Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that Israel had “crossed the threshold of intent” and was causing genocide in Gaza.
On the House floor, Ocasio-Cortez said, “If you want to know what an unfolding genocide looks like, open your eyes. It looks like the force famine of 1.1 million in a sense. We must write our story in this moment of what it means and who we are as Americans and our story must be not that we were good men who did nothing now.”
Host Jake Tapper said, “Clearly not enough aid is getting in. Clearly the conditions for the Palestinian people are horrific and much more needs to be done. Genocide is a word that has serious and specific connotations and allegations. It’s defined by the intent to destroy in whole or in part national, ethnic, racial, or religious group. So just to clarify here, you believe the Israeli military, the Israeli government are actively trying they intend to destroy the Palestinian people and not that what’s happening is horrible. But it’s happening because Israel is going after the terrorists of Hamas who attacked them on October 7 and Hamas embed heads within the civilian population?”
Ocasio-Cortez said, “You’re absolutely right, this word is extremely serious. It’s one that’s taken with extraordinary gravity and to me the threshold of intent is a high one. It is a serious one and is not one that is made lightly. However, when we look at the precipice of what is happening with a forced famine of 1.1 million Gazans. Multiple governments NGOs, and even officials within the United States State Department have stated themselves plainly that the Israeli government and leaders in the Israeli government are intentionally denying blocking and slow walking this aid in and are precipitating a mass famine I believe we have crossed the threshold of intent. It is horrific. I think it is extremely clear and it is extremely important that all people understand the difference between people and their governments Israelis and the Israeli government, Palestinians from Hamas. But what we are seeing here, I think with a forced famine is beyond our ability to deny or explain away. There is no targeting of Hamas in precipitated a mass famine of 1 million people, half of whom are children.”
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