On Friday's All In show, MSNBC host Chris Hayes again let his far-left views show, this time by defending Congresswoman Ilhan Omar including the U.S. and Israel on her list of countries that she claims have committed "unthinkable atrocities" alongside Hamas and Taliban terrorists.
He asserted that those who are angry at Omar should be angry at whatever the U.S. did to get itself put on the list: "So if you have a problem with a grouping of these entities together -- and I understand why you would -- you should turn your ire towards whatever it is the U.S. has done to put us in that category, and not on Congresswoman Ilhan Omar for pointing it out."
Hayes began the segment by recalling that her controversial tweet was a followup to a question she had asked Secretary of State Tony Blinken in a committee hearing about how those with war crime accusations can have their cases heard by the International Criminal Court if their cases are rejected by the U.S. After playing a clip of her original question, Hayes reiterated:
The congresswoman was asking Secretary Blinken where he thinks victims of alleged war crime -- crimes against humanity -- can go for justice if local courts -- say, Israeli courts or Afghanistan courts -- will not look into these cases, and if the U.S. opposes the international criminal court or ICC from investigating these alleged crimes when it comes to Afghanistan and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
He added:
She was referencing the fact that there are active international criminal court investigations of all the entities she named. Back in March, the ICC opened investigation into alleged Israeli crimes in Palestinian territories. The inquiry is expected to investigate alleged crimes committed by Israelis and also Palestinians. It will look at whether rocket fire by Hamas and other groups in Gaza amount to war crimes. Last year, the ICC ruled the chief prosecutor could open an investigation into allegations of war crimes in Afghanistan -- this is 2003 -- by all sides in the conflict including the Taliban and U.S.-led forces.
He then rationalized her provocative choice of words:
Now, that's all factual, right? This is a factual recitation of the things happening in the international criminal court. The implication, of course, of the question is: How do we move to a system in which there is actually, in a global sense, equal justice under the law? That it is not just ruled by the powerful who will not, of course, investigate their own government's crimes but some kind of investigative body that investigates crimes with no fear or favor of powerful and less powerful countries alike. That's the point she's making. Based on the facts before the ICC. Then the congresswoman tweeted out her exchange with Secretary of State Blinken, adding this. quote, "We have seen unthinkable atrocities, committed by the U.S., Hamas, Israel, Afghanistan. and the Taliban.
After recalling some of the written reactions made by Omar's fellow Democrats. Hayes concluded by hitting the group of mostly liberal Democrats from further to the left and dismissing their complaints:
Sometimes when you tell truth, you reveal something your audience is not ready to hear. So if you have a problem with a grouping of these entities together -- and I understand why you would -- you should turn your ire towards whatever it is the U.S. has done to put us in that category, and not on Congresswoman Ilhan Omar for pointing it out.
On Thursday afternoon, MSNBC host Ayman Mohyeldin similarly defended Congresswoman Omar's comments claiming that she was just taken out of context.
This episode of All In with Chris Hayes was sponsored in part by the Farmer's Dog. Click on the link to let them know what you think.
Transcript follows. Click "expand" to read more.
MSNBC
All In with Chris Hayes
8:44 p.m. Eastern
CHRIS HAYES: Earlier this week, there was this moment in a hearing, a congressional hearing, that hardly got any attention. It happens all the time. Most hearing moments get no attention, right? Secretary of State Tony Blinken was appearing virtually before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and he was asked this question by Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar of Minnesota.
CONGRESSWOMAN ILHAN OMAR (D-MN): I know you oppose the court's investigation in both Palestine and in Afghanistan. I haven't seen any evidence in either cases that domestic courts both can and will prosecute alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. And I would emphasize that in Israel and Palestine, this includes crimes committed by both Israeli security forces and Hamas. In Afghanistan it includes crimes committed by the Afghan national government and the Taliban. So, in both of these cases, if domestic courts can't or won't pursue justice, and we oppose the ICC, where do we think the victims of these supposed crimes can go for justice?
HAYES: All right, just to be clear here, right, the congresswoman was asking Secretary Blinken where he thinks victims of alleged war crime -- crimes against humanity -- can go for justice if local courts -- say, Israeli courts or Afghanistan courts -- will not look into these cases, and if the U.S. opposes the international criminal court or ICC from investigating these alleged crimes when it comes to Afghanistan and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
She was referencing the fact that there are active international criminal court investigations of all the entities she named. Back in March, the ICC opened investigation into alleged Israeli crimes in Palestinian territories. The inquiry is expected to investigate alleged crimes committed by Israelis and also Palestinians. It will look at whether rocket fire by Hamas and other groups in Gaza amount to war crimes. Last year, the ICC ruled the chief prosecutor could open an investigation into allegations of war crimes in Afghanistan -- this is 2003 -- by all sides in the conflict including the Taliban and U.S.-led forces.
Now, that's all factual, right? This is a factual recitation of the things happening in the international criminal court. The implication, of course, of the question is: How do we move to a system in which there is actually, in a global sense, equal justice under the law? That it is not just ruled by the powerful who will not, of course, investigate their own government's crimes but some kind of investigative body that investigates crimes with no fear or favor of powerful and less powerful countries alike. That's the point she's making. Based on the facts before the ICC. Then the congresswoman tweeted out her exchange with Secretary of State Blinken, adding this. quote, "We have seen unthinkable atrocities, committed by the U.S., Hamas, Israel, Afghanistan. and the Taliban.
That's when things blew up. Yesterday, a dozen of her Democratic colleagues in the House issued a statement calling on the congresswoman They called on the congresswoman to quote, "clarify her words placing the U.S. and Israel in the same category as Hamas and the Taliban," to which Representative Omar responded, quote, "To be clear, I was in no way equating terrorist organizations with democratic countries with well-established judicial systems." Afterward, House leadership, including Nancy Pelosi, issued a statement welcoming the clarification by Congresswoman Omar but also warning that. quote, "drawing false equivalencies between democracies like the U.S. and Israel and groups that engage in terrorism like Hamas and the Taliban foments prejudice and undermines progress toward a future of peace and security for all.
Sometimes when you tell truth, you reveal something your audience is not ready to hear. So if you have a problem with a grouping of these entities together -- and I understand why you would -- you should turn your ire towards whatever it is the U.S. has done to put us in that category, and not on Congresswoman Ilhan Omar for pointing it out.
