Progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., sparked outrage on social media after using her Christmas message to compare modern-day Palestinians to Jesus Christ, saying both were victims of "a government engaged in a massacre of innocents."
AOC, in a statement on Instagram, said the lives of both the Palestinians living through the Israel-Hamas war and Jesus were affected by occupying forces.
"In the story of Christmas, Christ was born in modern-day Palestine under the threat of a government engaged in a massacre of innocents," she wrote with a photo of a child in rubble in Gaza.
"He was part of a targeted population being indiscriminately killed to protect an unjust leader's power. Mary and Joseph, displaced by violence and forced to flee, became refugees in Egypt with a newborn waiting to one day return home.
"Thousands of years later, right-wing forces are violently occupying Bethlehem as similar stories unfold for today's Palestinians, so much so that the Christian community in Bethlehem has canceled this year's Christmas Eve celebrations out of both [fear for their] safety and respect."
AOC, who had begun her story saying she was praying "for the peace and protection of the innocent in Gaza and the occupied territories," continued by stating that "today, holy children are still being born in a place of unspeakable violence — for every child born, of any identity and from any place, is sacred. Especially the children of Gaza."
"The entire story of Christmas and Christ himself is about standing with the poor and powerless, the marginalized and maligned, the refugees and immigrants, the outcast and misunderstood without exception," she wrote.
"This high Christian holiday is about honoring the precious sanctity of a family that, if the story were to unfold today, would be Jewish Palestinians."
AOC ended her post by saying, "Merry Christmas. May there be peace on Earth, amen."
The Forward senior political reporter Jacob Kornbluh posted a screengrab of the lawmaker's Instagram post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
"AOC describes Israel as a 'violent right wing occupying force' in [a] Christmas post," Kornbluh wrote. "No mention of Hamas terror, [or] the victims of [the] Oct. 7 attack."
Other X users cited that AOC failed to mention the Israelis still being held captive by Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip and the women who were raped during the terrorists' Oct. 7 attack, and that "Jewish Palestinians are not a thing. They were Jews of Judea then."
"Her Jew hate is really showing here," a woman named Harriet posted.
"She's spouting make believe," a user from New Jersey wrote.
"Astounding how the Xmas story is reimagined through a Palestinian lens, as if there existed the ancestors of today's Palestinians then. There's a part of me that believes the more the world denies the crimes inflicted against Jews/Israelies, the longer this war will go on," Risa A Levine posted.
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.