Representative Ilhan Omar, the Somalia-born Minnesota Democrat, was recorded telling a Somali audience they are “people of the same blood, people who know they are Somalians first, Muslims second, who protect each other,” adding she is “here to protect the interests of Somalia from inside the U.S. system.”
Omar’s speech was prompted by anger in Somalia and among the Somali diaspora over an agreement between Ethiopia and the Republic of Somaliland, an officially unrecognized but effectively self-governing state in Somalia’s north.
“Somalia is for Somali people. Somalia is one. We are all brothers and sisters. Our land cannot be divided,” she said, assuring listeners that Somalis in the U.S. will decide the U.S. position on Somaliland and even alluding to reclaiming Somali territories in modern-day Kenya, Ethiopia, and other neighboring countries.
Somaliland was formerly British Somaliland, merging with Italian Somaliland to form modern-day Somalia in 1960 — but it soon soured on the union with its southerly neighbor, mounting an unsuccessful attempt to secede as early as December 1961.
Somalia soon fell into dictatorship, precipitating another northern rebellion in the 1980s, with Somaliland achieving de facto independence by 1991.
Omar has claimed outsiders’ interpretations of her speech, which has gone viral on social media, are “completely off,” but reiterated she stands in “solidarity” with those opposed to Somaliland’s independence.
show lessWe were profoundly surprised, even shocked on discovering the remarks made by Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D) of Minnesota in a recent public forum, widely circulated on most social media platforms and attached below for your reference.
The language she employed was regrettably… pic.twitter.com/7Ag9ZafTKY
— Ambassador Rhoda J Elmi (@AmbRhodaJElmi) January 28, 2024
