LONDON: US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Tuesday criticized New York mayoral candidate and Democratic colleague Andrew Yang for scheduling a campaign event around the celebration of Eid Al-Fitr after voicing his support for Israel amid its Gaza airstrikes.
Yang on Monday said: “I’m standing with the people of Israel who are coming under bombardment attacks, and condemn the Hamas terrorists.”
He added: “The people of NYC (New York City) will always stand with our brothers and sisters in Israel who face down terrorism and persevere.” His tweet has since attracted some 35,000 retweets, many of them highly critical.
Yang, who had organized to distribute groceries to Muslim families in the Astoria neighborhood, was disinvited from the event.
Ocasio-Cortez wrote: “Utterly shameful for Yang to try to show up to an Eid event after sending out a chest-thumping statement of support for a strike killing 9 children, especially after his silence as Al-Aqsa was attacked. But then to try that in Astoria? During Ramadan?! They will let you know.”
The hashtag #YangSupportsGenocide started trending on Twitter soon after Ocasio-Cortez’s comments.
