Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) was seen weeping after being frustrated by a member of her party to prevent funding of Israel’s Iron Dome defense system. She said that she had changed her vote to ‘present’ on the funding bill because she was seized by the horror and panic of the moment.
Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez was one of the just 11 representatives who did not support the $1B funding for the Iron Dome. 420 representatives had voted for the bill. Other Democrats who opposed the bill included Ayanna Pressley, Ilhan Omar, and Rashida Tlaib. Tlaib has also indicted Israel of war crimes and human rights abuse during the discussion on the floor of the House on Thursday.
She wrote to her constituents explaining that she had wanted to vote ‘no’ as she was opposed to giving unconditional aid to Israel for its horrific human rights record against the Palestinians. She, however, did not explain the reason for the switch to ‘present.’
The funding, done at the request of Israel, is for the replenishment of the defense system that was used up in the fight against Hamas in Gaza this May.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has said that she opposed the way that her party leadership had at first tried to slip the Iron Dome funding into the emergency stopgap spending bill this week. She, along with other progressive Democrats had forced their leadership to delink the funding from the bill. It led to a standalone vote for the defense system funding.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Says She Wept For The Total Lack Of Care For The Palestinians
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said that she had cried at the total lack of care for the people impacted by the decision. She also expressed her frustration at the lack of regard her party had for the endangered and vulnerable members of communities.
She felt that her country had for long given unconditional support to Israel but had done nothing to speak against or address the continuous human rights abuses suffered by the Palestinians.
