The New York office of U.S. Rep/ Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was vandalized Sunday night with what appeared to be red paint resembling blood, following her vote Friday against a bill aimed at cutting $500 million in U.S. aid for Israel’s defense systems. A sign hung on the office windows in the Westchester Square neighborhood read: “AOC funds genocide in Gaza.” A group calling itself the Boogie Down Liberation Front claimed responsibility and said that it “stands with the Palestinian people and condemns AOC’s hypocrisy.”
The bill, introduced by Republican Congresswoman and far-right isolationist Marjorie Taylor Greene, sought to block funding for missile interception systems such as Iron Dome. It was overwhelmingly defeated in the House by a vote of 422 to 6.
AOC Funds Genocide in Gaza: Vandalism of the congresswoman's NY office
Ocasio-Cortez, a prominent figure in the progressive wing of the Democratic Party and associated with the far-left, later explained her vote on the X platform, writing that the bill "does nothing to cut off offensive aid to Israel nor end the flow of US munitions being used in Gaza. Of course I voted against it. What it does do is cut off defensive Iron Dome capacities while allowing the actual bombs killing Palestinians to continue. I have long stated that I do not believe that adding to the death count of innocent victims to this war is constructive to its end. That is a simple and clear difference of opinion that has long been established. I remain focused on cutting the flow of US munitions that are being used to perpetuate the genocide in Gaza."
Her vote sparked backlash from within the progressive camp. The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), one of her earliest and most vocal supporters, and a group that also includes other far-left leaders such as leading New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, issued a scathing statement calling her position “disappointing and contrary to principle.” The DSA wrote: "An arms embargo means keeping all arms out of the hands of a genocidal military, no exceptions." It added: “The fact that she acknowledges it’s genocide but still chose to oppose reducing funding undermines her credibility.” However, the organization did praise her for voting against the entire $832 billion U.S. defense budget.
Ocasio-Cortez was first elected to Congress in 2018, when she stunned the Democratic establishment with a primary win in New York. Overnight, she became a progressive star and the new face of the American left. Running on a Democratic Socialist platform that promoted workers' rights, universal health care, and sweeping climate action, she was seen by some as the rising hope of a new generation in the Democratic Party. Among progressive, pro-Israel Jews, there was cautious optimism that she would combine a commitment to social justice with support for Israel’s right to exist.
Those hopes, however, quickly faded. Immediately after her election, Ocasio-Cortez described Israel’s actions in Gaza during the "March of Return" protests as a "massacre." Though she later walked back the remark in an interview—admitting she was “not an expert on the issue”—she continued to harshly criticize Israel’s Gaza policy and became one of the most vocal congressional advocates for restricting military aid to the country.
In 2019, she voted against a resolution opposing the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement but clarified that she did not support BDS itself, arguing instead that the resolution stifled free speech and failed to invite substantive debate. At the time, she also opposed giving the Israeli government a “blank check,” slammed then-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as “a racist,” and claimed that Israel was no longer committed to liberal democracy. Nevertheless, in 2021, during a vote on Iron Dome funding following a round of fighting with Hamas, she voted “present” (effectively abstaining), a move that sparked harsh criticism from the left. She was visibly emotional on the House floor, later saying that she wept out of frustration at the indifference to human life and the cynical political maneuvering behind the vote.
Since the October 7 Hamas massacre and the start of the war in Gaza, Ocasio-Cortez has adopted a more assertive tone. Unlike some of her Squad colleagues, she initially avoided using the term “genocide,” calling instead for a humanitarian ceasefire. But in March 2024, under increasing public pressure, she said the war constituted a “genocide in progress.” By October, following the bombing of a hospital in Gaza, she publicly accused Israel of committing genocide and demanded a total halt to U.S. arms shipments. In her recent speeches, she regularly draws loud applause with slogans such as “Free Palestine.”
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Ocasio-Cortez now finds herself in a complicated position: she continues to condemn Israeli policy and call for an end to offensive weapons transfers, but when measures arise to cut funding for defensive systems like Iron Dome, she votes against them. That choice has made her a target of criticism from progressive activists who expect a clear stance supporting a full embargo and boycott of Israel. To them, her vote contradicts the very liberal values she claims to champion.
The issue goes beyond personal criticism—it exposes the widening rift within the Democratic Party between its centrist leadership and the new progressive left, represented by figures like Zohran Mamdani. They warn that if Ocasio-Cortez doesn’t take a firmer side, she risks becoming politically irrelevant and losing support from both the progressive base and more moderate Democrats.