AOC condemns 'Day of Rage for Gaza' rally in NYC over 'antisemitism'—organizers say she asked to speak at their rallies in the past

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez posted on X condemning an antisemitic rally in New York City organized by the extremist pro-Palestine group Within Our Lifetime (WOL) despite her previous attempts to partner with the organization. 

The rally, held over the weekend and titled “A Day of Rage for Gaza,” began at Union Square and ended at Wall Street, where an exhibit on the Nova Festival massacre—the October 7 attack by Hamas terrorists that killed hundreds of innocent Israeli civilians at a music festival—has been displayed since April.

The protest turned unruly, with participants seen holding banners that openly supported terrorism and displayed antisemitic messages, such as “long live October 7” and “the Zionists are not Jews and not humans.” Some protesters were seen holding flags of Hamas’s armed al-Qassam Brigades, a recognized terrorist organization, while others brazenly waved flags of Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah.

In a post on X on Thursday, Ocasio-Cortez responded to the antisemitic protests, stating, “The callousness, dehumanization, and targeting of Jews on display at last night’s protest outside the Nova Festival exhibit was atrocious antisemitism - plain and simple. Antisemitism has no place in our city nor any broader movement that centers human dignity and liberation.”

However, in response to her comments, an organizer for WOL accused Ocasio-Cortez of being a “genocide apologist” and claimed she had previously sought to partner with them. 

“You are a genocide apologist,” WOL organizer Nerdeen Kiswani said in response to the congresswoman. “This is why when your staff asked WOLPalestine if you can speak at our Queens rally in 2021 we said NO. What’s callus is the Zionist exhibit used to manufacture consent for genocide, but you don’t care since you didn’t vote against funding it.”