In a first, 2 Muslim women get elected in US Congress


Chicago, Nov 7 (AFP): A onetime Somali refugee and the daughter of Palestinian immigrants shared the historic distinction Tuesday of becoming the first two Muslim women elected to the US Congress.

Both women -- Ilhan Omar, 37, and Rashida Tlaib, 42 -- are Democrats from the Midwest and outspoken advocates of minority communities that have found themselves in the sights of US President Donald Trump's anti-immigrant policies.

Omar won a House seat in a strongly Democratic district in Minneapolis, Minnesota, succeeding Keith Ellison who was himself the first Muslim ever elected to Congress.

Tlaib's victory was no surprise. She ran unopposed in a congressional district that stretches from Detroit to Dearborn, Michigan.

Their stories trace a similar trail-blazing rise through local politics.

Ilhan Omar

"I'm Muslim and black," the hijab-wearing Omar said in a recent magazine interview.

"I decided to run because I was one of many people I knew who really wanted to demonstrate what representative democracies are supposed to be," she said.

Omar fled Somalia's civil war with her parents at the age of eight and spent four years at a refugee camp in Kenya.

Her family settled in Minnesota in 1997, where there is a sizable Somali population.

She won a seat in the state's legislature in 2016, becoming the first Somali-American lawmaker in the country.

Before that, she had worked as a community organizer, a policy wonk for city leaders in Minneapolis, and as a leader in her local chapter of the NAACP -- the African-American civil rights group.

She decided to run for Congress after Ellison, who is also black, decided to give up his seat after 12 years in Congress to run for attorney general of Minnesota.

Omar has forged a progressive political identity. She supports free college education, housing for all, and criminal justice reform.

She opposes Trump's restrictive immigration policies, supports a universal health care system, and wants to abolish US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which has conducted deportation raids.

Rashida Tlaib

Rashida Tlaib is the Detroit-born daughter of Palestinian immigrants -- the eldest of 14 children.

A fighter who once heckled US President Donald Trump during a 2016 campaign stop in Detroit, she says she didn't run to make history as Muslim.

"I ran because of injustices and because of my boys, who are questioning their (Muslim) identity and whether they belong," Tlaib said in an US television interview in August.

"I've never been one to stand on the sidelines."

Like Omar, she blazed a trail through Michigan politics, becoming the first Muslim woman to serve in the Michigan state legislature in 2008.

In August, she emerged as the winner of a Democratic primary for a seat vacated by John Conyers, a long-time liberal lion who stepped down in December amid sexual harassment allegations and failing health.

With no Republican challenger in the race, Tlaib's election on Tuesday became a formality.

The seat she won is in a predominantly African-American congressional district with few Muslim voters.

She says her constituents were attracted to her progressive politics, which are the polar opposite of Republicans.

Tlaib has advocated for universal health care, a USD 15 national minimum wage, union protections, and tuition-free college education.

She also has been mindful of the historic nature of her candidacy.

During her tearful primary election victory speech in August, with her immigrant mother by her side, she said relatives in the West Bank were watching her success.

"It just shows how incredibly wonderful our country can be," she said.

  

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Comment on this article

  • Sandy, Udupi

    Wed, Nov 07 2018

    Tlaib, Eldest of 14 children!!!! OMG, OMG.

    DisAgree Agree [9] Reply Report Abuse

  • Nc, Mangalore

    Wed, Nov 07 2018

    Why showing like muslim elected,christians elected ,hindu elected .all are same

    DisAgree [2] Agree [5] Reply Report Abuse

  • Don D, Kudupu Mnangalore

    Wed, Nov 07 2018

    In western democracies as well as in India all citizens, irrespective of their faith and gender, have equal right to contest elections and win. However in majority of Muslim countries the citizens of minority faiths are not able to contest electiona and win. There is so much of discrimination against the minorities. In Saudi Arabia the Hindus, Sikhs and Christians have no place of worship even. In Pakistan, Egypt and many other Muslim countries Christians are mercilessly persecuted. Let the Muslim countries also show tolerance and allow freedom of religion in their nations. Let there be peace and justice everywhere. Amen

    DisAgree [1] Agree [12] Reply Report Abuse

  • SMR, Karkala

    Wed, Nov 07 2018

    In Pakistan election, Muslim-majority areas elected 3 Hindu candidates and Hindu woman elected to Pakistan's senate in historic first.

    In a first, 2 Muslim women get elected in US Congress.

    The world is changing but PM Modi India which celebrated 'Triple Talaq' liberating Muslim women can't even add one more name other than late Sikandar, Shanawaz and Abbas Naqvi.

    In Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, MP, Rajasthan not an even single ticket to the minorities of India.

    This RSS-BJP way of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam(the world is one family).

    Jai Hind

    DisAgree [6] Agree [5] Reply Report Abuse

  • John Tauro, M'luru / Kwt

    Wed, Nov 07 2018

    In Pakistan MPs from minority communities are appointed by the President, not elected.

    DisAgree Agree [8] Reply Report Abuse

  • SMR, Karkala

    Wed, Nov 07 2018

    John Tauro, M'luru / Kwt
    Sir, All the three candidates won from the general seats for the first time ever in the history of Pakistan.
    Mahesh Malani won a National Assembly seat from Tharparkar (NA-222) , while Hari Ram Kishwari Lal and Jamshoro's Giyanoo Mal alias Giyan Chand Essrani were elected from the provincial assembly seats PS-147 and PS-81, respectively, the Daily Times reported.
    The woman, Krishna Kumari, 39, a human rights activist and member of the Pakistan Peoples Party, was elected as a senator. The governing party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, emerged as the largest party in Senate elections, ahead of the Pakistan Peoples Party.
    Senators are elected by members of provincial assemblies rather than through a direct vote by citizens. The Senate is a body of 104 lawmakers, and 52 seats were up for election.

    When such a conservative country like Pakistan is paving way for marginalized Hindus, PM Modi India now going in the direction of Taliban Pakistan.

    Today it may be minority Muslims in India, tomorrow marginalized Dalits and Christian turned. But it is a wake-up call for the minority of India. Moreover, this is the beginning toward second-class citizen treatment as prescribed by RSS Gurujis.
    Jai Hind

    DisAgree [5] Agree [2] Reply Report Abuse

  • Sc, Mangalore

    Wed, Nov 07 2018

    Right said ji

    DisAgree Agree [1] Report Abuse

  • David Pais, Mangalore

    Wed, Nov 07 2018

    women r rebellious. men r not rebellious. men can beat woman wives written in the book.

    DisAgree [4] Agree [2] Reply Report Abuse

  • Avil Dev, Mangalore

    Wed, Nov 07 2018

    The whole world is regretting to host refugees from these countries, US has never learnt its lesson,

    DisAgree [8] Agree [18] Reply Report Abuse

  • Jossey Saldanha, Mumbai

    Wed, Nov 07 2018

    Politics has no Religion ...

    DisAgree [7] Agree [13] Reply Report Abuse

  • John Tauro, M'luru / Kwt

    Wed, Nov 07 2018

    Not so in all countries.

    DisAgree [2] Agree [9] Reply Report Abuse

  • Raj, Barakur

    Wed, Nov 07 2018

    Rashida Tlaib is the Detroit-born daughter of Palestinian immigrants -- the eldest of 14 children. Multiply at tax payers money.... when will US learn its mistakes.

    eye opener for Muslim countries. specially for Pakistan, Egypt..

    DisAgree [19] Agree [35] Reply Report Abuse

  • Salah, Abu Dhabi

    Wed, Nov 07 2018

    Dear Raj,

    are you the tax payer in that country?

    DisAgree [24] Agree [20] Reply Report Abuse

  • Jossey Saldanha, Mumbai

    Wed, Nov 07 2018

    Raj is a Blind Modi Bhakt ...

    DisAgree [21] Agree [16] Reply Report Abuse

  • Suman, Udupi

    Wed, Nov 07 2018

    Same thing is going on in this country too. Multiplication at taxpayers ‘expense

    DisAgree Agree [7] Reply Report Abuse

  • Rolf, Dubai

    Wed, Nov 07 2018

    Cheddis are good in trackracording size. weight height .inisted of peeping. please focus on your ceddi sooner or later you will abandoned it.

    DisAgree [8] Agree [6] Reply Report Abuse

  • SAMAR, mangalore

    Wed, Nov 07 2018

    56 INCH MODI BHAKTH,,,,,,, GOD PLEASE SAVE INDIA

    DisAgree [3] Agree [7] Reply Report Abuse


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