US Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) participates in a news conference, outside the US Capitol in Washington, DC, April 10, 2019. Photo: Reuters / Jim Bourg
US Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) continued to castigate Israel’s military operations against Hamas over the past week, calling for the Biden administration to change its approach to what they described as a so-called “genocide” in Gaza.
While speaking to progressive journalist Mehdi Hasan at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) last week, Omar, one of the most vocal anti-Israel lawmakers in Congress, suggested that the White House should force a ceasefire between the Jewish state and Hamas by blocking further arms shipments to the former.
“You said at a protest this week that saying you’re relentlessly working on a ceasefire is not really a thing,” said Hasan, an outspoken critic of Israel himself, in reference to the Biden administration’s efforts to achieve a truce in Gaza.
“Right, because we actually are like the ones who control these weapons,” said Omar, a member of the so-called “Squad” of anti-Israel, far-left lawmakers in the US House of Representatives.
Hasan noted that fellow “Squad” member Ocasio-Cortez praised the White House for “relentlessly” working on a ceasefire while addressing the audience on the mainstage at the 2024 DNC in Chicago. Hasan claimed that Ocasio-Cortez’s comments incited backlash from the so-called “anti-war movement.”
Omar argued that “no one should fall for” the “narrative” that US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee, are doing everything within their power to secure a ceasefire deal between Israel and the Hamas terrorist group.
“It’s not a rhetoric that makes any sense, right? Because, if you are working tirelessly to end this war, you would start stopping sending them weapons,” Omar said. “And to me, the no more bombs sentiment makes more sense in the pursuit of a ceasefire than saying we are working everyday to guarantee a ceasefire.”
During last week’s DNC, Omar engaged in a sit-in protest with members of the Uncommitted Movement — an initiative which encourages Democratic voters not to support Harris until she adopts anti-Israel policies. The protest was held in response to the DNC for allegedly refusing to give a Palestinian American speaking time during the convention.
Amid blistering criticism from progressives over her defense of the Biden administration’s ceasefire negotiations, Ocasio-Cortez reiterated her unsubstantiated position that Israel has committed “genocide” in Gaza. Chatting with New York City Council Member Chi Osse at the DNC, she argued that though neither major political party “is good on Palestine,” the Republican Party would be unambiguously worse.
“Neither party’s official platform in my opinion is good on Palestine. I don’t think either party right now is doing justice to Palestinians,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “That doesn’t mean that they’re the same. I think that a Donald Trump presidency would be absolutely catastrophic. I mean, he’s coming out here saying finish the job of a genocide.”
Ocasio-Cortez continued, suggesting that the Biden administration has worsened the humanitarian situation in Gaza by “continuing to provide weapons to Israel that have been dropping on innocent Gazans.”
During the DNC, Ocasio-Cortez posed for a photo with the father of Itay Chen, an American hostage in Gaza. The photo sparked swift backlash among the anti-Israel political left and caused some observers to speculate that the progressive firebrand had moderated her position on Israel.
Since being elected to Congress in 2018, both Omar and Ocasio-Cortez have emerged as harsh critics of Israel. They have accused the Jewish state of committing “ethnic cleansing” in Gaza and erecting an “apartheid” government in the West Bank. The lawmakers have also expressed support for the boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement (BDS), an initiative which seeks to turn the Jewish state into an international pariah as a first step to its eventual destruction.
Omar and Ocasio-Cortez were among the first members of Congress to call for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, arguing that the Jewish state’s military operations “indiscriminately” killed Palestinian civilians.
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