Ilhan Omar Sparks Outrage by Falsely Labeling a Decade-Old Syrian Photo in Attempt to Smear Israel

“Once again, the Squad members do not let facts get in the way of their anti-Israel narrative.”

By Batya Jerenberg

U.S. Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-MN) is being slammed for reposting to X Saturday a decade-old photo of dead Syrian children and labeling it “Child Genocide in Palestine.”

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) slammed the lawmaker, who is part of a small group of vocal, progressive, pro-Palestinian Democrats, for her false post.

“Ilhan Omar is spreading dangerous misinformation, accusing Israel of killing children murdered by Assad in Syria 10 years ago. Once again, the Squad members do not let facts get in the way of their anti-Israel narrative,” the Israel advocacy group responded.

Her post was accompanied by a community fact-check saying, “This photo is NOT from Gaza/Palestine. It’s from the sarin attack launched by [Syrian President Bashir] Assad’s forces against E. Ghouta, Syria in August 2013.”

Kareem Rifai, a Syrian-Circassian woman was one of dozens of netizens who called Omar out, saying, “This is a sitting Congresswoman. I have absolutely no words.”

“A decade ago, an Assad regime tank blew up my grandparents’ home while they were still inside,” she posted separately on X. “The misuse of Syria videos in the Israel-Palestine information war spits on their memory. It must stop.”

Ironically, fellow Squad member Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) had just warned last week against publicizing information about the Hamas-Israel war before verifying its provenance.

“If you see a claim, photo, or video that triggers a strong emotional reaction, take a moment to pause and check for veracity/confirmation from multiple sources,” she wrote, due to the “incredibly high” amount of “misinformation in all directions” that can be found on the popular social media platform.

Using her initials, former New York Democratic lawmaker Dov Hikind called on Ocasio-Cortez “to have a word” with Omar “about her pathetic promotion of an image of dead babies from Syria killed by Assad to try and malign Israel. But of course AOC is a hypocrite, just as Ilhan is a propagandist!”

In her post, Omar also took up the Hamas claim that Israel’s bombing campaign of military targets in Gaza has killed “614 Palestinian children,” although this has no corroboration from outside sources. She called it “murder” committed by “the Israeli IOF Forces,” adopting the Palestinian narrative that labels the Israeli Defense Force as the “Israel Occupation Force.”

Following the backlash, Omar’s office had un-retweeted the photo, without a comment or apology. She continued to post other anti-Israel statements, including charging Israel with “ethnic cleansing” for warning Gazans to leave the northern part of the coastal enclave, calling it an “expulsion.”

Omar expressly ignored the fact that the IDF sent the warning Friday in an attempt to save civilian lives before the army goes in with the express intent of destroying the terrorist organization that murdered more than 1,300 men, women and children in an invasion of Gaza envelope communities on October 7.

Israel has also repeatedly pushed off the original 24-hour deadline, thus giving Hamas more time to plant explosives and prepare their forces for the counter-attack, which will endanger the IDF soldiers’ lives to a far greater extent than if no warning had been given.

The congresswoman also referred to “the thousands of Palestinian lives lost and millions at stake,” making no mention of the innocent Israeli lives lost and millions at stake, since the Hamas charter expressly calls for Israel’s complete destruction.