MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - Representative Ilhan Omar has a way of attracting attention.
Four months ago, the Democrat became the first Somali-American — and one of the first two Muslim women — to serve in the U.S. Congress. Her election was heralded by many as a sign of a more diverse generation of politicians coming to power on Capitol Hill.
But just weeks into her first congressional term, Omar ignited a controversy with a tweet invoking an offensive trope suggesting U.S. lawmakers' support for Israel was swayed by money from the powerful lobbying group, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Shortly after her apology for that tweet, Omar suggested in a public statement that lawmakers held a dual loyalty to the U.S. and Israel.
Omar's comments triggered two Congressional resolutions condemning hate speech. Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle, including senior Democratic leadership, strongly criticized Omar for making remarks that many felt crossed the line into anti-Semitism. In a speech Sunday to the opening session of AIPAC's annual conference in Washington, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland declared that "What weakens us … is when, instead of engaging in legitimate debate about policies, someone questions the motives of his or her fellow citizens."
The controversy jeopardized Omar's high-profile assignment on the House Foreign Relations Committee, while giving a House freshman an unusually high-profile role in a long-running and contentious U.S. foreign policy debate over Israel and its treatment of Palestinians.
But in the Minneapolis-centered Minnesota 5th Congressional district that Omar represents, the nation's largest Somali-American community sees the controversy differently. For the Somali-Americans who watched the election of one-time refugee Omar with pride just a short time ago, they are suspicious and troubled by the negative attention.
"The reason there is a lot of attention on Ilhan Omar is because a lot of differences came into the Congress — a Muslim woman, a hijab woman, an African woman — a lot of differences, that's what brings attention," Somali-American Bashir Jama told VOA recently at Village Market, one of Minneapolis' largest Somali malls.
"We were watching the criticism of Ilhan Omar, but we do not believe she is behaving with hatred toward Jewish people. I think that's a misinterpretation against her," Ali Muse, a Somali-American, told VOA.
Somali-Americans make up only part of Omar's racially diverse district, which is overall 70 percent white and trends toward a young, urban and highly educated population. The district was the first to elect a Muslim to Congress, sending now-Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison to Washington beginning in 2006.
The district also includes the St. Louis Park suburbs that are home to a strong Jewish population. Leaders in the Minnesota Jewish community have been deeply hurt by Omar's allegations but are also aware of the fine line they have to walk to maintain the historically close ties between the Somali and Jewish communities here in Minnesota.
"This is not an attack or critique on Congresswoman Omar because she's a woman of color, because she's of Somali descent, because she wears a hijab," said Avi S. Olitzky, a senior rabbi at Beth El Synagogue. But he says Omar's comments are particularly dangerous in a growing atmosphere of anti-Semitism.
"The language really echoed upon anti-Semitic tropes that have been used throughout the centuries, accusations of Jews having dual loyalties to foreign countries — specifically Israel — or Jews with their associations with money and buying political favor," Olitzky told VOA.
Jewish leaders have met with Omar and her staff to follow up on her comments and inform her about the hurtful consequences. They say this controversy should be an opportunity to inform the public about damaging stereotypes and caricatures, not about cutting off informed debate over U.S. foreign policy.
"There is no reason why Israel, Palestine, the United States relationship with Israel should not be the subject of robust debate and discussion," said Steve Hunegs, director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas. "That's the hallmark of American democracy. But when we descend to ugly comments, or indulgent stereotypes, or casting aspersions, that degrades our democracy."
Hunegs said he showed Omar and her staff a photograph of his cousin, who was killed in action fighting in World War II, to make the point that Jewish families are loyal to the United States and have made considerable sacrifices for that loyalty.