https://thehill.com/homenews/455288...ieve-we-have-crossed-the-threshold-of-intent/
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) on Sunday defended her claim that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, arguing the humanitarian situation in the enclave has “crossed the threshold of intent.”
Asked by CNN anchor Jake Tapper about her labeling of Israel’s wartime actions as “genocide,” Ocasio-Cortez said, “The 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 it 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 — where multiple governments, [nongovernmental organizations], 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 and are precipitating a mass famine — I believe we have crossed the threshold of intent,” she said.
The comments come days after her House floor speech Friday, when she called on the Biden administration to halt military aid to Israel and described the nation’s bombardment of Gaza as an “unfolding genocide.”
“If you want to know what an unfolding genocide looks like, open your eyes,” Ocasio-Cortez said on the House floor. “It looks like the forced famine of 1.1 million innocents. It looks like thousands of children eating grass as their bodies consume themselves, while trucks of food are slowed and halted just miles away.”
She doubled down on these comments Sunday, telling Tapper, “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 precipitating a mass famine of a million people, half of whom are children,” she continued.
The World Food Programme last week warned famine is “imminent” in the northern part of the Gaza Strip as the territory’s population experiences crisis levels of food availability. The agency said about 300 aid trucks are needed in Gaza to address the issues, but only nine convoys were permitted to enter since the start of the year.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) on Sunday defended her claim that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, arguing the humanitarian situation in the enclave has “crossed the threshold of intent.”
Asked by CNN anchor Jake Tapper about her labeling of Israel’s wartime actions as “genocide,” Ocasio-Cortez said, “The 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 it 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 — where multiple governments, [nongovernmental organizations], 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 and are precipitating a mass famine — I believe we have crossed the threshold of intent,” she said.
The comments come days after her House floor speech Friday, when she called on the Biden administration to halt military aid to Israel and described the nation’s bombardment of Gaza as an “unfolding genocide.”
“If you want to know what an unfolding genocide looks like, open your eyes,” Ocasio-Cortez said on the House floor. “It looks like the forced famine of 1.1 million innocents. It looks like thousands of children eating grass as their bodies consume themselves, while trucks of food are slowed and halted just miles away.”
She doubled down on these comments Sunday, telling Tapper, “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 precipitating a mass famine of a million people, half of whom are children,” she continued.
The World Food Programme last week warned famine is “imminent” in the northern part of the Gaza Strip as the territory’s population experiences crisis levels of food availability. The agency said about 300 aid trucks are needed in Gaza to address the issues, but only nine convoys were permitted to enter since the start of the year.
