LAST November, Democrat Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, the lone Palestinian-American in the US Congress, was officially censured for publicly expressing support for a ceasefire in Gaza. Of the 234 members of the US House who voted to silence her, 22 were her fellow Democrats.
US public, and even political opinion has since shifted, but firebrand progressive Democrat Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York was still asked by reporters to defend her use of the term “genocide” after remarks she made on the floor of the US House of Representatives last month.
“If you want to know what an unfolding genocide looks like, open your eyes,” said Ocasio-Cortez in a March 22 speech. AOC, as she is universally known, has not yet faced the backlash launched at Tlaib last year.