A New York Jewish advocacy group blasted Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) Sunday, after she accused Israel of putting Arab children in cages in Judea and Samaria.
Last week, Ocasio-Cortez spoke at an Austin, Texas gathering of the Democratic Socialists of America.
Following comments by pro-Palestinian protesters at the event, Ocasio-Cortez accused Israel of putting Arab children in Judea and Samaria in cages, saying: “I don’t believe that a child should be in a cage on our border, and I don’t believe a child should be in a cage in the West Bank.”
On Sunday, the Queens Jewish Community Council responded to Ocasio-Cortez’s comments, accusing her of smearing the Jewish state.
“The Queens Jewish community is concerned when a local elected official makes spurious and reckless suggestions aimed at Israel,” Michael Nussbaum, president of the Queens Jewish Community Council, told The New York Post.
“Bombastic suggestions and lies are dangerous when spewed by sitting politicians anywhere on the political spectrum. When the far left mimics the far right in lies and exaggerations, democracy and dialogue suffers.”
“AOC is always asking for the `other side’ to understand her positions and that of the DSA and the BDS followers who wish to eliminate Israel from the Middle East map.”
During her Austin visit last week, Ocasio-Cortez stumped for several far-left House candidates, making several public addresses.
The congresswoman publicly addressed the Israel-Arab conflict more than once during her visit, claiming in one speech that “Palestine is basically a banned word – it’s censored. We don’t talk about it. No one knows about it.”
“We shouldn’t allow people’s humanity to be censored.”
In 2019, Ocasio-Cortez drew criticism from Jewish groups both in the US and Israel after she compared federal detention facilities near the US southern border for illegal immigrants to “concentration camps”.
"The United States is running concentration camps on our southern border, and that is exactly what they are,” Ocasio-Cortez said during a Instagram live post.
Ocasio-Cortez doubled down on the comparison, following criticism from Republicans.
"Since you're so eager to 'educate me,' I'm curious: What do YOU call building mass camps of people being detained without a trial? How would you dress up DHS's mass separation of thousands children at the border from their parents?"