Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) got big pushback from a far-left political party she identifies with over a pro-Palestinian demonstration in the Big Apple just days after Palestinian-backed Hamas launched a bloody surprise attack on Israel, killing more than 1,100 people.
New York City’s Democratic Socialists of America promoted the rally that came just a day after the attack, with the party claiming to be “in solidarity with the Palestinian people and their right to resist 75 years of occupation and apartheid,” according to a post on the X platform which has since been deleted.
As reported by Politico Playbook, AOC responded to the rally with remarks that were upsetting to the DSA.
“It should not be hard to shut down hatred and antisemitism where we see it. That is a core tenet of solidarity,” she said.
“The bigotry and callousness expressed in Times Square on Sunday were unacceptable and harmful in this devastating moment. It also did not speak for the thousands of New Yorkers who are capable of rejecting both Hamas’ horrifying attacks against innocent civilians as well as the grave injustices and violence Palestinians face under occupation,” she added.
Nadia Tykulsker, the NYC DSA’s steering committee member, fired back on Monday, telling Politico Playbook that the rally was “at the request of a coalition partner because we believe in equality and justice for all Palestinians and Israelis, and we know that war will take more lives.”
Ilhan Omar, AOC, Cori Bush, Rashida Tlaib and the entire SQUAD should be expelled from Congress for their hateful rhetoric towards Israel.
— Brigitte Gabriel (@ACTBrigitte) October 8, 2023
“It is shameful that politicians in our state are exploiting this moment to target a socialist organization and divide the vibrant left in New York — whose sole aim in politics is to grow the power of working people for freedom against exploitation and oppression — instead of focusing our attention where it should be: on the atrocities and tragic loss of life in the region,” she added.
AOC Needs to answer for this
This is a DSA Promoted event
AOC Is a card carrying member of the DSA https://t.co/gDJSIdBdjW
— Tim Pool (@Timcast) October 9, 2023
Meanwhile, the domestically developed Iron Dome anti-missile system Israel is using to protect its cities and citizens from incoming rockets and missiles fired by Hamas forces was funded, in part, by the United States, but it wasn’t a decision that one of Congress’s most left-wing members approved of at the time.
The opposition by AOC, for instance, came into focus again after Hamas launched thousands of rockets into Israel last week while sending hundreds of fighters into Israeli communities to butcher residents and take hostages in a surprise attack that left more than 1,100 dead.
In September 2021, “AOC” cried on the floor of Congress after lawmakers passed a measure providing $1 billion in funding for Israel to continue development of the Iron Dome system, which was overwhelmed by the sheer number of rockets that Hamas fired from Gaza.
Fox News host Sean Hannity posted a ‘reminder’ via the X platform.
AOC Cries on the House Floor as Congress Passes $1 Billion in Funding for Israel’s Iron Dome https://t.co/ykBwfoY8BG
— Sean Hannity 🇺🇸 (@seanhannity) October 13, 2023
Newsmax TV host Eric Bolling also posted a video clip of the incident, which confused some X platform users who did not realize it took place two years ago.
AOC Cries on the House Floor as Congress Passes $1 Billion in Funding for Israel’s Iron Dome pic.twitter.com/30HANNsSzZ
— 🇺🇸 ERIC BOLLING 🇺🇸 (@ericbolling) October 13, 2023
The measure passed 420 to 9, meaning the vast majority of AOC’s party also voted in support of the funding.
A week after the vote, People Magazine interviewed her about the incident. The New York ‘Squad’ member claimed that she was frustrated and disappointed “that the bill was ‘rushed’ to a vote through a process that prevented the legislation from receiving the ‘usually-necessary committee debate, markup, or regular order.’”
She also complained that “for far too long, the U.S. has handed unconditional aid to the Israeli government” and that “Congress should take greater scrutiny with all military funding across the world.”
“Yes, I wept,” AOC said. “I wept at the complete lack of care for the human beings that are impacted by these decisions, I wept at an institution choosing a path of maximum volatility and minimum consideration for its own political convenience.
“And I wept at the complete lack of regard I often feel our party has to its most vulnerable and endangered members and communities — because the death threats and dangerous vitriol we’d inevitably receive by rushing such a sensitive, charged, and under-considered vote weren’t worth delaying it for even a few hours to help us do the work necessary to open a conversation of understanding.”
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