Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was confronted by pro-Palestine protesters who demanded her to call Israel's actions in Gaza a "genocide."
The Democrat congresswoman was at a cinema in New York with her fiancé Riley Roberts when she was confronted by two vocal activists.
The 34 year old has been an outspoken critic of Israel's actions in Gaza.
However, she was approached by the activists who she said "f***** up."
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has been an outspoken critic of Israel's actions in Gaza
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In the video, a male protester can be heard saying: "You refuse to call it a genocide" to which Ocasio-Cortez responded saying: "I need you to understand that this is not okay."
The male protester then can be heard saying: "It’s not okay that there’s a genocide happening and you’re not actively against it."
After Ocasio-Cortez accused the male protester of lying, he responded saying: "You went on TV and avoided talking about it."
The Representative for NY 14th District was then followed outside onto the streets of New York by one of the protesters who said: "We're not lying...you haven't been calling it a genocide. Don't tell me I'm lying. Over 30,000 people are dead AOC you can't just say it for once. Just say the word, that's all we want you to say."
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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was approached in New York
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Once outside, she turned to the protesters and said: "I already said that it was and y’all are just gonna pretend that it wasn’t over and over again - it’s f***ed up, man...And you’re not helping these people, and you’re not helping them, you’re not helping them."
Following Monday’s confrontation, an old tweet resurfaced online in which Ocasio-Cortez said protesting was supposed to make people "uncomfortable."
The tweet, from December 2020, said: "The whole point of protesting is to make [people] uncomfortable.
"Activists take that discomfort w/ the status quo & advocate for concrete policy changes. Popular support often starts small & grows. To folks who complain protest demands make others uncomfortable … that’s the point."
Representative Ocasio-Cortez didn't hold back
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Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Israel to maximise "every possible means" to get humanitarian assistance into Gaza, saying the current situation in the densely populated enclave was unacceptable and unsustainable.
He said: "Israel has to maximise every possible means, every possible methods of getting assistance to people who need it...It requires more crossings. That requires more aid getting in. And once that aid is in, it requires making sure it can get to the people who need it.
"So we will continue to press that every single day because the situation as it stands, is simply unacceptable."
More than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel's assault, launched after Hamas attacks that killed 1,200 people in October. Israel says it is interested only in a temporary truce during which more hostages would be freed. Hamas says it wants any deal to lead to a permanent end to hostilities.
