Hakan Copur
14 May 2021•Update: 15 May 2021
WASHINGTON
US Democrat lawmaker Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in a speech on the House floor on Thursday, spoke on "injustice and human rights violations" of Palestinians using an Anadolu Agency photo of an injured Palestinian little girl waiting for treatment in a clinic.
New York's Ocasio-Cortez called on the President Joe Biden administration for "responsibly" on Palestine.
"This is our business. Because we are playing a role in it. The United States must acknowledge its role in the injustice and human rights violations of Palestinians. This is not about both sides. This is about an imbalance of power," she said.
"The president and many other figures this week stated that Israel has a right to self-defense and this is a sentiment that is echoed across this body. But do Palestinians have a right to survive? Do we believe that and if so, we have a responsibility to that as well," Ocasio-Cortez added.
Biden said on Wednesday that Israel "has a right to defend itself when you have thousands of rockets flying into your territory" as violence escalates between Israel and Palestine.
Ongoing Israeli attacks have killed 119 Palestinians so far, including 28 children and at least 15 women, according to Palestinian health officials. Over 620 others have been injured, in addition to heavy damages to residential buildings across the enclave.
Besides that, Israel detained hundreds of Palestinians in recent days.
Tensions have been running high in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem over the past month as Israeli settlers swarmed in following a court order for the eviction of Palestinian families in the area.
Most recently, tensions further escalated, moving from East Jerusalem to Gaza after Palestinian resistance groups there vowed to retaliate against Israeli assaults on Al-Aqsa Mosque and Sheikh Jarrah if they were not halted.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and annexed the entire city in 1980 -- a move that has never been recognized by the international community.
* Writing by Jeyhun Aliyev
