AOC claims children in Gaza are experiencing similar conditions to migrants at the southern border as progressive squad appears on House floor to slam Biden for saying 'Israel has a right to defend itself'
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and members of the liberal 'Squad' spoke from the House floor on Thursday night to blast Israel for what they said was its escalating of a conflict with Palestine.
During her appearance, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez - popularly known as AOC - compared what Palestinians have experienced in the conflict to that of children at the United States' southern border, according to the New York Post. Children who have arrived unaccompanied at the border with Mexico have been placed into shelters.
Ocasio-Cortez said that Americans 'are scared to stand up to the incarceration of children in Palestine because maybe it'll force us to confront the incarceration of children here on our border,' according to the outlet.
She also ripped President Joe Biden for comments he made about the latest conflict in which he said that 'Israel has a right to defend itself' from Hamas, the militant Palestinian Islamist group that rules the Gaza Strip.
'The president stated that Israel has a right to self-defense. Do Palestinians have a right to survive?' Ocasio-Cortez reportedly said.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Ocasio-Cortez ripped Joe Biden for comments he made about the latest conflict in which he said that 'Israel has a right to defend itself'
Rep. Ilhan Omar also spoke on the House floor and accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of being 'a far-right ethno-nationalist'
Rep. Rashida Tlaib called Israel and 'apartheid government'
Rep. Ayanna Pressley claimed that 'Palestinians are being told the same thing as black folks in America
The region has recently seen some of its worst violence since 2014.
For weeks now, Palestinian protesters and Israeli police have clashed on a daily basis in and around Jerusalem’s Old City, home to major religious sites sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims and the emotional epicenter of the Middle East conflict.
Jerusalem has been the scene of violent confrontations between Jews and Arabs for 100 years and remains one of the most bitterly contested cities on earth.
The latest clashes began a month ago with an Israeli move to block some Palestinian gatherings at the beginning of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, already a time of heightened religious sensitivities.
After those restrictions eased, tensions over a plan to evict dozens of Palestinians from an east Jerusalem neighborhood continued to fuel confrontations.
Protests had become increasingly violent and Israel stopped some Muslims from accessing the Al-Aqsa mosque complex. Hamas gave Israel an ultimatum to leave the mosque and other areas or face attacks.
Hamas then fired rockets at Jerusalem - which set off volleys of rockets and airstrikes between Hamas and Israel being made back and forth.
The Biden administration has faced intense scrutiny from Republicans and the Democrats' progressive wing for its handling of the border crisis, in which thousands of unaccompanied migrant children have been crammed longer than legally allowed in temporary holding facilities.
Palestinian officials have claimed Israeli forces have detained Palestinian youth in the last few months. Video obtained by NBC in March showed Israeli soldiers detaining two young Palestinian boys, 9 and 12; Israeli police said boys had broken into private property.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a progressive Democrat from Michigan who was the first Palestinian-American woman elected to Congress, called Israel and 'apartheid government' - comparing it to the system of institutionalized racial segregation that existed in South Africa until the 1990s.
'Palestinians aren't going anywhere, no matter how much more money you send to Israel's apartheid government,' she said, according to the New York Post.
She added: 'To read the statements from President Biden, Secretary [of State Antony] Blinken, [Secretary of Defense] General [Lloyd] Austin, and leaders of both parties, you'd hardly know Palestinians existed at all.'
Rep. Ayanna Pressley, a progressive Democrat from Massachusetts, claimed that 'Palestinians are being told the same thing as black folks in America.'
'As a black woman in America, I am no stranger to police brutality and state-sanctioned violence. We have been criminalized for the very way we show up in the world,' Pressley said.
'Palestinians are being told the same thing as black folks in America: there is no acceptable form of resistance.'
The rubble of the Hanadi tower is seen in the aftermath of overnight Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City
An injured Palestinian man is being brought to Al-Shifa hospital to receive treatment after an Israeli air strike in Gaza City
Palestinians inspect the rubble of the destroyed Al-Shorouq tower after an Israeli strike in Gaza City
Palestinians inspect the rubble of the destroyed Al-Shorouq tower after an Israeli strike in Gaza City
This satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows the rubble of a security compound after an Israeli strike targeted it in Gaza City in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday
Rep. Ilhan Omar, a progressive Democrat from Minnesota, called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 'a far-right ethno-nationalist' on the House floor.
'How can we pay lip service to a Palestinian state, yet do absolutely nothing to make that state a reality while the Israeli government we fund tries to make it impossible?' she asked rhetorically, according to the New York Post.
President Joe Biden spoke with Netanyahu on Wednesday about calming the fighting and the White House has since released a readout of the call.
'He condemned the rocket attacks by Hamas and other terrorist groups, including against Jerusalem and Tel Aviv,' according to the readout.
'He conveyed his unwavering support for Israel's security and for Israel's legitimate right to defend itself and its people, while protecting civilians.'
'He also conveyed the United States' encouragement of a pathway toward restoring a sustainable calm. He shared his conviction that Jerusalem, a city of such importance to people of faith from around the world, must be a place of peace.'
After the call, Biden told reporters: 'My expectation and hope is that this will be closing down sooner than later, but Israel has a right to defend itself when you have thousands of rockets flying into your territory.'
Israel on Thursday said it was massing troops along the Gaza frontier and calling up 9,000 reservists ahead of a possible ground invasion of the Hamas-ruled territory, as the two bitter enemies plunged closer to all-out war, the Associated Press reported.
Egyptian mediators rushed to Israel for cease-fire efforts but showed no signs of progress.
Gaza's Health Ministry said the death toll has climbed to 109 Palestinians, including 28 children and 15 women, with 621 people wounded. Seven people have been killed in Israel, including a 6-year-old boy hit by a Hamas rocket attack.
It comes as the U.N. Security Council will publicly discuss the worsening violence between Israel and Palestinian militants on Sunday, diplomats said, reaching a compromise over U.S. objections to a meeting on Friday.
Diplomats said the United States had initially suggested a virtual public meeting could be held on Tuesday.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday he hoped waiting a few days would allow for 'diplomacy to have some effect and to see if indeed we get a real de-escalation,' adding that Washington was 'open to and supportive of a discussion, an open discussion, at the United Nations.'
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