Ilhan Omar

Ilhan Omar’s Participation in the Pro-Hamas Encampment at Columbia University (Columbia)

Ilhan Omar participated in the pro-Hamas encampment at Columbia in April 2024. Omar has also spread anti-Semitism and expressed hatred of Israel as a member of the U.S. Congress.

On April 19, 2024, a day after Ilhan Omar’s daughter Isra Hirsi was arrested and suspended from Barnard College, which is part of Columbia, for her pro-Hamas activism, Omar posted on X: “I am enormously proud of my daughter @israhirsi. She has always led with courage and compassion…now pushing her school to stand against genocide…”

Omar’s daughter helped set up the Columbia encampment in April 2024. She was an organizer with the Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), an anti-Israel coalition whose demands included Columbia’s reinstatement of the pro-Hamas chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) after the university administration suspended them.

On April 24, 2024, after her daughter’s suspension from Columbia, Omar appeared [slide 7] in a video at the encampment next to her.

On April 27, 2024, in a Fox5 news video from the encampment posted on X, Omar was asked [00:00:01] about the situation of Jewish students facing anti-Semitism on campus. She replied [00:00:18]: “...We should not have to tolerate anti-Semitism or bigotry for all Jewish students, whether they are pro-genocide or anti-genocide.”

The video was included in a post on X from the account of Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) who wrote: “Watch this clip. It features @IlhanMN…proclaiming that ‘Jewish students should not have to tolerate antisemitism…whether they’re pro-genocide or anti-genocide.’

The post continued: “It is patently false and a blood libel to suggest that ANY Jewish students are ‘pro-genocide.’

The post concluded: “It is gaslighting to impute that Jewish people are somehow at fault for being harassed and menaced with signs and slogans literally calling for their own extermination. It is abhorrent that a sitting member of Congress would slander an entire group of young people in such a cold, calculated manner. This is how people get killed...”

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) was founded in 1913 “To stop the defamation of the Jewish people and to secure justice and fair treatment to all.”

The encampment was also in support of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.

Columbia is located in New York, New York.

Pro-Hamas Encampment at Columbia University

On April 17, 2024, Columbia students and anti-Israel activists set up a pro-Hamas “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” on the university's main lawn. Many participants were arrested and the encampment featured multiple violent incidents, including taking over a campus building and taking a university worker hostage.

Activists protested Israel’s war against Hamas and demanded that Columbia “divest from companies and institutions that profit from Israeli apartheid, genocide and occupation…”

The action had reportedly been planned for months and was organized by the Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD) coalition. The encampment was also organized by Columbia’s banned pro-Hamas activist group Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and the university chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP). Activists reportedly received training from National SJP and other anti-Israel organizations.

Among the encampment leaders was Columbia student Khymani James who had said [00:00:25]: “Zionists…They are nazis!... They’re supporters of genocide! Why would we want people who are supporters of genocide to live?... Be glad, be grateful that I am not just going out and murdering Zionists.” Aidan Parisi, another encampment leader, responded to Columbia’s demand to disband the encampment by declaring online that: “COLUMBIA WILL BURN.”

The encampment was forcibly dismantled at the directive of Columbia’s president and administration. The NYPD [New York Police Department] entered the area, cleared the encampment and arrested more than 100 protestors, approximately 80 of whom were Columbia students. The students were charged with trespassing and suspended from Columbia indefinitely.

The next day, activists created a new encampment. When divestment negotiations with Columbia failed, protesters illegally forced their way into the university’s Hamilton Hall on April 30, 2024. They smashed [00:00:55] through a glass-paneled door, broke security cameras, threw university property out of the windows and unfurled [00:00:01] a banner in the building’s wall that read: “INTIFADA,” a term in Arabic for uprising or insurrection that carries the connotation of violence.

While barricading themselves in the building, agitators kept three Columbia custodians hostage and stopped them from leaving. When the NYPD raided and dismantled the encampment a second time, they arrested more than 100 students, nearly half of whom were reportedly not affiliated with Columbia.

NYPD shared on Twitter photos of objects the police found in Hamilton Hall. These included knives, hammers, gas masks, ropes and a pamphlet that read [video 1]: “...DISRUPT/RECLAIM/DESTROY zionist business interests everywhere! DEATH TO ISRAELI REAL STATE! DEATH TO AMERICA!...LONG LIVE THE INTIFADA!”

Just outside the encampment area, Jewish students were called [slide 2]: “Uncultured a** b**ches!” and were told to “Go back to Europe!” Activists also said [slide 3] to them: “Yahoodim [Jews], yahoodi [Jew], f**k you!” and “Stop killing children!” as they walked from campus to their dorm rooms.

Also just outside the encampment area, anti-Israel activists chanted [slide 5]: “Ya Hamas, ya habib, odrob, odrob Tel Aviv! [Oh Hamas, oh loved one, strike, strike Tel Aviv!]”, a chant that celebrates Hamas rocket attacks against Israel.

An activist just outside the encampment area held [photo 4] a sign that said, referring to the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s military wing: “AL-QASAM’S NEXT TARGETS.” Her sign contained an arrow pointing to a pro-Israel crowd.

On May 31, 2024, Columbia SJP announced that its activists had set up a third encampment at the university. At the encampment, protesters reportedly displayed on a big screen a video that portrayed Hamas as a peace-seeking organization and made a sign that contained an inverted red triangle, a symbol in support of Hamas.

The Columbia encampment reportedly inspired a wave of protest encampments across North American campuses, where pro-Israel students were blocked or restricted from campus facilities. Jewish students were reportedly harassed in several other ways.

Background on Pro-Hamas Encampments

The encampment was one of over 140 pro-Hamas and anti-Israel college encampments set up in North America, and over 20 more globally, in the spring of 2024. The first began on April 17, 2024, at Columbia University. The encampments were unofficially known as the “student intifada,” borrowing a term associated with terrorist violence.

Protesters harassed Jewish students, blocked Jews from campus facilities and shouted anti-Semitic slogans. They occupied campus grounds, in many cases illegally, caused property damage, violently took over buildings, celebrated terrorism and promoted the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.

Activists set up encampments to oppose Israel’s right to wage war against the Hamas terror group following October 7, 2023, when Hamas murdered approximately 1,200 people, including 32 American and 8 Canadian citizens. Hamas also kidnapped 252 people, including 11 Americans and the bodies of 2 murdered Canadians. As of May 26, 2024, 125 hostages remained in Hamas captivity.

For more information on the October 7, 2023 terror attacks, see the Canary Mission page on Hamas.

Ilhan Omar’s Anti-Semitism

On February 2, 2023, The Hill reported that the U.S. House of Representatives voted in favor of a resolution to remove Omar from the Committee on Foreign Affairs for her past anti-Semitic statements and for equating the U.S. and Israel to Hamas and the Taliban terrorist organization.

On March 2, 2019, CNN reported in an article titled: “House Foreign Affairs leader tells Omar to apologize for saying pro-Israel groups push foreign allegiance,” that Omar was recorded saying [00:04:12]: “I want to talk about the political influence in this country that says it is OK for people to push for allegiance to a foreign country.”

The concept of “dual loyalty” is an anti-Semitic accusation that alleges Jews are more loyal to Israel than to their own nations.

On March 1, 2019, Politico reported that the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee condemned Omar’s comments, calling them a “vile anti-Semitic slur” and “unacceptable and deeply offensive.”

On February 10, 2019, Omar posted on Twitter: “It’s all about the Benjamins baby

,” a reference to $100 bills featuring American “founding father” Benjamin Franklin, claiming that U.S. lawmakers’ support for Israel was driven by money.

On February 11, 2019, Politico reported that Ilhan Omar apologized and deleted the post after House Democrats released a statement condemning Omar for her anti-Semitic remarks.

Ilhan Omar’s Hatred of Israel

In October 2023, Omar voted against an October 11, 2023, House Resolution 771 that called for solidarity with Israel “as it defends itself against the barbaric war launched by Hamas and other terrorists, reaffirms Israel's right to self-defense, and condemns Hamas' brutal war against Israel…”

On October 9, 2023, Omar posted on Twitter, referring to Israel’s military response: “This is collective punishment, a war crime, and the U.S. should oppose any violations of international law …”

In the same thread, Omar posted: “As the world is condemning Hamas’s attacks, we must also oppose an Israeli military response…”

Also on October 9, 2023, Omar posted on Twitter: “Instead of continuing unconditional weapons sales and military aid to Israel, I urge the United States at long last to use its diplomatic might to push for peace.”

On Saturday, October 7, 2023, approximately 2,900 heavily armed Hamas terrorists breached Israel’s border with Gaza. They executed numerous war crimes on civilians, including mass murder, beheadings of children, rape of men and women, torture, kidnappings and mutilation.

Hamas broadcast videos of their butchery on social media, often to victims’ accounts for families to see. Israel retaliated with a war called “Swords of Iron.” As of November 10, 2023, approximately 1,200 Israelis, the vast majority of them civilians, were murdered during the attacks. Hamas kidnapped 242 Israelis, including at least 30 children. At least 3,500 people were wounded, many severely.

A terrorist detained by Israel admitted he raped an Israeli woman when he broke into a kibbutz house during the October 7, 2023 attack. In March 2024, a former hostage of Hamas publicly stated she was sexually abused and tortured while in captivity.

For more information on the October 7, 2023 terror attacks, see the Canary Mission page on Hamas.

Ilhan Omar’s Anti-Israel Activism, Work and Education

In July 2019, Omar sponsored a pro-Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) bill in the U.S. Congress. On July 17, 2019, U.S. News reported that Omardescribed the bill as “an opportunity for us to explain why it is we support…the BDS movement.”

As of November 2024, Omar had been a member of the U.S. Congress since January 2019, after being elected in November 2018 to represent Minnesota’s 5th congressional district, which includes Minneapolis.

Omar is a member of the “Squad,” an informal group of eight far-left Democrat members of the U.S. House of Representatives known for their anti-Israel public statements.

Omar, whose full name is Ilhan Abdullahi Omar, graduated from North Dakota State University (NDSU) with a bachelor’s degree in political science and international studies in 2011.

As of November 2024, Omar’s LinkedIn profile said she was located in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

BDS

The Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement was founded by Omar Barghouti in 2005 to challenge “international support for Israeli apartheid and settler-colonialism.” BDS is an allegedly “Palestinian-led movement,” although leading BDS activists have admitted [00:01:01] this is not true.

One of the demands of BDS includes [point 3] what is generally known as the “right of return,” a demand discredited as a way to eliminate Israel. Barghouti said the “right of return” is a means to “end Israel’s existence as a Jewish state.”

Barghouti has said that BDS “aims to turn Israel into a pariah state, as South Africa once was.”

In his activism, Barghouti has also said [00:05:55] regarding Israel: “Definitely, most definitely, we oppose a Jewish state in any part of Palestine. No…rational Palestinian, not a sellout Palestinian, will ever accept a Jewish state in Palestine.”

The movement has been linked to numerous terrorist organizations and received a public endorsement from Hamas in 2017.

BDS initiatives include calling on institutions and individuals to divest from Israeli-affiliated companies, promoting academic and cultural boycotts of Israel, and organizing anti-Israel rallies, protests and campaigns.

The movement’s most notable achievement has been the infiltration of university campuses through lobbying for “BDS resolutions.” In these cases, student governments and student groups, backed by their own anti-Israel members and affiliates, have proposed resolutions on some form of boycott of, or divestment from, Israel and Israeli-affiliated entities.

Boycott resolutions, although non-binding, have been passed by student governments on numerous North American campuses.

BDS activity is often aggressive and disruptive. It has been noted that universities that pass BDS resolutions see a marked increase in anti-Semitic incidents on campus. On one campus, when the student government debated a BDS resolution, reports emerged of violent threats against those opposing it.