{"id":137818,"date":"2020-12-20T00:27:59","date_gmt":"2020-12-19T21:27:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/pro-israel-progressive-ritchie-torres-joining-congress-not-squad\/"},"modified":"2020-12-20T00:27:59","modified_gmt":"2020-12-19T21:27:59","slug":"pro-israel-progressive-ritchie-torres-joining-congress-not-squad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/pro-israel-progressive-ritchie-torres-joining-congress-not-squad\/","title":{"rendered":"#Pro-Israel progressive Ritchie Torres joining Congress, not ‘Squad’"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Pro-Israel progressive Ritchie Torres joining Congress, not ‘Squad’<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

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He\u2019s a progressive Democrat, but he won\u2019t be signing up with the Squad. <\/p>\n

Ritchie Torres, going to Washington next month to represent the South Bronx in Congress, says you won\u2019t see him paling around with Democratic Social<\/a>ists \u2014\u00a0and cited his strong support for Israel as a primary distinction between them and true progressives like himself. <\/p>\n

\u201cI came to observe that there are activists who have a visceral hatred for Israel as though it were the root of all evil,\u201d Torres, 32, told The Post. \u201cThe act of singling out Israel as BDS [the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement] has done is the definition of discrimination.\u201d<\/p>\n

Torres, who has served on the City Council since 2013, says he was moved by trip<\/a>s to Israel in 2015 and 2017. <\/p>\n

\u201cI 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,\u201d Torres recalled. \u201cI\u2019m going to make the case that the progressive position is a two-state solution and promoting dignity for both the Israelis and the Palestinians.\u201d<\/p>\n

While support for Israel was once broadly bipartisan, in recent years many on the left have taken a more confrontational app<\/a>roach. A number of Congress\u2019 most vocal progressives, like Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib and Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, have come out in support of BDS. Both have also been repeatedly accused of making anti-Semitic remarks. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has also denounced Israel\u2019s \u201coccupation\u201d of Palestine and voted against a House resolution to reaffirm support for the two-state solution.<\/p>\n

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In New York, AOC\u2019s political backer, the increasingly ascendant Democratic Socialists of America, has also tangled with Torres. After New York\u2019s DSA co-chair Sumathy Kumar refused to say whether Israel had a right to exist, Torres pounced.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe leadership of the DSA declines to affirm that the state of Israel should exist. \u2018Insane\u2019 is the word that comes to mind,\u201d he said in an August tweet.<\/a><\/p>\n

Though Torres endorsed Bernie Sanders in 2016, the septuagenarian socialist didn\u2019t return the favor, backing Torres\u2019 Democratic Socialist primary opponent Samelys L\u00f3pez<\/a>. AOC backed her as well. <\/p>\n

\u201cI endorsed [Sanders] because he agreed to take a tour of public housing. I would not read too much into that,\u201d Torres sniffed.<\/p>\n

Torres also chafes at DSA-promoted rhetoric like \u201cdefund the police,\u201d which he called \u201carbitrary and irresponsible.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cWe do not like him, and he doesn\u2019t like us,\u201d one DSA lawmaker said of Torres.<\/p>\n

Torres insists he has no hard feelings toward AOC and looks forward to working with her in Congress. <\/p>\n

\u201cI received a congratulatory call from Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez and she is unfailingly gracious,\u201d Torres said of the squad queen.<\/p>\n

Torres, who is gay, dropped out of NYU and suffered severe depression stemming from his sexuality before he began his public career. He\u2019s single and doesn\u2019t have any immediate plans for a relationship in the swamp.<\/p>\n

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\"Rep.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez<\/figcaption>
Getty Images for SXSW<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cI am married to politics,\u201d he said. \u201cI want to excel as a Congressman and that\u2019s where my focus is going to be\u201d. <\/p>\n

As much as he hopes to change the progressive conversation around Israel, Torres, who grew up in New York City public housing, says his primary focus will be domestic. His district is one of the poorest in the United States. Torres says he plans to angle for an appointment to the House Financial Services Committee because of their jurisdiction over public housing.<\/p>\n

\u201cPublic housing in New York City has been so savagely defunded by the federal government,\u201d Torres said. \u201cI am going to make it a priority to fight for full federal funding for public housing.\u201d\n <\/p><\/div>\n