Ilhan Omar’s ‘pro-genocide’ Jews remark sparks House censure effort

FIRST ON FOX: Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., is being hit with a censure resolution on Tuesday after she referred to some Jewish students as “pro-genocide” during a recent visit to Columbia University.

Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., is introducing the resolution against Omar on Tuesday, a source familiar with his plans told Fox News Digital.

The New York City Ivy League school has been the flashpoint for nationwide demonstrations on college campuses, where students have set up tent encampments to protest their universities’ financial ties to pro-Israel companies. 

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Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., is the subject of a House GOP-led censure resolution. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

Omar’s daughter was one of more than 100 Columbia students and young adults attending its sister school, Barnard College, who were arrested over their encampment last month.

The progressive “Squad” Democrat visited the demonstration on April 26 in a show of solidarity for the pro-Palestinian protesters.

“I actually met a lot of Jewish students who are in the encampment, and I think it is really unfortunate that people don’t care about the fact that all Jewish kids should be kept safe,” Omar told Fox 5 New York while there. “We should not have to tolerate antisemitism or bigotry for all Jewish students, whether they are pro-genocide or anti-genocide.”

Bacon’s resolution text said Omar’s “slanderous comments against Jewish students could inflame violence against the Jewish community.”

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The censure resolution is being filed by Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., on Tuesday.

In addition to censuring her for those comments, Bacon’s resolution also accused her of having “a long and demonstrated history of hateful rhetoric that plays into the worst antisemitic tropes.”

Omar has long been targeted by Republicans for her criticism of Israel. It even got her removed from the House Foreign Affairs Committee last February when the GOP won back the majority in the 2022 election.

Bacon told reporters last week, “To generalize, to say that the Jewish students are responsible for this and treat them that way, that is antisemitism, right? It’s one thing to protest Israel, but to stretch it over and accost Jewish students is wrong.”

“I’m working on a bill right now to call out Omar for what she said. She’s talking about pro-genocide or anti-genocide Jewish students…all this talk is all wrong because Jewish Americans are Americans. Quit treating them that way,” Bacon said.

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Student protesters march around their encampment on the Columbia University campus, Monday, April 29, 2024, in New York.  (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)

Fox News Digital reached out to Omar’s office for comment.

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A spokesperson for Omar told Axios last week regarding Bacon’s comments on preparing a censure resolution, “Attempts to misconstrue her words by drafting this baseless resolution are meant to distract from the ongoing violence and genocide occurring in Gaza and the large antiwar protests happening across our country and around the world.”

Escalating tensions at the protests at Columbia and elsewhere have spurred bipartisan criticism amid multiple clashes between students and police, resulting in reports of people on both sides being injured. Jewish students at Columbia and other schools have also reported feeling unsafe on campus.