Police in New York responded early Monday morning after Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign office was defaced with an anti-Israel slogan painted in red. The message read, “AOC funds genocide in Gaza,” and paint was splattered across the entrance to the office. Authorities arrived at the scene around 1 a.m.
The vandalism came shortly after Ocasio-Cortez voted against a Republican amendment introduced by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., that aimed to cut $500 million in funding for Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system. Ocasio-Cortez, who has frequently criticized Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, explained that she opposed the measure because it targeted only the defensive system and did not address offensive weaponry. “It only cut funding for the defensive ‘Iron Dome’ and did nothing to cut off the actual bombs killing Palestinians,” she said.
Greene’s amendment was in response to a recent Israeli strike that hit the Holy Family Catholic Church in Gaza. “Israel bombed the Catholic Church in Gaza, and that entire population is being wiped out as they continue their aggressive war in Gaza,” Greene said. “My amendment would strike $500 million in funding for nuclear-armed Israel’s missile defense system. The U.S. already provides Israel with $3.8 billion annually in foreign aid. 3.8 billion. That’s a lot of money.”
She added, “Here in America, we’re $37 trillion in debt. My amendment will ensure an America First department of defense, and that is exactly what we need.”
Reps. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., and Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., who along with Ocasio-Cortez are part of the progressive “Squad,” also supported Greene’s amendment.
Following the strike on the church—the only Catholic church in Gaza—Pope Leo XIV expressed deep sorrow and called for a ceasefire. “His Holiness Pope Leo XIV was deeply saddened to learn of the loss of life and injury caused by the military attack on the Holy Family Catholic Church in Gaza, and he assures the parish priest, Father Gabriele Romanelli, and the whole parish community of his spiritual closeness,” said a message sent on the pope’s behalf by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later stated that “stray ammunition” was responsible for the damage to the church.
