman, a progressive, said that it was "truly disturbing" that some members of Congress would question Israel's account of the bombing of a hospital in Gaza, while White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called their insistence on a ceasefire in Gaza "repugnant."
More than 3,400 Palestinians have been killed since the 7 October attack.
Since then, Ms Omar has received voicemails calling her a "traitor," a "terrorist," telling her to "drop dead," wishing that "someone would kill you and put you in hell," calling her a "piece of s***" and claiming vigilantes would poison her.
There have already been attacks against Muslims in the US since 7 October that are believed to be bias-motivated.
A 6-year-old Palestinian American boy in Illinois was stabbed 26 times and died when his family's landlord allegedly attacked him due to his heritage.
Another man, a Sihk, was attacked in New York by a man demanding he remove his turban.
Jewish organisations have also charted an increase in threats to their communities.
The Center on Extremism at the Anti-Defamation League found that at least 141 antisemitic incidents — including vandalism, harassment, or attacks — occurred in the 10-day period between 7 October and 17 October, a 48 per cent increase in attacks over the same period last year.
