AOC blames Christian Fundamentalists For Fueling Palestinian-Israeli Conflict
By PNW StaffOctober 25, 2023
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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York is naming Christian fundamentalism as a key driver of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine, pointing to recent US actions in the region.
Speaking on local New York radio station Hot 97/WQHT last week, the progressive Democratic congresswoman argued that the conflict was not simply the result of Islamic fundamentalism and Israeli extremism.
"The country that is Israel today is not the Israel of the Bible," said Ocasio-Cortez. "The country that is Israel today was established in this century."
"It's not just Islamic, it's not just Jewish, it is also Christian," said Ocasio-Cortez. "In the United States of America, Christian fundamentalism and nationalism -- which has also been extremely anti-Semitic -- has also aligned itself with some of the most right-wing and authoritarian and inflammatory powers in the region."
She pointed to the decision by former President Donald Trump to relocate the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, a controversial move that previous presidents had declined to make, given that the holy city is contested between Israelis and Palestinians.
"It's not a coincidence that when Trump was in power, he moved the embassy to Jerusalem," said Ocasio-Cortez. "There is a ton of fundamentalist literature around revelations in the Bible that leads people to project -- incorrectly, by the way."
The decision was hailed by Israelis, but also Evangelical Christians, a large constituency within the Republican Party, who had been petition for the move for decades as a show of support for Israel and it's Biblical right to the land. At a rally in August of 2020, Trump even remarked that the move was "for the evangelicals."
Despite AOC's claims to the contrary, Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu has praised evangelical Christians as Israel's strongest supporters. One only need to look at those coming out to support Israel during it's time of need right now as churches are filled with prayer for Israel and her hostages. Christian Evangelical media has been full of support for Israel during it's current conflict... and numerous organizations are working to get needed supplies to Israel.
Meanwhile AOC and 'The Squad' push messages that Israel are part of the colonizers and don't belong in the land... which fuels anti-Semitism.
This is not the first time AOC has attacked Christians suggesting in 2019 that Republicans in Congress were trying to turn the United States into a 'far-right Christian theocracy' for their opposition to Abortion
She also sported controversy on Twitter earlier this year after she criticized a Christian ad campaign, saying it put a positive spin on "fascism."
"Something tells me Jesus would *not* spend millions of dollars on Super Bowl ads to make fascism look benign," Ocasio-Cortez told her over 13.4 million Twitter followers.
She was responding to a Christian ad campaign called "He Gets Us," funded by the same family behind craft store chain Hobby Lobby.
The multimillion dollar campaign bought two ad spots on Super Bowl Sunday and divided viewers, some of whom said the "Jesus" depicted in the ads was a "worldly" one.
But Ocasio-Cortez took fault with the political bent of the ads, one of which showed scenes of protesters on the right and on the left fighting over issues like pandemic lockdowns.
Conservative and liberal political commentators grilled the congresswoman for labeling the ad campaign as pro-"fascism."
Lee Ziemba, a former football player for Auburn University, offered a summary of Ocasio-Cortez's logic.
"Love your enemy equates to Fascism?" Ziemba asked, tweeting a crying laughing emoji. "You're brilliant!" he wrote.
Attorney Eric Owens said that Ocasio-Cortez was missing the entire point of the commercial.
"That's your take from a great Super Bowl ad reminding us of the truth, that hate is bad?" Owens said. "Are you serious? You have jumped the shark. Presumably, an intern is writing your tweets while you wear a fancy dress to a Super Bowl ball."
"Are you a theologian now? What can you not do?" another user asked the congresswoman.
Sadly, AOC has been praised by some progressive publications as the future of the Catholic Church and a politician who speaks with passion about her 'Christian faith'.