After coming under pressure from from pro-Palestinian activists, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the Democrat congresswoman from New York, withdrew her participation from an event in memory of an assassinated Israeli prime minister.
The event in honor of Yitzhak Rabin on the 25th anniversary of his assassination is scheduled for Oct. 20.
Americans for Peace Now announced that Ocasio-Cortez agreed to join the online event, but within one day of the announcement she reversed her decision after Palestinian activists called her participation showed “total contempt for Palestinian lives.”
“Palestinians remember (Rabin) for his brutal rule suppressing Palestinian protest during the First Intifada, as someone who reportedly ordered the breaking of Palestinian bones,” a reporter wrote on Twitter.
Ocasio-Cortez responded to the post: “This event and my involvement was presented to my team differently from how it’s now being promoted. Thanks for pointing it out. Taking a look into this now.”She withdrew from the event shortly after.
Of course, it was stupid to invite her in the first place, as she is not friend of Israel or the Jewish people.
“AOC sent a loud message to Jews who hoped that the increasingly influential activist wing of their party could be persuaded to line up with the Israeli left,” Jonathan Tobin wrote. “If, as many claim, Ocasio-Cortez represents the future of the Democratic (sic) Party, then that is a future in which it will be aligned with the BDS movement and opposed even to Israelis who cling to forlorn hopes for a two-state solution.”
Dan Shapiro, former U.S. ambassador to Israel, said it was a “very disappointing decision.”
“A mistake to give in to pressure, a missed opportunity to speak constructively to both sides of this conflict, honoring a peacemaker while acknowledging complexity,” he wrote on Twitter. “Hope she will try again & do better.”
Peace now, a left-wing Israeli NGO that promotes a two-state solution, noted its advocacy for Palestinians and called on AOC to reverse her decision again. Let me be clear, if you are to the left of Peace Now, and far left group, you are off the range completely.
“Are you really going to boycott us and all our work with Palestinians to support human rights and an end to the conflict, just because Rabin wasn’t a flawless idle after 5 decades of conflict?” a spokesman said wrote.
Ocasio-Cortez is one of four Democrats in congress who called on the U.S. to cut aid to Israel and has questioned traditional Democrat support for Israel.
