Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Image by Getty Images

After drawing criticism during her primary campaign for her harsh statements about Israel, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told PBS on Friday that she’s beginning to look at issues like the Israel-Palestinian conflict differently.

Ocasio-Cortez tweeted “This is a massacre…Democrats can’t be silent about this anymore” in May after Israel killed 60 Gazans on the border.

But appearing on the show “Firing Line,” Ocasio-Cortez’s stance appeared that have softened. She said that she wrote that tweet “as an activist,” and now promises to “learn and evolve on this issue,” admitting that she is not an expert on Middle East affairs.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

Ocasio-Cortez explained that she believes in Israel’s right to exist and advocates for a two-state solution. The tweet, she said, came from a humanitarian-crisis angle.

“For me, the lens through which I saw this incident, as an activist, as an organizer: If 60 people were killed in Ferguson, Missouri, if 60 people were killed in the South Bronx – unarmed – 60 people were killed in Puerto Rico … it would just be completely unacceptable if that happened on our shores,” she said.”

Ocasio-Cortez also referred to “the occupation of Palestine.” When asked by host Margaret Hoover what she meant by the phrase, Ocasio-Cortez got flustered and apologized: “I am not the expert on geo-politics on this issue…I may not use the right words.”

“I come from the South Bronx, I come from a Puerto Rican background. And Middle Eastern politics is not exactly at my kitchen table every night,” she said. “But I also recognize that this is an intensely-important issue for people in my district, for Americans across the country. And I think at least what is important to communicate is that I am willing to listen.”

Ocasio-Cortez won a historic upset victory in the Democratic primary in her congressional district in Queens and the Bronx in June and will likely sail to a general election victory in November.

Alyssa Fisher is a news writer at the Forward. Email her at [email protected], or follow her on Twitter at @alyssalfisher

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

2X match on all Passover gifts!

$90 → $180 $180 → $360

$360 → $720

Other amount