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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez condemns Pro-Palestine rally in Times Square
(New York Jewish Week) – Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the prominent progressive Democratic New York congresswoman from New York City, condemned a pro-Palestinian rally that took place over the weekend in Times Square, calling it “unacceptable and harmful.”
“It should not be hard to shut down hatred and antisemitism where we see it,” Ocasio-Cortez said in a statement on Monday night. “That is a core tenet of solidarity. The bigotry and callousness expressed in Times Square on Sunday were unacceptable and harmful in this devastating moment.”
The rally on Sunday came as news was still emerging of widespread atrocities committed by Hamas terrorists who invaded Israel, killing more than 900 people, wounding more than 2,000 and taking more than 100 captive. It coincided with a pro-Israel rally taking place outside the United Nations.
The pro-Palestinian rally has drawn criticism from a broad swath of city and state officials. Mayor Eric Adams posted on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, that “it is disgusting that this group of extremists would show support for terrorism.”
But Ocasio-Cortez’s condemnation of the rally is notable because of her frequent criticism of Israel as well as her membership in the Democratic Socialists of America, a far-left group that endorsed Sunday’s rally. The group’s New York chapter posted on X on Saturday that the gathering was “In solidarity with the Palestinian people and their right to resist 75 years of occupation and apartheid.”
In her statement, Ocasio-Cortez said the rally “also did not speak for 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 the occupation.”
Earlier this year, Ocasio-Cortez skipped President Isaac Herzog’s address to Congress during a visit to Washington, D.C. In 2021, she switched her vote from “no” to “present” during a Congressional vote to approve $1 billion in new U.S. funding for Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system. That same year, during a previous conflict with Hamas, she called Israel an “apartheid state.”
She wasn’t the only vocal progressive official in the city to denounce the rally. New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, who is Jewish and has previously identified as a member of the DSA, called the rally “abominable.”
“Today’s DSA rally – which effectively celebrated Hamas’ murder & kidnapping of hundreds of Israeli civilians, including children & grandparents – was abominable. There is no place for glorifying terror, left, center, or right,” Lander said in a statement.
Jamaal Bowman, another member of New York’s congressional delegation who belongs to the DSA, has not commented on the rally but released a statement condemning Hamas’ attacks on Israel.
“I strongly condemn the horrific attacks by Hamas and am saddened by the loss of precious lives, especially on the holy day of Simchat Torah,” said Bowman, whose congressional district includes parts of Westchester County and the Bronx, in a statement.
“We need a way to end this deadly violence that is killing and traumatizing generations of Israelis and Palestinians alike—including the blockade of Gaza. I have been to the Gaza border and know that Israelis and Palestinians are constantly living in fear. We must work harder to ensure peace in the region,” his statement added.
Ocasio-Cortez released a similar statement — separate from her comments on the rally — about the attacks on Monday. Others in the group of progressive congress members known as the “Squad,” including Missouri’s Cori Bush and Michigan’s Rashida Tlaib, released statements that primarily attributed the blame to Israel.
“Today is devastating for all those seeking a lasting peace and respect for human rights in Israel and Palestine. I condemn Hamas’ attack in the strongest possible terms,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote.
She also called for an immediate ceasefire and de-escalation in the region.
“No child and family should ever endure this kind of violence and fear, and this violence will not solve the ongoing oppression and occupation in the region,” the statement read.
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The post Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez condemns Pro-Palestine rally in Times Square appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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UN Security Council Meets on Iran as Russia, China Push for a Ceasefire
Members of the Security Council cast a vote during a United Nations Security Council meeting on the 3rd anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at UN headquarters in New York, US, Feb. 24, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/David Dee Delgado
The U.N. Security Council met on Sunday to discuss US strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites as Russia, China and Pakistan proposed the 15-member body adopt a resolution calling for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in the Middle East.
It was not immediately clear when it could be put to a vote. The three countries circulated the draft text, said diplomats, and asked members to share their comments by Monday evening. A resolution needs at least nine votes in favor and no vetoes by the United States, France, Britain, Russia or China to pass.
The US is likely to oppose the draft resolution, seen by Reuters, which also condemns attacks on Iran’s nuclear sites and facilities. The text does not name the United States or Israel.
“The bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities by the United States marks a perilous turn in a region that is already reeling,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the Security Council on Sunday. “We now risk descending into a rathole of retaliation after retaliation.”
“We must act – immediately and decisively – to halt the fighting and return to serious, sustained negotiations on the Iran nuclear program,” Guterres said.
The world awaited Iran’s response on Sunday after President Donald Trump said the US had “obliterated” Tehran’s key nuclear sites, joining Israel in the biggest Western military action against the Islamic Republic since its 1979 revolution.
U.N. nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi told the Security Council that while craters were visible at Iran’s enrichment site buried into a mountain at Fordow, “no one – including the IAEA – is in a position to assess the underground damage.”
Grossi said entrances to tunnels used for the storage of enriched material appear to have been hit at Iran’s sprawling Isfahan nuclear complex, while the fuel enrichment plant at Natanz has been struck again.
“Iran has informed the IAEA there has been no increase in off-site radiation levels at all three sites,” said Grossi, who heads the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Iran requested the U.N. Security Council meeting, calling on the 15-member body “to address this blatant and unlawful act of aggression, to condemn it in the strongest possible terms.”
Israel‘s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon said in a statement on Sunday that the U.S. and Israel “do not deserve any condemnation, but rather an expression of appreciation and gratitude for making the world a safer place.”
Danon told reporters before the council meeting that it was still early when it came to assessing the impact of the U.S. strikes. When asked if Israel was pursuing regime change in Iran, Danon said: “That’s for the Iranian people to decide, not for us.”
The post UN Security Council Meets on Iran as Russia, China Push for a Ceasefire first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel Rejects Critical EU Report Ahead of Ministers’ Meeting
FILE PHOTO: Smoke rises from Gaza after an explosion, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, June 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen/File Photo
Israel has rejected a European Union report saying it may be breaching human rights obligations in Gaza and the West Bank as a “moral and methodological failure,” according to a document seen by Reuters on Sunday.
The note, sent to EU officials ahead of a foreign ministers’ meeting on Monday, said the report by the bloc’s diplomatic service failed to consider Israel’s challenges and was based on inaccurate information.
“The Foreign Ministry of the State of Israel rejects the document … and finds it to be a complete moral and methodological failure,” the note said, adding that it should be dismissed entirely.
The post Israel Rejects Critical EU Report Ahead of Ministers’ Meeting first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Pope Leo Urges International Diplomacy to Prevent ‘Irreparable Abyss’
FILE PHOTO: Pope Leo XIV holds a Jubilee audience on the occasion of the Jubilee of Sport, at St. Peter’s Basilica, at the Vatican June 14, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Yara Nardi/File Photo
Pope Leo on Sunday said the international community must strive to avoid war that risks opening an “irreparable abyss,” and that diplomacy should take the place of conflict.
US forces struck Iran’s three main nuclear sites overnight, joining an Israeli assault in a major new escalation of conflict in the Middle East as Tehran vowed to defend itself.
“Every member of the international community has a moral responsibility: to stop the tragedy of war before it becomes an irreparable abyss,” Pope Leo said during his weekly prayer with pilgrims.
“No armed victory can compensate for the pain of mothers, the fear of children, the stolen future. Let diplomacy silence the weapons, let nations chart their future with peace efforts, not with violence and bloody conflicts,” he added.
“In this dramatic scenario, which includes Israel and Palestine, the daily suffering of the population, especially in Gaza and other territories, risks being forgotten, where the need for adequate humanitarian support is becoming increasingly urgent,” Pope Leo said.
The post Pope Leo Urges International Diplomacy to Prevent ‘Irreparable Abyss’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.