Liberal lawmaker Ilhan Omar from Minnesota sparked outrage after her video speaking in the Somali community on Saturday went viral.
Omar, who was born in Somalia, was recorded telling her audience that they are “people of the same blood, people who know they are Somalians first, Muslims second, who protect each other.”
The lawmaker added, “[she is] here to protect the interests of Somalia from inside the U.S. system.”
People noticed how Omar failed to mention her being an American.
Her speech tackled the ongoing conflict between Somalia and the Somali diaspora over an agreement made by the Republic of Somaliland, a self-governing state that asserts its independence against Somalia, and Ethiopia.
“Somalia is for Somali people. Somalia is one. We are all brothers and sisters. Our land cannot be divided,” blasts Omar.
The lawmaker went on assuring her listeners that Somalis in the U.S. will finalize the U.S. stand on Somaliland and even incited that they will be reclaiming Somali territories one day – including Kenya, Ethiopia, and other neighboring countries.
Somaliland was once British Somaliland but eventually merged with Italian Somaliland, which completed modern-day Somalia by 1960.
However, Somaliland and Somalia’s relationship turned sour, resulting in an attempt to secede as early as December 1961. By 1991, Somaliland achieved its de facto independence.
One Somaliland supporter took to X and slammed Ilhan, “As Somalis, one day we will go after our missing territories” about Somali inhabited regions in Kenya and Ethiopia.
Please note Ilhan’s father was a military officer in the Siyad barre army who used her same Somali irredentism ideology as a justification for committing the Isaaq Genocide.”
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Republic of Somaliland Ambassador Rhoda Elmi slammed Ilhan’s statements noting that the “language she employed was regrettably unbecoming of both the office she holds and the constituents she represents.”
The Somaliland officer further said, “Specifically troubling, were her endeavors to revive the once-violent and dangerous ideology of Greater Somalia or Somali Weyn, which caused so much death, destruction and conflict in the Horn of Africa.”
Some X users demanded her out of the House of Representatives.
“Amazing speech by Ilhan Omar. She’s proudly claiming Somalia is for Somalians, that their brotherhood is tied by blood, that Somalia comes first, that Muslims come second, and that she is using the US to protect her nation’s interests. Besides the blood and soil rhetoric which is virtually indistinguishable from the “white supremacists” she rallies against in the country where she was elected, she’s openly admitting to unethical conduct in US office that is tantamount to treason,” quipped Alessandra Bocchi.
Omar responded by saying that the video and the attacks on Sunday were “not only slanted but completely off.” But reiterated her solidarity with Somalia’s defense against Somaliland’s assertion of independence.
