AOC Is Not Our Ally
In a time of desperate moral urgency, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez votes to defend the genocidal Israeli state and scorns her progressive base.
“There comes a time when silence is betrayal” is a Dr. King quote I used to describe how Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez turned her back on Palestinians during last year’s Democratic National Convention. It’s now abundantly clear that was an understatement.
In the House of Representatives last week, the Defense Appropriations Act, H.R. 4016, passed with a vote of 221 to 209, allocating funds to the Defense Department for fiscal year 2026. One of the amendments to that bill was proposed by Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene to remove the $500 million in missile defense funding for Israel’s Iron Dome. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez controversially voted against the proposal in the bill, arguing that she only supported ‘defensive’ military equipment. Only 6 of 428 representatives voted in favor of that amendment.
While Ocasio-Cortez did vote with the Democrats to oppose the final bill, voting for that amendment was an obvious choice for anyone purporting to oppose the genocide in Gaza and war with Iran, but she stood against it. Not only that, but voting in favor of any funding to Israel is a moral failure in and of itself. How can someone genuinely believe that a state is committing genocide and yet still vote to give that state any money, let alone funding used for military purposes?
The difference between ‘offensive’ and ‘defensive’ military equipment is a red herring. To vividly illustrate this, imagine if Congress in 1994 brought a vote to the floor to give Hutu militias helmets and body armor during the Rwanda genocide. Imagine if Congress in 2003 wanted to give the Sudanese Government forces armored vehicles and shields during the Darfur genocide. Imagine if Congress in 1939 wanted to give anti-air munitions to the Nazi Wehrmacht during WWII, or send money to help defend the Nazi SS. Why should we treat the genocide in Gaza any differently? Why should we help defend a state that is carrying out genocide?
It’s not even about protecting civilians, though. The basic logic of war is that an aggressor, in this case Israel, will not stop attacking unless there is adequate deterrence working against its aggression. The Iron Dome defense system in Israel is key to its functioning as a regional hegemonic military force that can start offensive wars with impunity. Without it, Israel would not be able to wage war on Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, and Iran all within 21 months. It is this state-of-the-art defensive capability that allows Israel to carry out so much destruction.
In fact, to the contrary of the idea that defensive equipment is used to protect civilians, Israel frequently exposes its own citizens to harm or directly harms them. In this regard, Israel and its military treat civilians like human shields. That is, let alone them literally using Palestinian hostages as human shields in their siege of Gaza to search buildings and tunnels. Before the October 7th Uprising, Israel’s military was grossly negligent in pulling personnel away from the Gaza border to execute more illegal raids in the West Bank. During the Uprising, Israel admitted to executing its ‘Hannibal Directive,’ where their military was ordered to kill Israeli hostages so that Hamas could not use them to negotiate. In leaked drone footage, the IDF is seen firing at people who were suspected, but not confirmed, to be militants, killing at least 14 Israelis. In Israel’s capital city, Tel Aviv, the IDF headquarters is deliberately stationed in the center of downtown, which unnecessarily puts thousands of civilians at risk of missile fire. Israel also puts its entire population at extreme risk by pursuing an offensive war with Iran, which incites missile attacks that killed 28 people in the latest 12-day conflict. All of this is used as a rhetorical justification for escalation when there are civilian casualties, even though, due to mandatory conscription, 80% of non-orthodox Israeli adults are current or former military members.
Ocasio-Cortez faced a mountain of criticism for her vote, especially from her loyal supporters, since she was supposed to represent ‘the left’ of the Democratic party. Leftists who don’t affiliate themselves with Democrats have already been strongly criticizing her apathy on the issue of Palestine for a while now.
At the Democratic National Convention last year, she used her influence just to elevate her status in the party despite the thousands marching outside to liberate Palestine from genocide. That week, Ocasio-Cortez didn’t attend any protests, didn’t speak one word to protestors, didn’t attend any of the Palestine panels, didn’t attend the sit-in outside, and (in the words of Cornel West) didn’t say a mumbling word about the genocide in her speech. People were begging her to say anything or at least use her influence to help get a Palestinian speaker on the main stage. Those pleas were met with silence. This is clearly not someone who genuinely thinks this is a genocide, something that should be treated with urgency and the harshest condemnation.
For many, this vote is unsurprising, as she has made it clear that her ambitions are to put her career first. But whenever this happens with a politician, no matter how humble their beginnings, the lies they tell themselves to ignore the glaring moral contradictions of their role as an American lawmaker end up becoming a part of who they are. The only way one can maintain their dignity and morality is to take the risks necessary to stand against the depravity of the American empire.
Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib are among the few national politicians who adequately speak against the genocide, and they pay a high price for it, enduring brutal harassment, racism, and death threats, which much of the Democratic Party refuses to defend. While taking on much more risk, these brave women do far more than Ocasio-Cortez, who prioritized capitulating to the establishment over fighting it. Ilhan Omar even took an apparent jab at her on social media for her vote, saying, “The genocide of the people of Gaza continues as members of Congress vote to fund Israel’s defensive and offensive military capabilities. This is immoral, and no amount of excuses will ever make it ok.”
Facing all this criticism, Ocasio-Cortez pushed back. She posted a defense of her vote by separating defensive and offensive weapons into two different categories. She says that anti-missile defenses would serve to prevent “adding to the death count of innocent victims to this war.” As we stated before, that is bullshit. We know that Israel will restock its Iron Dome and then start the next phase of the war on Iran. Under the current reality, there is no difference between offensive and defensive weapons. Israel does not want peace.
And one more thing, this is not a ‘war’ in Gaza. This is a genocide.
When Ocasio-Cortez received even more indignant replies for this, her justification was completely outrageous and wrong. Even just a half-hearted apology may have sufficed. The following night, her campaign office in New York City was vandalized with red paint and a sign that says “AOC FUNDS GENOCIDE IN GAZA.” This form of non-violent protest is common across Europe, with the red representing the blood on their hands.
Instead of recanting, she posted another defense a few days later, throwing more fuel on the fire. In a snarky tone, she writes, “Google is free. If you’re saying I voted for military funding, you are lying. Receipts attached.” But practically no one was saying she voted for the finished bill; everyone was upset about the amendment. The ‘receipts’ she provided were only screenshots of the final vote, not the amendment, which was the actual problem. This is gaslighting.
She continues in the post saying, “Drag me for my positions all you want, but lying about them doesn’t make you part of the ‘left.’ If you believe neo-nazis are welcome and operating in good faith, you can have them!” In her coinciding Instagram caption, she writes, “If you really believe that Marjorie Taylor Greene is an ally to Palestinians and a welcome part of your coalition, and that voting against her amendment that was designed exactly for this chaos is constructive and to be supported, then you can have her. Thanks.” Greene, who authored the amendment, is a racist anti-establishment Republican who won her election off of MAGA extremism and conspiracy peddling. So a grain of the statement is true, Greene opposes Israel because she is anti-semitic, not because she cares about Palestinians. But voting in Congress is not picking who your friends are. It’s voting to make changes in the government. Plenty of people in her ‘coalition’ are Democrats who vote with Republicans on abhorrent legislation all the time. Many of them are vicious transphobes, support mass deportation, and Joe Biden, otherwise known as Genocide Joe, whom she supported for reelection.
The most disgusting part of the comment is how Ocasio-Cortez is lashing out against her biggest supporters, affiliating them with the fascist Trump cult. She is not stupid; she knows that they hate Greene more than anyone, yet she chooses to obfuscate rather than own it.
If Ocasio-Cortez was genuinely concerned with the optics of voting for an amendment written by a neo-nazi, she should’ve just voted present or no-voted. If there was something in the amendment that was nefarious, she should’ve explained that in more detail rather than irrationally blaming everyone criticizing her. An honest person in that situation would not lash out; they would acknowledge where the frustration is coming from but earnestly explain why the amendment wasn’t achieving its purpose. But the amendment is very clear; it cuts Iron Dome funding from the bill. Instead, Ocasio-Cortez defends the purpose of the Iron Dome and blames people for being on the ‘side’ of Greene. By framing it like this, she is cynically implying that Democrats Summer Lee, Al Green, Ilhan Omar, and Rashida Tlaib are coalescing with a neo-nazi. So again, it’s gaslighting.
Her tone suggests a contemptuous loathing for people to the left of her, that they just don’t understand or can’t see what’s going on. It’s this persistent underestimation of the left that the Democratic Party is failing to grapple with right now. The entire party arrogantly disregards the left, who are their most loyal supporters, and often blames them for their election losses. It’s that conceit which caused the establishment to lose a landslide to Zohran Mamdani. If Ocasio-Cortez continues with this mentality, she will be indistinguishable from the Chuck Schumer types who think the centrist establishment will rule indefinitely. There is anger built up in people, not just about the Gaza genocide and Trump’s fascism, but the entire system as a whole, and they will not accept a return to the status quo.
In the broader picture, why wasn’t Ocasio-Cortez the one who wrote this amendment? If she wants this identity of standing up to Israel’s genocide, why doesn’t she work harder to stop it? To go back to the earlier analogy, would it matter who wrote the amendment to prevent Congress from sending body armor to the Nazis? Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a fraud.
None of this so far has acknowledged the fact that Israel does not have the right to defend itself under international law. The United Nations Genocide Convention of 1948 states that all countries have a duty to prevent and punish the crime of genocide. Through the years, jurisprudence on the matter has made it clear that countries have an obligation to intervene when a state is committing genocide. The Rome Statute, which established the ICC, explains that claiming self-defense does not absolve war crimes.
“The fact that the person was involved in a defensive operation conducted by forces shall not in itself constitute a ground for excluding criminal responsibility” — Article 31(1)(c)
The UN Charter outlines a legal responsibility of the Security Council to collectively act to restore international peace and security, which would obviously include the crime of genocide. This implies that a country forfeits its right to self-defense when it is violating peace by committing genocide. The fatal flaw of this principle is that any Security Council member, in this case the United States, can veto any collective intervention against it or an allied country. Considering all international obligations and the fact that Israel has been occupying and oppressing Palestinians for decades— people who have the right to resist to pursue self-determination— Israel has no legal right to defend itself.
Even broader still, Israel does not have the right to exist in the first place. It is a state founded on, and still pursues, Zionism. By definition, Zionism is an ethnosupremacist ideology. It is the idea of establishing an ethnically pure Jewish nation, something that can only be achieved by ethnic cleansing. This has been reiterated countless times by Israeli leaders who claim that a Jewish majority is a necessity for the functioning of Israel, and who reflexively use the term ‘Jewish State,’ implying the exclusion of other races. That is precisely reflected in Israel’s public policy; the exclusion of Palestinians politically with suppression, physically with a wall, and economically by controlling all transportation, water, and electricity. Israel has maintained this apartheid for decades because it is necessary for its ethnosupremacist project. It should go without saying that apartheid is irrefutably illegal under international law.
We are now multiple layers removed from the question of voting in favor of giving Israel more funding. It’s an outrage for just one representative to support an apartheid state, let alone the overwhelming majority of them. This is a reflection of just how far from basic morality America and its ruling class are. I hesitate even to say just America because the entire capitalist world has supported this genocide and watched apathetically as Israel brutally oppressed Palestinians for decades.
Here, we find the limits of these so-called progressive politicians who proclaim to oppose capitalism domestically yet ignore its most cruel feature: the murder and pillage abroad that builds everything at home. It’s about time we have politicians who are adequate on all issues, because everything is connected. The line between domestic and foreign policy becomes blurred because the United States is the global hegemon that dominates the international community both politically and economically. The Middle East and Northern Africa are subjugated for oil, Central and Southern Africa for minerals, Southeast Asia for manufacturing and clothing, Latin America for agriculture, South America for lumber and fossil fuels, and Palestine for surveillance and military technology. The exploitation of the rest of the world is inseparable from the exploitation we experience at home.
Last year, DSA withdrew its endorsement of her after she voted in favor of a bill that falsely conflated anti-Zionism with anti-semitism. The withdrawal came with conditions, most importantly, opposing all funds to Israel, including Iron Dome funding. That condition has now been broken. Last week, the DSA already rebuked her in a public statement, and a petition is pending to censure or expel her from the party. I fully support this measure as every good organization needs resilient accountability.
Last year, I wrote that “AOC is not the enemy, but she is a bad ally.” Some of my hesitation came from the fact that she has sincerely achieved a list of (domestic) progressive accomplishments. I’d like to correct that to say AOC is not an ally of the left and hasn’t been for some time. On the issue of Palestine, her support has always been performative, and she has almost always chosen her career trajectory over taking moral risks. How can we trust she doesn’t throw the left under the bus again or lash out harder the next time?
It bites at a deeper question— are we not bound to put the lives of others in the world on the same level as our own? What kind of people are we to defend a politician who votes to defend a genocide?