John,

During a Budget Committee hearing last week, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar asked Secretary of State Antony Blinken a series of questions related to the International Criminal Court. 

Specifically, she asked if victims can't seek justice for possible war crimes committed against them in their local jurisdiction and America is opposed to victims seeking justice through the ICC, then “where do we think victims are supposed to go for justice? And what justice mechanisms do you support?”

She followed up on Twitter later in the day with this statement:

Immediately the right-wing went on the attack. Perhaps even worse, so did many Democrats. A group of 11 Democrats, who support the Israeli government unequivocally, released a statement saying in response: “equating the United States and Israel to Hamas and the Taliban is as offensive as it is misguided.”

Except, that’s not what she said -- as you can read for yourself above. 

That hasn’t stopped a deadly smear campaign against her, an attempt to have her censured by Congress and now a demand, led by Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, calling for Rep. Ilhan Omar's removal from the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

I joined a coalition of 80+ progressive leaders and organizations in a letter of support for Congresswoman Ilhan and now I’d like to ask you to join me. Will you add your name right now?

The bottom line is Ilhan Omar is daring to name what few in Washington will: that all victims of war crimes deserve justice, regardless of who commits the crimes. 

But let’s also be clear, she’s NOT the only one saying these things. She’s just the only Muslim Black Congresswoman saying it. And, as the Congressional Progressive Caucus pointed out in their statement of support for Ilhan, that makes all the difference:

"We cannot ignore that a right-wing media echo chamber that has deliberately and routinely attacked a Black, Muslim woman in Congress, distorting her views and intentions, and resulting in threats against Rep. Omar and her staff. We urge our colleagues not to abet or amplify such divisive and bad-faith attacks.”

We can’t stop Republicans from being racists and attacking Democrats for standing up for accountability and justice, but we can demand better from Democrats. 

We can demand that Democratic leaders stand with Ilhan and not be bullied into censuring her or removing her from her role on the House Foriegn Affairs Committee. Please add your name to our statement of support right now >>

It is no surprise that Republicans would seize on any opportunity to once again attack one of Congress’s leading progressive voices. The true shame is that many Democrats would join Republicans in buying into and repeating such bad faith attacks. 

Thank you for standing with me  in support of Ilhan and against the disingenuous smear machine trying to take her down. 

— Yvette

Yvette Simpson, CEO
Democracy for America