Tipsheet

AOC's Post on Hamas' Attack on Israel Isn't Going Over Well

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  October 11, 2023 9:30 AM

Members of the Squad gave given responses about Hamas' attack on Israel that are not exactly surprising, but no less worth addressing. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) shared a brief statement on the attack on Saturday afternoon, earlier than many other members of the Squad. It also directly called out Hamas, although it expressed a fundamental misunderstanding of the situation by calling for "[a]n immediate ceasefire and de-escalation," saying it "is urgently needed to save lives."

Other than that statement, however, AOC's X accounts have been mostly silent. Her official account, from where that statement was posted, has been quiet ever since, as of early Wednesday morning. Her personal account hadn't posted at all on the subject, until late Tuesday night, reposting a video that contains explicit language.

In her post, AOC grouped in multple concerns at once to call out. "We will not allow bigotry to destroy our community and city in this devastating moment," her post said at one point, though it said nothing about pro-Hamas protests or protesters. "Islamophobia, antisemitism, and victim blaming cannot be tolerated."

In concluding her post, AOC offered "[w]e can + will reject it all. Not hard. We must focus on the lives currently at stake." 

The post certainly got noticed, especially since it was how AOC broke what had been a deafening silence from her political account. As of early Wednesday morning, the post has over 5,000 replies calling the congresswoman out. There's also close to 500 quoted reposts. Some even called for her to be removed from Congress.

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The footage, in addition to showing pro-Israel protesters expressing a desire to "kill all Palestinians" and "flatten Gaza," also showed footage of there being many pro-Hamas protesters crowded together, chanting and yelling. 

"When different speakers extolled the attacks, the crowd, which reached over 500 supporters, enthusiastically cheered," according to on the ground reports. 

Late on Monday night, AOC had also shared a statement with a POLITICO newsletter dedicated to New York matters. About the rally she's quoted as saying:

“It should not be hard to shut down hatred and antisemitism where we see it. That is a core tenet of solidarity,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said in a statement to Playbook late Monday — her first comments on the rally.

“The bigotry and callousness expressed in Times Square on Sunday were unacceptable and harmful in this devastating moment. It also did not speak for the thousands of New Yorkers who are capable of rejecting both Hamas’ horrifying attacks against innocent civilians as well as the grave injustices and violence Palestinians face under occupation,” she said.

The statement doe not appear to have been shared to either of her X accounts, though. Further, it uses the squad talking point with regards to "the grave injustices and violence Palestinians face under occupation."

The user whom AOC reposted the video from, Jeremy Loffredo, has not posted since October 2, other than the video in question. He has liked many recent posts, though, including those sharing his footage, those mocking the young men in the video protesting in favor of Israel, and even a bizarre post joking about the death of Ben Shapiro.

"Ben Shapiro getting beheaded by Hamas because they mistake him for a Jewish baby," the post read, likely in reference to the harrowing reports of babies being found beheaded by Hamas. Although some users tried to claim the story was debunked, our friends at Twitchy covered how journalists on the ground have been confirming such accounts.

One of Loffredo's most recent likes, as of early Wednesday morning, is of another squad member, Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), sharing the same post that AOC did, also from his personal account.

In sharing the post, Bowman said that it was a Jewish member of his team who showed him, the video. Speaking of that team member, Bowman said "he brought it to my attention because he knew we would both be horrified by calls for genocide. I strongly condemn this." 

"We need to stand for human life and humanity," his post continued. "This does the opposite." 

Bowman had also on Tuesday posted a condemnation of the Black Lives Matter Chicago group for celebrating the attack on Israel via a post declaring "I STAND WITH PALESTINE" with an image that featured Hamas parachuting in to the concert where they massacred hundreds of innocent civilians on Saturday morning.

"Disgusting.This promotes an act in which innocent civilians were killed. Babies. We need to stand for human life and collective humanity. This does the opposite," Bowman's post read.