Edited by: TJVNews.com
It appears that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other members of ‘the Squad” won’t be welcoming a newly elected Bronx Congressman elect to their coterie come inauguration day. Ritchie Torres, 32, the first openly gay black congressman identifies as a political progressive but parts ways with AOC and her cohorts when it pertains to Israel.
Speaking to the NY Post, Torres said, “I came to observe that there are activists who have a visceral hatred for Israel as though it were the root of all evil. The act of singling out Israel as BDS [the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement] has done is the definition of discrimination.”
While he is proud of his progressive views, he feels that his support for Israel separates him from the ascendant Democratic Socialists who are having an increasing influence in Congress.
The Post reported that the DSA co-chair in New York, Sumathy Kumar refused to say whether Israel had a right to exist and Torres took exception to that. In a tweet he posted in August, Torres said, “The leadership of the DSA declines to affirm that the state of Israel should exist. ‘Insane’ is the word that comes to mind.
Having served on the City Council since 2013, Torres said he visited Israel in 2015 and 2017 and was very moved by what he saw and experienced first hand. “I remember meeting a family in Sderot. And I had no concept of what it was like to live in a city that lives under the fear of rocket fire,” Torres recalled, according to the Post report. “I’m going to make the case that the progressive position is a two-state solution and promoting dignity for both the Israelis and the Palestinians.”
While Israel once enjoyed bipartisan support in Congress, much has changed in the last decade or so. The progressive or radical left wing of the Democratic party have taken a more confrontational approach to Israel. Along with the likes of AOC, other high profile anti-Israel bashers such as Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib and Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar have not only made a name for themselves as they regularly spew forth anti-Semitic diatribes but they have been quite public in their support for the BDS movement which seeks Israel’s complete isolation from the world.
The Post reported that AOC has also denounced Israel’s “occupation” of Palestine and voted against a House resolution to reaffirm support for the two-state solution.
In 2016, Torres threw his support behind Bernie Sanders during his presidential bid but this time around Sanders did not return the favor. The Post reported that the Vermont Senator backed Torres’ Democratic Socialist primary opponent Samelys López. AOC backed her as well.
“We do not like him, and he doesn’t like us,” one DSA lawmaker said of Torres.
Having dropped out of NYU, Torres battled severe depression in relation to his sexual orientation prior to getting involved in his public career as an elected official, He’s single and doesn’t have any immediate plans for a relationship in the swamp, according to the Post report.
“I am married to politics,” he said. “I want to excel as a Congressman and that’s where my focus is going to be”.
