Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-NY, has decided not to speak at a memorial commemorating the 25th anniversary of the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, former Israeli prime minister, general, and statesman, CNS News reported.
Americans for Peace Now, a pro-Israel organization, expected AOC to “reflect on fulfilling the courageous Israeli leader’s mission for peace and justice today in the U.S. and Israel” at his memorial service.
When APN announced that AOC would speak, however, she was immediately met with backlash from Palestinians who despise Rabin for his violent past.
AOC has since withdrawn from participating in the event.
Hey there – this event and my involvement was presented to my team differently from how it’s now being promoted.
Thanks for pointing it out. Taking a look into this now.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) September 25, 2020
Rabin’s granddaughter, Noa Rothman, expressed her disappointment with AOC’s withdrawal.
She replied to AOC’s tweet and accused her of submitting to popular outrage.
After all, it was my late grandfather Itzhak Rabin, who said: You make peace with your enemies- not with your friends. Due to This brave historical act he was assassinated. But off course Populism is easier. @AOC https://t.co/LU9Mg0PTQC
— נעה רוטמן (@noarothman) September 26, 2020
While AOC refuses to speak at the memorial service because of public outrage, President Donald Trump has fostered friendly relations between Israel and the Arab world.
Trump facilitated a peace deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, convincing the nations to forgive past injustices and animosities for the sake of a cooperative future.
“We’re here this afternoon to change the course of history,” Trump said on Sept. 15. “After decades of division and conflict, we mark the dawn of a new Middle East.”
Rabin has a contradictory and controversial history.
During the first Palestinian uprising, which took place in 1987, Rabin served as Israel’s defense minister.
Critics accuse him of ordering his soldiers to “break the bones” of violent protesters, despite the Israeli statesman’s denial of the claim.
Many Israelis, however, laud Rabin for his peaceful legacy that came at the end of his life.
Rabin and Palestine Liberation Organization chairman Yasser Arafat signed the Oslo Interim Accord in 1993 at the White House.
In 1994, both leaders shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Shimon Peres, the then-Israeli Foreign Minister, “for their efforts to create peace in the Middle East.”
That same year, Rabin and King Hussein of Jordan signed the monumental Israel-Jordan peace treaty.
An Israeli ultranationlist assassinated Rabin at a rally in Tel Aviv on November 4, 1994.
Former U.S. ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro tweeted his support of Rabin.
Very disappointing decision (now confirmed) by @AOC not to attend this event. A mistake to give in to pressure, a missed opportunity to speak constructively to both sides of this conflict, honoring a peacemaker while acknowledging complexity. Hope she will try again & do better. https://t.co/m4suDsGgTC
— Dan Shapiro (@DanielBShapiro) September 26, 2020
Arsen Ostrovsky, a human rights attorney, did not want AOC to speak at the event.
I actually hope @AOC pulls out now.
That she even considered doing so in first place, and acquiescing to this little anit-Zionist pisher, is contemptible & inexcusable. We don’t need her to play the martyr or some ‘holier than thou’ card. We know exactly where she stands! pic.twitter.com/HGx4q23aQe
— Arsen Ostrovsky (@Ostrov_A) September 26, 2020
In the end, Ostrovsky wasn’t surprised at the turn of events.
Also, I don’t feel sorry for APN either. This is what you get when left wing Jewish groups coddles up to the Squad in the vain attempt for social media publicity. You get burnt. https://t.co/llBe8gchp2
— Arsen Ostrovsky (@Ostrov_A) September 26, 2020
Many Palestinians, however, praised AOC’s choice.
Adalah Justice Project, which calls itself as a “Palestinian Advocacy Organization based in the U.S.,” tweeted its elation that AOC listened “to the lived experience of the Palestinian people,” asserting that Rabin’s “legacy is one of violence and dispossession for Palestinians.”
Orde Kittrie, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and a former State Department attorney, composed a thread on twitter decrying AOC’s ignorance.
Kittrie cited that Hussein attended Rabin’s funeral, despite Jordan and Israel’s Six Day War in 1967, which Rabin led and won.
In his eulogy of Rabin, Hussein honored Rabin “as a brother, a friend.”
“You lived as a soldier, and you died as a soldier of peace.”
