Rep. Ilhan Omar has reportedly been meeting behind closed doors with Islamic groups tied to terrorism in fundraising efforts hidden from the public.

The Minnesota Democrat, who has ignited outrage with her anti-Semitic rhetoric, has been giving speeches to mostly Muslim audiences in secret fundraising events according to Adam Kredo in a report for The Washington Free Beacon.

With Omar’s previous use of anti-Semitic tropes and controversial remarks still fresh on the minds of many, critics are speculating about the kind of rhetoric the freshman congresswoman is spouting at the private meetings before paying audiences.

A private event in Florida recently featured the Muslim lawmaker speaking to a gathering hosted by Islamic Relief, a charity group that reportedly has ties to groups that advocate terrorism against Israel.

According to the report by Kredo:

Over the weekend, she will appear at another private event in California that is hosted by CAIR-CA PAC, a political action committee affiliated with the Council on American Islamic Relations, or CAIR a group that was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in a massive terror-funding incident.

Omar’s appearance at these closed-door forums is raising eyebrows in the pro-Israel world due to her repeated and unapologetic public use of anti-Semitic stereotypes accusing Jewish people of controlling foreign policy and politics. With Omar’s popularity skyrocketing on the anti-Israel left, it appears her rhetoric is translating into fundraising prowess.

Attempts by Washington Free Beacon to obtain video of Omar’s speeches at the events have proved unsuccessful. and media outlets in the Tampa, Fla., area were reportedly unable to gain access to the Islamic Relief closed-door event where Omar spoke last month.

“The event was closed to the media. No materials are available,” a representative from Islamic Relief told Free Beacon.

The Jerusalem Post reported that hours after it revealed that Omar was giving the keynote address at the event alongside Yousef Abdallah, who has advocated for violence against Jews, the marketing and invitations were changed and the congresswoman’s PR team claimed the report was inaccurate.

Kredo reported:

Islamic Relief has come under congressional investigation for what lawmakers have described as its efforts to provide assistance to terrorist group such as Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood. The charity has been banned by some countries as a result of these ties.

In 2017, Congress sought to ban taxpayer funds from reaching the charity due to these terror links.

 

Omar is scheduled to speak Sunday at a meet and greet in Irvine, Calif., for CAIR-CA PAC which is asking for $50 to $250 donations for the event. Omar’s congressional office did not respond to requests from Free Beacon about the speeches she would be giving and attempts to reach the event organizer for more information also proved futile, according to Kredo’s report.

“CAIR’s anti-Israel agenda dates back to its founding by leaders of the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP), a Hamas affiliated anti-Semitic propaganda organization,” according to the Anti-Defamation League. “While CAIR has denounced specific acts of terrorism in the U.S. and abroad, for many years it refused to unequivocally condemn Palestinian terror organizations and Hezbollah by name, which the U.S. and international community have condemned and isolated.”

Omar’s behind-closed-doors appearances before controversial Islamic groups are raising eyebrows – and alarm.

“Of course she’s holding these meetings in secret. That’s just how Democrats roll these days,” a veteran Republican political operative told the Free Beacon. “They’re for limiting your ability to spend money on the candidates you want to support, and for secretly fundraising from Islamist groups who support them. It really puts their support for campaign finance reform into perspective.”

“I just wonder what is Rep. Omar saying to a group of Islamic supporters that she feels is so secretive that she cannot say it to the American people, as a whole?” Sarah Stern, founder and president of the pro-Israel group, Endowment for Middle East Truth, told the Free Beacon. “What is so secretive that it has to be off the record and closed to reporters? Will she say the same things in public to her Jewish voters in Minnesota that she says to her Islamic friends? What does this tell us about her openness, her honesty and her integrity?”

EMET joined other pro-Israel groups in a letter to House Democrats after the Islamic Relief event in February, demanding Omar be removed from the House Foreign Affairs Committee which oversees the U.S.-Israel military alliance.

“Rep. Omar’s presence as a keynote speaker to raise funds for Islamic Relief USA, whose parent organization and chapters have documented ties to terrorist organizations, demonstrates that she has learned next to nothing over the last few weeks when she was reprimanded by your office and by other Democrats for posting ugly, anti-Semitic attacks on Jews and their organizations,” the letter to House Foreign Affairs Committee chair Elliott Engel D-N.Y., and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi D-Calif., said.

Earlier this month, Engel had slammed Omar for her “outrageous and deeply hurtful” comments. Earlier this month, in response to the outcry against Omar’s anti-Semitic rhetoric, Democrats passed a vague anti-hate resolution that ultimately “meant absolutely nothing” as it barely mentioned anti-Semitism and  didn’t even mention Omar by name.

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Frieda Powers

Senior Staff Writer
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida where she has been writing for the BizPacReview team since 2015.

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