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AOC Proposes Amendment Blocking U.S. Weapon Sale to Israel

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) proposed an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) on September 17 that would block a Unites States weapon sale aid from going to Israel.
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September 17, 2021
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Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) proposed an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) on September 17 that would block a Unites States weapon sale aid from going to Israel.

According to a press release from Ocasio-Cortez’s office, the amendment would “suspend the transfer of Boeing Joint Direct Attack Munition weaponry under the $735 million direct commercial sale to the Israeli government” because it “would block the transfer of the same kind of Boeing weaponry that the Israeli government used to kill 44 Palestinians in one night in al-Rimal,” a neighborhood in Gaza City. She had introduced a similar resolution during the aftermath of the conflict between Israel and Hamas in May.

This amendment is one of seven that Ocasio-Cortez introduced; others included barring weapons sales to the unit of the Saudi Arabia government that killed journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 as well as an amendment blocking “military aid, weaponry, and training” to Colombia.

In a tweet, Ocasio-Cortez said that the amendment is blocking the sale to Israel because of “the bombing of Palestinian civilians, media centers,” with the latter being a likely reference to Israel bombing the building in the Gaza Strip housing the Associated Press (AP).

Some Jewish and pro-Israel groups criticized Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter.

“Slamming the Jewish nation in her new bill, AOC is silent when it comes to the 4500 terror rockets fired from Hamas, funded by US tax dollars,” Stop Antisemitism tweeted.

The Israel War Room Twitter account similarly tweeted that Ocasio-Cortez “neglects to mention that Hamas launching offensive rocket attacks and using civilians and media building as human shields are the leading cause of civilian deaths in Gaza.” Israeli Ambassador to the United States Gilad Erdan told AP executives in June that Hamas was using the building to “jam the Iron Dome.”

On the other hand, Jewish Voice for Peace, a group that supports the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, praised Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter. “The media may have turned its attention away from the US made bombs that Israel drops on Palestinians, but progressives in the House haven’t.”

The Adalah Justice Project, a pro-Palestinian advocacy organization, called Ocasio-Cortez’s amendments “truly stellar” and urged people to pressure their members of Congress to support the amendments because “it’s past time to stop these weapons transfers.”

Ocasio-Cortez’s office did not respond to the Journal’s request for comment.

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