Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is defending her speech accusing Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip — two weeks after she was accosted in public by anti-Israel hecklers for her decision not to use the word.
Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) had long been fiercely critical of the Jewish State’s policies toward the Palestinians, but had largely refrained from invoking the term “genocide” directly until last Friday during a speech on the House floor.
Other progressive kindred spirits, including fellow members of the so-called “Squad” had already accused Israel of committing a genocide.
“This word is extremely serious. It’s one that’s taken with extraordinary gravity. And to me the threshold of intent is a high one,” the congresswoman told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.
“However, when we look at the precipice of what is happening with a forced famine of 1.1 million Gazans…I believe we have crossed the threshold of intent,” she went on, emphasizing that multiple governments and organizations have accused Israel of hamstringing critical aid to the Palestinians.
“What we are seeing here, I think, with a forced famine is beyond our ability to deny or explain away.”
Earlier this month, pro-Palestinian protesters accosted the congresswoman and her fiancé Riley Roberts outside a Brooklyn movie theater for stopping short of dubbing the war a “genocide.”
AOC lost her cool when confronted and dropped an f-bomb, telling them she had labeled the war a genocide before.
“I already said that it was and y’all are just gonna pretend that it wasn’t over and over again. It’s f–ked up, man,” she told one most protester who recorded her with an iPhone.
“And you’re not helping these people, you’re not helping them.”
On CNN, Ocasio-Cortez said “We and the Israeli government have a right to go after Hamas,” but cautioned that there’s “a population of millions of innocent Palestinians” caught in the crosshairs.
Hamas launched a bloody surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that killed 1,200 Israelis, triggering the brutal war. Hamas also has a long history of targeting civilians.
Famine has been projected in northern Gaza “anytime between mid-March and May 2024,” according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification.
The Israel-Hamas war has become a major flashpoint on the left, with over 100,000 voters writing in “uncommitted” in Michigan, Minnesota and elsewhere during the Democratic primary in protest against President Biden’s support for Israel.
Amid that mounting political pressure, Biden has shifted his tone, calling Israel’s actions “over the top” and warning Israel not to invade the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians have sought refuge, without a robust plan for civilians in place.
Earlier this month, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), the highest-ranking elected Jewish official in the US, called for new elections in Israel in a stunning rebuke of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Ocasio-Cortez also weighed in on the internal strife afflicting the House Republican conference.
Last Friday, around the time Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) wrangled through the last tranche of government funding, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) threatened to oust him.
“I think that Democrats will work as a team. I am not inclined to vote for a Speaker Johnson. I’m not inclined to vote for an individual for speaker who doesn’t believe in women’s rights,” Ocasio-Cortez said, rattling through a litany of grievances with Johnson.
“My vote would most likely be for a Speaker Jeffries which becomes an increasingly likely reality day after day as Republicans pursue further mid-term resignations.”
She urged Democrats musing about throwing Johnson a lifeline, not to “do that for free” or “out of sympathy for Republicans.”
The House of Representatives has adjourned for a two-week recess.
