Though Democrats on up to Joe Biden and senior members of his administration have not exactly covered themselves in glory with their responses to the Hamas terrorist attacks against Israel, the reactions from members of AOC's Squad really take the cake for most obscene and grotesque.
When last we left you, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), who also has the distinction of being the unofficial leader of the House's Hamas Caucus, was still displaying the Palestinian flag outside of her Congressional office Monday even after reports that 11 Americans were among those murdered by Hamas in surprise attacks over the weekend.
News of Tlaib's twisted display came a day after her belated official statement that suggested there could be peace in the region only after "lifting the blockade, ending the occupation, and dismantling the apartheid system that creates the suffocating, dehumanizing conditions that can lead to resistance."
Between Tlaib's victim-blaming and that of Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.), who made similar comments, their fellow Democrat House member Ritchie Torres (N.Y.) has had enough.
In a statement to Jewish Insider, Torres - who once described himself as "the embodiment of a pro-Israel progressive" - called Tlaib's and Bush's remarks "reprehensible and repulsive," saying "aid to Israel is and should be unconditional":
“U.S. aid to Israel is and should be unconditional, and never more so than in this moment of critical need,” Torres told Jewish Insider in a statement. “Shame on anyone who glorifies as ‘resistance’ the largest single-day mass murder of Jews since the Holocaust. It is reprehensible and repulsive.”
"Congress must act decisively to provide Israel with whatever it needs to defend itself in the face of unprecedented terrorism," Torres also said.
At least two other House Democrats - Rep. Josh Gottehimer (NJ) and Rep. Haley Stevens (Mich.) - also went on record with the news outlet to condemn or at the very least "distance" themselves from the Squad:
“Two of my colleagues called for America to end assistance to Israel, despite the countless images of Israeli children, women, men, and elderly, including Americans, murdered by radical Iranian-backed Hamas terrorists,” Gottheimer told JI. “It sickens me that while Israelis clean the blood of their family members shot in their homes, they believe Congress should strip U.S. funding to our democratic ally and allow innocent civilians to suffer.”
[...]
“We must continue to come together as a Congress and a country to disavow terrorism and support the Jewish state, our democratic ally, Israel,” Stevens said. “Israel has a right to exist and defend herself.”
Torres has been the most vocal critic among the House Democrats who have openly criticized the Squad and others on the left for their pro-Hamas statements and actions, writing this post earlier Monday on the Twitter machine:
What to do when commenting on Hamas’ terrorist attack against Israel?
If your first draft mentions neither the victim nor the perpetrator, rewrite it.
If your first draft blames the victim, rewrite it.
If you first draft emphasizes “both sides” or empathizes with the perpetrator, rewrite it.
If your first draft refers to militants rather than terrorists, rewrite it.
As reports first filtered in Saturday morning about the Hamas attacks on Israel, the taking of hostages, rapes, and murders, Torres posted this - which I should note was well before the bumbling comments made by Joe Biden:
Hamas has declared war on Israel, launching surprise attacks, invading Israeli towns, firing well over 2000 rockets, murdering 22 Israelis, and otherwise attacking Israel by air, land, and sea. Israelis are doing precisely what we, as Americans, would do if we found ourselves under sudden attack: defending themselves. I unequivocally stand with Israel as it rightly defends itself from Hamas, a terrorist organization that has long sought the destruction of the Jewish State.
Doubt I'll ever agree with this guy on much, but it's nice to see a rare moment of sanity on the Democrat side on this issue, which is far more than can be said of so-called Democrat "leaders" in the House who have a disturbing history of making pathetic and unacceptable excuses for the blatant anti-Semitism shown by their Democrat Socialist wing.