BDS Supporter Ilhan Omar: ‘Sanctions Are … Failed Foreign Policy’

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), who supports sanctions against Israel, has published an op-ed in Thursday’s Washington Post that attacks President Donald Trump’s use of sanctions as “part of a failed foreign policy playbook.”

Omar came out in support of the anti-Israel “boycott, divestment, sanctions” (BDS) movement shortly after being elected to Congress in 2018 (and after misleading voters during the campaign into believing she did not support BDS).

She also co-sponsored a House resolution earlier this year supporting the BDS movement. Israel barred her from entering the country in August, in accordance with an Israeli law that prevents BDS supporters from visiting.

In her Post op-ed, Omar attacks sanctions against Turkey — even though they led to that country accepting a cease-fire with Kurds in northern Syria — and argues that sanctions are an overly punitive and counter-productive tool:

Kansas Senate rivals distance themselves from party leaders in fiery debate

Omar Wouldn’t Say For Sure Her Ex-Husband Wasn’t Her Brother: ‘Not to My Knowledge’

Mass firings vow sparks clash with Klobuchar over Walz fraud legacy

Trump warns Democrats ‘want to burn it all down’ in South Carolina pitch

Abdul el Sayed, Mike Rogers clash over MAGA, Muslim Brotherhood in final Michigan Senate debate

Florida attorney accused of threatening to shoot ICE agents while trying to buy gun

Is ‘Ilhan Omar’ a Fake Name? New Court Filing Identifying Omar’s Alias Has Americans Questioning Her Real Name

El-Sayed erupts at GOP rival over Muslim Brotherhood accusations in fiery Senate debate

California Driver Crashed While Watching X-Rated Content – Police Say She Killed a Retired Sunday School Teacher

DOJ urged to investigate Slotkin over threats to young professionals seeking work in Trump administration

Retired NYPD detective charged with murder in George Washington Bridge shooting of Con Ed worker: officials

France in flames is preview of what ‘DSA’ Democrats want for US, senator warns

Popular Food Delivery App Will Pay Millions After DOJ Says American Gig Workers Were Discriminated Against

Records Show Minnesota’s Democratic Senate Nominee Peggy Flanagan Lied About Her Past: Report

US pulls personnel from Saudi Arabia as kingdom comes under Houthi fire

In so much of our foreign policy, we rely on muscle memory and a limited toolbox to decide the best course of action. And, too often, sanctions regimes are ill considered, incoherent and counterproductive.

Research has shown that sanctions rarely achieve their desired goals. In the worst-case scenario, they hurt the people of a country — generally the very people we’re purporting to help — without making a dent in the country’s behavior. And in the case of human rights abusers, research suggests that more abuses typically occur with economic sanctions in place than without them.

Sanctions are not meant to be an end in themselves, but we too often use them as a lever without a plan for what comes after, whether they achieve the desired result or not.

Omar also attacks U.S. sanctions against Iran and Venezuela. She does not attempt to explain why Israel alone is deserving of sanctions, or why the reasoning she applies to other countries does not apply to the Jewish state.