Ilhan Omar: “I thank the gentleman for yielding. I extend my gratitude to Marie Newman for helping lead this important discussion…”

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. I extend my gratitude to Marie Newman for helping lead this important discussion, and I thank all the Members who are here and showed up in solidarity. Mr. Speaker, as someone who has experienced war firsthand, I have a deep understanding of the suffering that comes along with it. As a child, I lived through a violent civil war that destroyed my home, ripped my family apart from each other, and killed many of my family and friends. I can still remember, at just 8 years old, hiding under the bed, hearing bombs go off outside my window, and wondering if we were going to be hit next. It is trauma I will live with for the rest of my life. So, I understand, on a deeply human level, the pain and the anguish families are feeling in Palestine and Israel at the moment, and the helplessness people feel here in the United States who have family in the region, including many of my constituents. And it is for this reason that I abhor violence. Whether rocket attacks or airstrikes, violence does nothing to make people more secure. It only furthers the interests of the powerful while costing lives, futures, and families. But we must speak out truthfully and forcefully about the seeds of this conflict and about what is happening today. The truth is that this is not a conflict between two states. This is not a civil war.…”