Ocasio-Cortez claims Sephardic-Jewish roots

The newly elected New York congresswoman said she descends from Sephardic Jews who fled to Puerto Rico during the Spanish Inquisition.

By Adina Katz, World Israel News

New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez attended a Chanukah celebration Sunday evening hosted by Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, where she told the crowd that her family descends from Sephardic Jews who fled to Puerto Rico during the Spanish Inquisition.

“So many of our destinies are tied beyond our understanding,” she said.

The newly elected Democratic congresswoman lit a candle with Rabbi Mia Simring, chaplain resident at Mount Sinai Health System of the Greater New York City Area.

In a tweet, she wrote, “What a beautiful and touching evening we shared tonight for our community Chanukah celebration. Thank you Rabbi Mia for the opportunity of helping you light the shamash, and thank you @JFREJNYC for assembling the festivities! May tonight’s light and hope spark many others.”

In a May 14 tweet, Ocasio-Cortez, 28, said that Israel’s killing of Palestinians along the Gaza border was a “massacre” and that “no state or entity is absolved of mass shootings of protesters.”

In an interview in July with PBS‘s Firing Line on Friday, she slammed Israel’s “occupation of Palestine,” but when pressed on the issue, admitted she was “not the expert” on the facts.

Spanish InquisitionUS politics