A former Miss Iraq beauty queen tangled with leftist Rep. Ilhan Omar on social media after saying the freshman congresswoman did not represent Muslims and that in Arab countries she would be labeled “the Muslim Brotherhood”.
Beauty queen Sarah Idan has lived in fear of her life since she published a selfie together with Miss Isreal during the Miss Universe contest in 2017, with the Iraqi government then threatening to withdraw her citizenship.
Idan, who grew up under the theocratic regime of Saddam Hussein, said that as a moderate Muslim, she said she is concerned with Rep. Ilhan Omar’s words and actions.
“Omar does not represent me as a Muslim, does not represent millions of Muslims in the middle in the Middle East,“ said Idan, adding: ”In Arab countries, we call her the Muslim Brotherhood.”
Idan shot back: “I said as a MUSLIM! I don’t stand for your anti-American, anti-Semitic, Muslim Brotherhood agenda using this democracy to further YOUR & YOUR FRIENDS Islamic socialism goals of dividing and weakening our country.”
Omar has not responded directly to Idan’s remark, but used an emoji in an apparent endorsement of another Twitter post that said: “Just because Ilhan Oman is a Muslim she should be representative of all muslims? She is not running in elections as a muslim, but as an American for a district. She only represents them.”
Idan responded again: “It’s clear that @IlhanMN will dismiss your voice and hardships as a Muslim immigrant of color simply if you don’t live in Minnesota #MN05 but she has repeatedly represented the Muslim Brotherhood and their affiliates.”
Omar has so far not responded further.
Idan later wrote in another Tweet. “I fled from the same ideology you’re trying to export here.”
Idan appeared to suggest that Omar’s ideology was in tune with that of the Muslim Brotherhood, but did not suggest she was actually a member of any of the specific branches of the movement, many of which are designated as terrorist organizations by the United States.
Explaining what the Muslim Brotherhood is to Sara Carter she said, “You know, the thing is about this organization they are extremist Muslims, they’re Jihadis. They have this ideology that they want to control the world.”
In yet another Tweet, Idan said that no liberal female public figures defended her and she was struggling with threats of violence and the government seeking to revoke her citizenship after she took her infamous selfie with Miss Israel back in 2017.
Idan said that she was brainwashed to hate American’s under the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein, but her attitude changed when she met American troops during the 2003 invasion, becoming a translator at the age of eighteen.
One organization supported by Omar, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), as referenced by Idan, has been dogged by accusations of supporting terrorism since its inception.
CAIR, which claims to be a civil rights campaign group for Muslims in a post-911 world, has always denied the accusations.
In 2006, CAIR settled a libel suit against anti-CAIR, with prejudice, thus, according to the National Review “implicitly acknowledging the accuracy of Anti-CAIR’s assertions”. Those assertions included being partially funded by terrorists, being founded by terrorists, and backing terrorist-supporting groups and nations.