One of the few Muslim members of Congress told NBC News that she feels her life may be in danger after being inundated with threats since a terror attack sparked the war in Gaza, reflecting broader fears among Muslim Americans who feel, that they are targeted to an invisible degree. since the days after 9/11.
Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., whose family fled Somalia’s civil war before emigrating to the United States, definitely doomed the Hamas attack, but her long-standing criticism of Israeli policy toward Palestinians and Washington’s support for the country made her a lightning rod.
The U.S. Capitol Police and the House Sergeant at Arms briefed Omar and other progressive lawmakers critical of Israel — including the only other Muslim woman in Congress, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., who is Palestinian American — of possible threats last week, according to a Democratic aide familiar with the meeting.
Voice messages shared with NBC News include blasphemous death threats calling Omar a “terrorist Muslim.” Another claimed that a vigilante group spying on the congresswoman and “your children” obtained “all your addresses and gave them to rapists.”
“I’m from a militant group,” claimed the male caller from a third voicemail. “I can’t wait until 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 . “
In a statement, Omar said she and other Muslim Americans were victims of a “dishonest smear” that equates criticism of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians with support for Hamas, which has created an environment where threats abound.
“It directly endangered my life and that of my family, as well as subjecting my staff to traumatic verbal abuse simply for doing their job,” Omar said. “More importantly, it threatens the millions of American Muslims.”
“This poisonous language and imagery has real consequences,” Omar continued. “House Republican leaders are silent while their party runs out of these toxic attacks and refuses to hold extremists within their ranks accountable. Since taking office, two men have pleaded guilty to threatening to kill me. This is very real. I fear for my children and need to talk to them about staying alert because you just never know.”
Omar, Tlaib and other members of the so-called “Squad” of progressive lawmakers have long been targets of conservative media, and they have been frequently singled out by former President Donald Trump.
Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., called them the “Jihad squad,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, D-Ga., dubbed them the “Hamas party meeting,” and the official campaign arm of House Republicans labeled the pair “Hamas-spox,” Washington slang for spokesman.
They also faced official criticism from their own party and Jewish leaders. The White House called the initial response by other members of the “Squad” to the Hamas attack “disgusting,” while Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., said On Wednesday that it was “really disturbing” that members of Congress would take Hamas’s word over Israel after Tlaib repeated claims that Israel had bombed a Gaza hospital. (U.S. officials believe it was a misfired Palestinian rocket, but questions remain.)
Tlaib now faces a censorship move of Republicans for the comments.
The security conference last Thursday afternoon, organized in part by House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, also included representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, DN.Y., Jamaal Bowman, DN.Y., Cori Bush, D-Mo., Barbara Lee, D- Calif., Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., and Delia Ramirez, D-Ill.
Due to persistent threats, several of these members have long been assigned security details, which is highly unusual for members of Congress outside of key leadership roles. But Omar’s office said the threats in the past 10 days were worse than ever.
In one voicemail left at her office, a male caller says, “I wish someone would kill you and put you in hell.”
Another male caller says she should “drop dead for supporting f—— terrorists.”
“You work for this country,” the caller continues. “Get your f—— head out of your f——-turban-wearing ass, and f—— see the light of day, you stupid f—— terrorist -supporting a f—— piece of shit.”
The caller, who claimed Omar was being spied on, also said the group targeting her had hacked all her accounts and were allegedly preparing to poison her and her family.
“Allegations are they’re going to kill you and we’re going to watch online,” the caller said. “I pray they f—— get justice on all you traitors.”
The Capitol Police said it does not comment on specific threats, but confirmed it had “enhanced security throughout the Capitol complex” and said it was “working around the clock to coordinate with our law enforcement and intelligence partners across the country to keep everyone . safe.”
Last summer, a Florida man was sentenced to three years probation and a $7,000 fine for threatening to email Omar, Tlaib, Ocasio-Cortez and Pressley. And in 2020, a New York man was sentenced to a year in prison over threatening phone calls made to Omar.
The offices of several Jewish members of Congress either did not respond to requests for information about threats or said they had not seen a significant spike.
Meanwhile, watchdogs have tracked an increase in the number of incidents targeting Muslim and Jewish Americans apparently motivated by the conflict in the Middle East.
The danger feels especially real to Muslims after a 6-year-old Palestinian American boy outside Chicago was killed in what authorities say was a hate crime. According to court documents, the boy’s landlord allegedly stabbed the boy 26 times after expressing hatred of Muslims and anger over the Hamas attack.
“We’re definitely seeing an increase in incoming threats and hate toward the community,” said Corey Saylor, the research director at the Center on American-Islamic Relations, the country’s largest Muslim advocacy group, who said the group was so busy responding to events that it has not yet had a chance to count numbers.
Apart from a few isolated acts of violence and threats, such as an Oregon mosque receiving the message “DIE MUSLIMS DIE!,” Saylor said he was particularly concerned about attempts to intimidate students who criticized Israel and spoke for Palestinian causes.
For example, a mobile billboard circled Harvard Square last week showing the names and faces of students involved in a controversial statement blaming Israel for creating the conditions that led to the attack, while Google was forced to remove an anonymously created document that included their names and personal identification information in what Saylor. called “mass doxxing.”
Meanwhile, Jewish organizations have also beefed up their security in response to growing threats.
Oren Segal, who runs the Center on Extremism at the Anti-Defamation League, said his group tracked at least 141 anti-Semitic incidents (such as vandalism, harassment or attacks) in the 10 days between 7 and 17 October, which represents a 48.% increase over the same period last year.
ADL researchers also found a 400% increase in “non-specific” threats to kill Jews, “Zionists” or Israelis on the social media platform Telegram, an online space that “incubated hatred and fueled real action in the past.” according to Segal.
Anti-Semitism has been on the rise for several years, and FBI crime data released this week shows that anti-Jewish hate crimes rose 37% from 2021 to 2022, reaching the highest level in decades.
“At a time when much of the public narrative is focused on divisions between our communities, we must be allies for all who are targeted by hate,” Segal said of Jewish and Muslim communities. “Those hatreds are often combined not only in the minds of extremists, but those who want to divide our community.”