US congresswoman Ilhan Omar faced backlash on Thursday from her colleagues across the political party after her remarks about “unthinkable atrocities” committed by the US, Hamas, and the Taliban. Omar, one of the first two Muslim women elected to the US Congress, has antagonized or might have offended members of her Democratic Party in the past with comments that have decried as anti-semitic or anti-Israel.

Her recent criticism of the United States led to a rare public letter of disapproval from 12 Jewish House Democrats against a member of their own party, who wrote, “equating the United States and Israel to Hamas and the Taliban is as offensive as it is misguided.” Republicans and Democrats demand she clarify her remarks or call for punishment including being stripped of her committee assignments.

The group led by Brad Schneider of Illinois wrote, “The United States and Israel are imperfect and, like all democracies, at times deserving of critique, but false equivalencies give cover to terrorist groups, We urge Congresswoman Omar to clarify her words.”

Also Read | Its a wrap: Timeline of Israel’s political transition

On Monday Omar grilled Secretary of State Antony Blinken at a House hearing over accountability for victims of crimes against humanity. Then, she followed up with a tweet that read: “We have seen unthinkable atrocities committed by the US, Hamas, Israel, Afghanistan, and the Taliban.” Top House Republican Kevin McCarthy said that Omar’s anti-Semitic & anti-American comments are abhorrent.

Omar has repeatedly criticized Israel’s policies towards Palestine, she tweeted, “The Islamophobic tropes in this statement are offensive,” referring to the letter by the dozen lawmakers. She said her earlier remarks were related to an open case against Israel, the United States, Hamas, and the Taliban in the International Criminal court. Her comments triggered a firestorm, Omar also issued a statement insisting that they were not a moral comparison between the countries and she was not equating terrorist organizations with democratic countries with well-established judicial systems.

Also Read | ‘Don’t leave us behind’, Afghan interpreters urge US

Omar is a naturalized US citizen and was “welcome to leave” if she believed America was as hateful as the Taliban or Hamas, said Republican Senator Tom Cotton. He said Omar should be immediately removed from her committees, echoing several House Republicans demanding such action, especially the removal from the influential House Foreign Affairs Committee. After that more Democrats also began calling on Omar to tone down her rhetoric.

According to the Anti-Defamation League, anti-semitic attacks increased sharply in may in the United States amid a deadly conflict between Israel and the Islamist movement Hamas.

Rashida Tlaib, another Muslim woman in Congresssupported Omar and said she was tired of colleagues “demonizing” Omar. “Their obsession with policing her is sick,” Tlaib added.

Omar said she recently received death threats on Thursday and posted audio of a man threatening her staff and saying “Muslims are terrorists.”