Hello Rulers! Magazine intern Anna here filling in for Sophie again! This week, we’re looking at how the Israel-Hamas conflict is already impacting elections stateside. Let’s hop in.
As the war between Israel and Hamas continues and 2024 elections approach, the conflict has become a major talking point for campaigns and taking a public stance on the issue has become extremely divisive.
In one Minnesota district, which includes Minneapolis, two Muslim women with staunchly opposing viewpoints on the Israel-Hammas conflict are facing off for a House seat: Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Dalia al-Aqidi, a Republican and longtime broadcast journalist.
This is the first time two Muslims Americans are running against each other for a congressional seat, and it’s in a district with a significant Muslim population.
But Al-Aqidi, a native of Iraq who fled Saddam Hussein’s brutal regime in 1988, says that distinction shouldn’t matter. She’d rather focus on the issues: She’s pro-school choice, wants to eliminate Critical Race Theory from being taught in classrooms (even though it is mainly taught just at the university level), reduce inflation and secure our borders.
More than anything, however, she is staunchly pro-Israel and rejects the notion of Islamophobia, because, she says, she refuses to play the “identity politics game.”
“My religion should not matter to anyone but myself,” al-Aqidi tells Women Rule. “If I was a white woman, if I was a Black woman, if I was a white man, saying what I’m saying now? I’d be called a white supremacist, a hater, a racist, a bigot.”
Her strong support for Israel runs contrary to the views of most Arab Americans. A new poll from the Arab American Institute found that among Arab Americans, support for the Palestinian cause is high. Sixty-eight percent of Arab Americans support a ceasefire in Gaza and think the U.S. should stop sending military supplies to Israel. Since the conflict between Hamas and Israel escalated on Oct. 7, Arab Americans’ support for President Joe Biden’s reelection in 2024 has plummeted by 42 percent — from 59 percent to 17 percent in less than a month — as a result of his “rock-solid” support for Israel. The study also found a sharp uptick in reports of discrimination against the community.
al-Aqidi launched her campaign three weeks ago because she feels strongly that the people in her district should not be represented by Omar. As al-Aqidi sees it, Omar is antisemitic because she voted against a House resolution supporting Israel in its conflict with Hamas.
Omar’s office declined to comment, but in a statement last week, Omar said that while she “mourns the lives taken by Hamas,” she voted against the resolution because it failed to “acknowledge and mourn the lives of Palestinians taken by the Israeli military” as well.
I talked to al-Aqidi as she was touring Israel, meeting with Israeli leaders and praying for peace in houses of worship of differing faiths.
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Canizales: Tell me why you’re in Israel now and what your main concerns are at this moment.
al-Aqidi: Well, I came here during the war time to show solidarity with our allies, to show my support to the people of Israel, to the Jewish people. I wanted to add the message to them that they are not alone, that the Jewish people are suffering just like other religious groups, just like the moderate Muslims.
The whole world is suffering from radical Islamism and the whole world is suffering from terrorism. So they’re not alone. I came from ground zero of antisemitism led by Ilhan Omar. So I feel it’s my duty to come here and to convey a message from the people in her district: that with her support for Hamas and her refusal to condemn Hamas or to even call Hamas a terrorist group, she does not represent the people of the fifth district in Minnesota.
Canizales: You’ve come out strongly in support of Israel, which is a somewhat unusual stance for a Muslim American. What led you to this point?
al-Aqidi: Let me tell you. While I was here, Ilhan Omar voted against the U.S. House resolution that condemned Hamas. And that tells you a lot about who Ilhan Omar is. I come here as a Muslim, as someone who understands what it means to be a radical Muslim. Unfortunately, the majority of people in the United States cannot comprehend the difference between being a Muslim or being an extremist.
And of course that came from the narrative of [Rep.] Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Ilhan Omar, that if you criticize radical Islamism it means you criticize Muslims. For years, they’ve been trying to indoctrinate the Muslim community and the Middle Eastern community in the United States.
I’m Muslim and I was here when 9/11 happened. I was not muted just because I was a Muslim. I was not mistreated because of my identity or because of my religion. I love America. I came to America because I fled the hostility and oppression in the Middle East. I don’t want to come here and be oppressed by so-called Muslims.
Canizales: What has been the response from the Arab American community in your district about your stance on the Israel-Hamas conflict?
al-Aqidi: I’ve been going back to the district and I get messages from people on my phone and on my Twitter and on my email, and let me tell you, I’m not making this up. I talk to my neighbors, I talk to people in grocery stores, I talk to my hairdresser. Minnesota is not antisemitic as people think just because Ilhan Omar represents it.
But radical Islamism is not the only issue I’m running on. One of the big issues we’re suffering from in this district is public safety and security. Ilhan Omar was the frontrunner to defund the police, and I promised my constituents when I get elected, I’ll work on rebuilding the police force.
Canizales: This is a unique faceoff for a congressional seat because it is between two Muslim women. What do you make of that, and do you see Omar as your contemporary?
al-Aqidi: Look: identity politics is Ilhan Omar’s game; it’s not mine. I’m running not because I’m a Muslim; I’m running not because I’m an immigrant; I’m running because I’m an American. I don’t like to play identity politics.
Canizales: The country seems to be very divided now over this issue. Some people have lost their jobs or have had job offers rescinded because of the stance they’ve taken on this issue. Do you worry that this will further inflame the country as we head into the 2024 presidential election? Are we getting into a situation where people will be censored?
al-Aqidi: We conservatives are the targets of the cancel culture. We are the ones being censored. You know what? I’m against that. When you are a supporter of a terrorist group, you are a terrorist. Unless we want terrorists to flourish in our country, which they are, by the way, coming from our open borders. I came here legally, I went through the right channels.
Canizales: You’ve been very clear that you are against terrorism and violence in any form. What do you think of Israel’s airstrikes in Gaza over the last weeks?
al-Aqidi: I’ve been a war reporter for years, I’ve covered terrorist attacks. I’ve even covered ISIS and Al-Qaeda. If you combine the atrocities of ISIS and the atrocities of Al-Qaeda, it would not reach the level of what Hamas did in Israel after October 7.
(Editor’s note: A 2016 U.N. report found that during the Iraq war, more than 18,000 civilians were killed in ISIS-related violence over a two-year period; 1,400 Israeli civilians were reportedly killed in the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre.)
Having said that, how do I feel about the conflict? It breaks my heart when I see Palestinian babies and children crying and suffering. But these are not the victims of Israel; these are the victims of Hamas.
Canizales: Are you worried about increased Islamophobia and/or antisemitism in your district?
al-Aqidi: I refuse to use the term Islamophobia, but I am afraid for both sides. I refuse to connect anti-Muslim with antisemitism. It’s okay if we talk about antisemitism without talking about [being] anti-Muslim. All lives matter, and the Jewish lives matter to all of us.
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