Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez erupts at anti-Israel protesters: ‘It’s f***ed up’

Ms Ocasio-Cortez, a Democratic member of Congress and one of the country’s prominent progressive voices, attended a cinema in Brooklyn on Friday night, where she was confronted and followed by demonstrators urging her to label Israel’s actions in Gaza a “genocide”.

Footage of the incident, running for almost a minute-and-a-half, was subsequently published on social media.

While Ms Ocasio-Cortez initially kept her cool and attempted to walk away calmly, she eventually got fed up as the protesters followed her out of the theatre and into the street, calling their behaviour “f***ed up”.

The footage starts with one of the men following Ms Ocasio-Cortez, who is accompanied by her fiance Riley Roberts, and accusing her of “refusing to call it a genocide”.

“I need you to understand that this is not OK,” the Congresswoman responds, stopping briefly to address the man before continuing on her way.

“It’s not OK that there’s a genocide happening and you’re not actively against it,” the man shoots back at her.

“You’re lying,” she tells him.

The group hounding Ms Ocasio-Cortez then follows her down an escalator, at which point she engages with a woman.

“We’re not lying. You’ve been cited in interviews. It’s insane! You haven’t been calling it a genocide. Don’t tell me I’m lying,” the woman says.

The protesters chase her down another escalator.

“Just say it’s a genocide. Just say it! Over 30,000 people are dead AOC, you can’t just say it for once? Just say the word. That’s it, that’s all we want you to say!” the woman shouts.

The confrontation continues as Ms Ocasio-Cortez exits the building.

“Stop. OK? Stop,” Mr Roberts says.

“We’re not doing anything. We’re just talking to an elected public official. That’s all we’re doing,” the woman tells him.

The footage then cuts for a few seconds, resuming with the person behind the camera being spoken to directly by Ms Ocasio-Cortez.

“You’re going to cut this and you’re going to clip this so it’s completely out of context,” the Congresswoman says.

“I already said that it was (a genocide). And y’all are just going to pretend that it wasn’t, over and over again. It’s f***ed up, man.

“You’re not helping these people. You’re not helping them.”

“You literally did it on live TV,” the man says.

“You’re not helping them!” she shouts back at him.

The protesters appear to have been agitated about an interview Ms Ocasio-Cortez gave to current affairs program Meet the Press in late January, in which she hesitated to use the word “genocide” to describe Israel’s campaign in Gaza.

A small number of left-wing Democrats had accused President Joe Biden of supporting a genocide by helping Israel.

“Some of your colleagues have accused the president of supporting genocide, including (fellow progressive Congresswoman) Rashida Tlaib,” host Kristin Welker noted.

“Do you agree with that word, ‘genocide’, that the president’s been supporting a genocide, or does that go too far?”

Ms Ocasio-Cortez responded by saying “young people” were appalled by “the indiscriminate loss of life” in Gaza.

“We are not just seeing 25,000 people that have died in Gaza. We are seeing the starvation of millions of people, the displacement of over two million Gazans.

“In the (International Court of Justice’s) interim ruling, the fact that they said there’s a responsibility to prevent it, the fact that this word is even in play, the fact that this word is even in our discourse, I think demonstrates the mass inhumanity Gazans are facing.”

Ms Welker also asked Ms Ocasio-Cortez whether she thought Israel’s strategy for freeing the hostages taken by Hamas on October 7 was working.

“I do not,” the Congresswoman said.

“We know Hamas, as an organisation, it does not have any regard for human right. I think that in Hamas’s attack on October 7, they knew the violence that they were bringing on. They understood the asymmetric attack that Israel would put out.

“Israel has been indiscriminately attacking Gazans, and we have seen over 25,000 Palestinians killed. Over 70 per cent of whom are women and children.

“Using 25,000 lives as leverage, and the idea that it’s going to pressure Hamas – they are accountable to very little. What is most important is saving these lives, ensuring the release of hostages, and in my view, negotiating a ceasefire.”