House Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) is laboring to position herself at the helm of the anti-war against Iran forces, and this weekend responded to President Donald Trump’s threat to level 52 Iranian sites should the Islamic Republic attack American assets in the Middle East, with the tweet:
“Last night the President engaged in what is widely being recognized as an act of war against Iran, one that now risks the lives of millions of innocent people. Now is the moment to prevent war & protect innocent people – the question for many is how, publicly & Congressionally.”
Now it appears that AOC is planning to take her pro-Iranian message to a mass rally against anti-Semitism, the “No Hate. No Fear.” rally at Foley Square, in downtown Manhattan. The Forward reported this weekend that a staffer for Ocasio-Cortez confirmed that she planned to attend—old friend of Jews everywhere that she is.
The rally, in front of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, the New York County Municipal Building, the Ted Weiss Federal Building, and the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building and Court of International Trade, is organized by several mainstream Jewish groups: UJA-Federation of New York, New York Board of Rabbis, AJC New York, ADL New York / New Jersey, and the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York.
The question is, will these mainstream organizers permit the extreme leftwing Congresswoman to hijack their protest to turn it into an anti-Trump, an, by extension, an anti-Israel fiasco?
President Trump’s most recent tweets on the subject of a possible Iranian attack were posted early Sunday morning:
“Iran is talking very boldly about targeting certain USA assets as revenge for our ridding the world of their terrorist leader who had just killed an American, & badly wounded many others, not to mention all of the people he had killed over his lifetime, including recently hundreds of Iranian protesters. He was already attacking our Embassy, and preparing for additional hits in other locations. Iran has been nothing but problems for many years. Let this serve as a WARNING that if Iran strikes any Americans, or American assets, we have targeted 52 Iranian sites (representing the 52 American hostages taken by Iran many years ago), some at a very high level & important to Iran & the Iranian culture, and those targets, and Iran itself, WILL BE HIT VERY FAST AND VERY HARD. The USA wants no more threats!”
AOC tweeted earlier:
“Don’t give into this gaslighting. The same folks selling us Iraq and selling us this latest provocation of violence. We cannot repeat this cycle. Congress now has a moral and legal obligation to reassert its power to stop this war and protect innocent people from horrific consequences. We have two immediate options: 1. Vote on a War Powers Resolution, which requires Trump to attain Congressional approval; 2. Reintroduce & vote on Rep Ro Khanna’s bipartisan NDAA amendment, which blocks $ offensive action to Iran. This amendment passed the House w/ bipartisan support not long ago, and was later gutted in negotiations. We can bring it back as a standalone bill.”
The rally organizers have stated clearly the purpose of their event, which starts at 11 AM, NY time: “When anti-Semitism strikes our community, we stand up and stand together. This Sunday, we will march through our streets — proud, united, and strong. The 1.5 million Jews of our great city and region will not stand down. We will not be intimidated. We invite New Yorkers of every background to stand with us and say no to hate and no to fear.
Somebody should make sure the ambitious pro-Iran AOC sticks to the above mission statement.