Far-left Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has finally accused Israel of committing a “genocide” against Palestinians in Gaza.
During a speech on the House floor on Friday, the New York representative accused the Biden administration of being compicit in “mass killing.”
“If you want to know what an unfolding genocide looks like, open your eyes,” she declared. “It looks like the forced famine of 1.1 million innocents. It looks like thousands of children eating grass as their bodies consume themselves, while trucks of food are slowed and halted just miles away.”
“[We] must fulfill our obligations to the American people to suspend the transfer of US weapons to the Israeli government in order to stop and prevent further atrocities,” she continued. “Honoring our alliances does not mean facilitating mass killing.”
BREAKING: AOC just gave a powerful speech demanding a suspension in the transfer of U.S. weapons to Israel. “If you want to know what an unfolding genocide looks like, open your eyes!” pic.twitter.com/clK5OiNBRH
— Omar Baddar عمر بدّار (@OmarBaddar) March 22, 2024
Ocasio-Cortez had previously declined to explicitly use the word “genocide” to describe events in Gaza, unlike some of her other pro-Palestinian colleagues.
“The fact that this word is even in play, the fact that this word is even in our discourse, I think, demonstrates the mass inhumanity that Gazans are facing,” she said in an interview NBC last month.
“I think what we are seeing here is that the Netanyahu government has lost public support and that we have a responsibility to protect the human rights and the humanity of Gazans and hostages alike in the area.”
Ocasio-Cortez has come under increasing pressure by her supporters over recent months to step up her criticism of Israel’s war against Hamas.
Earlier this month, a group of anti-Israel activists ambushed her at a movie theater in Brooklyn with her fiancé Riley Roberts, causing her to flip out in anger.
Brooklyn — Leftist congresswoman @AOC was confronted and chased out of a cinema by leftist protesters who want her to more strongly condemn Israel. Ocasio-Cortez had previously advocated for protest tactics that make targets “uncomfortable.” pic.twitter.com/6yNaOD64c7
— Andy Ngô ️ (@MrAndyNgo) March 5, 2024
The Biden administration, meanwhile, continues to provide lukewarm support to Israel. However, Biden has failed in his attempts to prevent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from proceeding with an invasion of Rafah, having previously described the matter as a “red line.”
