Ocasio-Cortez fundraising letter claims pro-Israel group is 'coming after' her, Omar and Tlaib

A fundraising plea sent on behalf of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) claims pro-Israel group AIPAC is "coming after" the freshman congresswoman and two of her colleagues, both of whom have been accused of anti-Semitism multiple times.

What are the details?

The Guardian's Ben Jacobs obtained the letter, and shared it on Twitter. It begins with a quote from AIPAC "activist" Stephen Fiske, who was recently quoted in The New York Times as predicting that Ocasio-Cortez, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), and Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) "will not be around in several years." Fiske was referring to how long the women might last in Congress.

Following Fiske's quote, the solicitation from "Team AOC" declared in bold type: "It's official — AIPAC is coming after Alexandria, Ilhan, and Rashida."

Jacobs pointed out that Team AOC also compared "the bipartisan consensus on the US-Israel relationship to the Iraq war."

According to The New York Post, the fundraising plea was sent out minutes before the House voted on an anti-hatred resolution, which was originally intended to condemn anti-Semitism in the wake of recent comments made by Omar. The version of the resolution that made it the House floor was instead a broad rebuke of several forms of bigotry.

Anything else?

Ocasio-Cortez has frequently come to the defense of Reps. Omar and Tlaib, who have both been accused of making multiple anti-Semitic comments and linked to anti-Semitic groups.

But other Democrats haven't been as forgiving. While discussing the would-be anti-Semitism resolution, Rep. Ted Deutch (D-Fla.) slammed his own party for not addressing offensive statements made by Omar, saying: "We are having this debate because of the language of one of our colleagues, language that suggests Jews like me who serve in the United States in Congress and whose father earned a purple heart fighting the Nazis in the Battle of the Bulge, that we are not loyal Americans?"

Omar was not named in the resolution.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel (D) also condemned Omar for "promoting some ugly tropes about Jews," in an op-ed published by The Atlantic. Emanuel wrote, "Omar is crossing a line that should not be crossed in political discourse. Her remarks are not anti-Israel; they are anti-Semitic."