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Since President Donald Trump came to power in the United States, he has made headlines for his often daring comments on women's rights, foreign political interference, Muslims and immigrants.
#TrumpisRacist and #RacistinChief are some of the popular hashtags on social media platforms after Trump asked four congressional women of color (three of whom were born in the US) to return to "totally broken and infested locations" of crime come ".
Ilhan Omar, a member of the House of Representatives of Minnesota, was among those targeted.
Born in Somalia, she escaped the civil war to spend a large part of her childhood in a refugee camp in Kenya, before her family emigrated to the United States – where she is a citizen. In 2016, she became the first elected US-Somali legislator in the United States.
This was not the only time she faced the president's anger.
Trump made slanderous comments accusing him of praising al-Qaeda and saying that it was minimizing the terrorist attacks of September 11th.
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Our alliance with Saudi Arabia and the Emirates is immoral. I think he's one of the most absurd allies; it does not correspond to any of our values. When we think about what is in the interest of our national security, we tell them to help us, it's like trusting a thief to monitor your shop. Ilhan Omar, Member of the US Congress |
In response to Trump's accusations, Omar told Al Jazeera: "Those who [9/11] are horrible attacks. There is no doubt about it, it is not debatable. Innocent Americans lost their lives that day, we all cry their death … And I think it's pretty disgusting for people to question that and want to debate it. "
Trump made these comments after Omar stated that Muslims in America had lost access to their civil liberties because they were collectively considered to be responsible for al-Qaida's claimed attacks. .
"What's important is the more general point I was talking about," says Omar, which is to ensure that blame is not attributed to any faith, that we Muslims are not collectively blamed for acts of terrorists. "
"I do not blame all whites when we have a white man who slaughters children in a school or film buffs in a movie theater, and I think this really horrible story that says, as a Muslim, I'm supposed to explain, excuse you, because the acts of someone who terrorizes me are absurd. "
Omar is critical of Trump's leadership and has supported calls for his removal.
"I've always said that it was not the question of whether he should be dismissed, but when, and we are now seeing so many people coming to that conclusion," she says. "This president said that he saw no problem in having a foreign and hostile government [Russia] to intervene in our elections. He did not understand how this could be a problem … We do not accept any information that could change the course of our elections, coming from hostile governments. "
Omar strongly opposes other US-foreign allegiances, including relations with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
"How can we make the decision to sell arms to Saudi Arabia, knowing that they were at the origin of one of the most atrocious humanitarian crises in Yemen, then that we know that they have a role to play in what is happening in Sudan now, what is happening in Libya, and the list can go on and on, "she says.
"Our alliance with Saudi Arabia and the Emirates is immoral, I think it is one of the most absurd allies, it does not fit any of our values." When we think about what It is in the interest of our national security, to help us with this, it is like trusting a thief to monitor your shop.We know that we can not trust them in this process. "
Omar recognizes the challenges posed by the current US administration, but believes that the polarization it creates has had some positive side effects, including mbadive voter mobilization and the election of the most diverse Congress in US history. United.
"The positive thing is that every time there is a challenge, there is an opportunity, because we have the president who divides the most [and] we live in a historically traumatic time (…), so many people stand up to not only resist the damaging policies of this administration, but also to demand the America we all deserve, "she said.
"This is why you are witnessing the rise of many people who have always sat on the margins of society and who have said," It is time to look for our seat at the table, we must make sure that we represent all of us. and all. our voices ".
Editor's Note: This interview was recorded on June 13, 2019.
Source: Al Jazeera
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