AOC Compares Treatment of Palestinians to Immigrants at Southern Border
'Imbalance of power' must be addressed, Democrat insists
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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has compared the conditions experienced by Palestinians to that of migrant children at the southern border.
AOC criticized the escalating military conflict between Israel and Hamas terrorist militants on Thursday.
The Democrat argued the country "must acknowledge its role in the injustice and human rights violations."
She said the "imbalance of power" between Israel and Palestinians must be addressed.
Ocasio-Cortez and other "squad" members accused Biden of ignoring human rights violations while supporting Israel.
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"We have to have the courage to name our contributions, and sometimes I can’t help but wonder if the reason we don’t do that if we’re scared to stand up to the incarceration of children in Palestine is because maybe it’ll force us to confront the incarceration here at our border," Ocasio-Cortez said.
"If, by standing up to the injustices there, it will prompt us to stand up to the injustices here."
WATCH:
.@AOC in a speech on House floor: "This is not about both sides. This is about an imbalance of power." AOC adds: "The president stated that Israel has a right to self-defense... But do Palestinians have a right to survive?" pic.twitter.com/ybIwzINUvk
— Jacob Kornbluh (@jacobkornbluh) May 13, 2021
Hamas militants launched rocket attacks toward Jerusalem, which sparked fighting.
Israeli military responded with retaliatory strikes.
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In a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Biden re-affirmed America’s support for Israel earlier this week.
Biden said Israel has "a right to defend itself against thousands of rockets flying into your territory."
Ocasio-Cortez again referred to Biden’s comments during her floor speech.
"The president and many other figures this week stated that Israel has a right to self-defense, and this is a sentiment that is echoed across this body."
"But do Palestinians have a right to survive? Do we believe that, and if so, we have a responsibility to that as well," she said.
On Thursday, the head of the Yamina party and Israel's Knesset member, Naftali Bennett, warned Hamas to stop attacking Israel or risk the annihilation of its leadership.
“It’s up to Hamas as long as Hamas keeps [attacking Israel] in order to murder Israelis across the state — by the way, Arabs and Jews alike,” Bennett said.
