Finally, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tells us that “I am a firm believer in finding a two-state solution on this issue, and I’m happy to sit down with leaders on both of these. [sic] For me, I just look at things through a human rights lens, and I may not use the right words. I know this is a very intense issue,” she said.

Well, she can start by finding out just who is harming whose “human rights.” Is it the Jews, who are simply trying to defend themselves, as they have had to for Israel’s entire existence, from enemies within and without, including those many “Palestinians” who have been waging a terrorist campaign against Israeli civilians? And is Ocasio-Cortez prepared to sit down with such people as Abu Marzook and Khaled Meshaal, who have been two of the leaders of Hamas, the charter of which is unambiguous in declaring the group’s goal is to destroy Israel completely and establish the state of “Palestine” from the river to the sea? Is she prepared to ask them about that charter? Does she even know that the Hamas Charter exists and why it is important? And would she dare ask Marzook and Meshaal, if she ever got the chance, as she put it, to “sit down” with them, if just maybe they could find it in their hearts to return to the “Palestinian people” some of the billions both have received (i.e., stolen) from the “Palestinian” coffers? And could she ask the same question of Mahmoud Abbas?

By mentioning her Sephardic Jewish background, Ocasio-Cortez may think that this is a way to allow her to continue criticizing Israel. It’s the calculation made by members of J Street, and Jews for Justice for Palestinians, and Jewish Voice for Peace — they’re all the same, in their hostility to Israel, and in their taking cover behind the fact of their Jewishness, which gives them a free pass, or so they think, to make the most absurd anti-Israel charges. That is one possibility.

There is another, more hopeful, possibility. She may have become genuinely interested in Israel, of which she knows, and has admitted she knows, practically nothing. It’s unclear when she learned of her Jewish ancestors, or when that ancestry started to matter to her. Perhaps she is just now beginning to consider, in light of those ancestors, that at the very least she should find out more about that tiny country, Israel, a hardly visible speck on the world map, that is so unfairly maligned, and she might discover that she no longer wishes to be a member of that malignant anti-Israel chorus. Her record is not good: this past August, she enthusiastically endorsed Ilhan Omar, despite Omar’s criticism of Israel. But that was then, and this is now. There is still plenty of time for her to learn some home truths.

The resurrection, after several thousand years, of a Jewish state in the ancient homeland of the Jewish people, is a stirring tale. Ocasio-Cortez could begin by studying a few documents — the Balfour Declaration, the Mandate for Palestine, the Hamas Charter, U.N. Resolution 242 — and continue her self-education on Israel right up to the present day. And what does Israel face today? A terrorist group, Hamas, in the south, now entering its ninth month of premeditated mayhem at Israel’s security fence. Another terrorist group, Hezbollah, is in the north, with 140,000 rockets and missiles aimed right at Israel; the group now possesses more firepower than 95% of the world’s armies. And behind both Hamas and Hezbollah, there looms Israel’s greatest current enemy, the Islamic Republic of Iran, with its nuclear project (and who knows what the Iranians have been doing to further it, despite their previous promises under the nuclear deal), its vast army and armory, and its unswerving determination to destroy the Zionists.

Perhaps, after having engaged in that sustained study, which will not be easy, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will arrive at different conclusions about, and greater sympathy for, Israel as it faces, as it has always had to face, mortal enemies bent on Jihad. And she may finally grasp the basis for Israel’s legal claim, under the Mandate for Palestine, and Article 80 of the U.N Charter, and U.N Resolution 242, to the West Bank. Such a change in Ocasio-Cortez’s views will greatly dismay Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, but greatly hearten others, who will be happy to welcome her to the umma of understanding, and the camp of common sense.