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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Is A Strong Critic Of Israel

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the insurgent firebrand who Tuesday toppled the No. 4 Democrat in the House of Representatives, is a strong critic of Israel who denounced the killings of Palestinian protesters as a “massacre.”

Ocasio-Cortez, 28, stunned the political world by decisively beating Joe Crowley, a Queens powerbroker who had been mentioned as a possible future candidate for Speaker of the House.

With about 90% of precincts reporting, Ocasio-Cortez was ahead by 58%-to-42%, making Crowley the first incumbent Democrat to lose his seat this year.

Ocasio-Cortez said she feels as strongly about the killings in Gaza as she would if the slain protesters were in Ferguson, Missouri or in Puerto Rico, where her family has roots.

“Especially in New York people say this is political suicide,” Ocasio-Cortez told Glenn Greenwald of the Intercept, referring to her criticism of Israel. “But I had a lot of my constituents thanking me for taking that position. I had a lot of Jewish Americans who thanked me.”

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