Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) decried U.S. “genocide” and “western imperialism” in a speech at a Bernie Sanders rally in Minneapolis Sunday night at the University of Minnesota’s Williams Arena. In her speech, Omar, who endorsed Sanders two weeks ago, accused the United States of “genocide” against Native Americans and said of Sanders, “I am beyond honored and excited for a President who will fight against western imperialism and fight for a just world. I am excited, I am excited for President Bernie Sanders!”
Sanders and Omar embraced on stage and then held hands aloft in solidarity before the cheering crowd.
Short excerpt from Omar’s speech:
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) says at Bernie Sanders' campaign rally that she wants a president that fights against "western imperialism"
In other words, she wants nations like China to go unchecked in their growing aggression and expansion which is a massive threat to the U.S. pic.twitter.com/IPuSt9WASA
The Sanders-Omar rally was moved to UM’s larger (14,625 seats) Williams Arena from the 2,700 seat Northrop Auditorium to meet demand. Sanders does not appear to have come any where close to a capacity crowd as the photo below shows the upper bowl completely empty.
Today, around 120,000 Syriac Christians reside in Sweden. While many of them fled genocide in the Middle East, attacks against their churches and threats against their organisations are still not uncommon.
A recent Facebook post by the Syriac National Federation has detailed expletive-loaded threats it received from speakers of Arabic.
According to the federation’s spokesperson, this is not the first time such an incident has occurred. Most often, he said, the callers speak either Swedish with a thick Middle Eastern accent or even Arabic.
The police, however, chose not to investigate the matter, explaining that obscene language is not illegal.
“As soon as something happens in the Middle East or we are somehow visible in the media, we get these calls, so we are used to this.”
“At one point they say they will do the same to us in Sweden as they did in the Middle East. A genocide has been carried out in the Middle East against Christians. We have fled these groupings to Sweden, but they have caught up with us here”, the spokesperson said.
The Syriac National Federation has repeatedly turned to the authorities, but found no understanding, except among the Christian Democrats.
According to Samhällsnytt, there is a widespread feeling of resignation among Syriacs in Sweden amid concerns over the future of the rule of law and the state’s ability to protect people and prosecute crimes.
“We expect some fucking civil war between different groups unless someone puts their foot down. The people who did terrible acts in the Middle East, they are here now… and no one seems to care”, the spokesperson concluded.
Syriac churches in Sweden have witnessed a series of bomb and arson attacks, such as the Saint Afrem church in Södertälje and the Saint Mary church in Norrköping.
The incidents have caused strong reactions in the Syriac circles. While some argued that the time was ripe to leave Sweden if the state is unable to protect all its citizens, others suggested to get “a police force of our own” in the comments.
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