The Cincinnati Socialists organization is calling out Rep. Greg Landsman’s stance on Israel.
The group rallied outside Main Street’s John Weld Peck Federal Building on Nov. 16, calling on the federal government to halt funding for Israeli Defense Forces.
“We’re here to protest U.S. tax dollars going to fund the indiscriminate killing of civilians in Gaza,” said Tino (last name not provided) with Cincinnati Socialists.
Protesters rallied with signs saying “CEASEFIRE” and chanting, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!” The latter statement is what prompted U.S. House members to formally censure Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), including southwest Ohio Rep. Greg Landsman. Tlaib is the only House member of Palestinian descent, and Landsman is Jewish.
“It is claimed by those who censured Tlaib that the phrase ‘from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’ is ‘widely recognized as a genocidal call to violence to destroy the state of Israel and its people.’ This lie deliberately obscures the colonial character of the Israeli state,” Tino said.
Landsman told CityBeat it’s his job to “stand up to the more extreme folks.”
“It’s really important for us to speak out against dangerous rhetoric, especially when we know it will lead to violence. Whether a Republican or Democrat does it, it’s wrong, and the country needs more folks who are willing to stand up to the more extreme folks, on the far right and the far left, so we are fully focused on actually solving problems and getting things done. That’s me. It’s always been me, and it always will be,” Landsman said.
“I also really do hope and pray that folks rethink their desire to annihilate Israel, and appreciate that a free Palestine with real self-determination is what most Israelis, Americans and Jews want. We also want an end to the war, not a ceasefire, but an end to the war. Hamas must go, and the world should be all in to free Gaza and the West Bank from terror and corruption and finally give the Palestinian people a legitimate governing authority that will pursue peace and a nation,” Landsman continued.
Tino told CityBeat that Cincinnati Socialists’ pro-Palestinian stance is not rooted in extremism. “Our line on this is ceasefire, liberation, return,” Tino said.
“This is resistance to colonial occupation, this is not rooted in any sort of antisemitism or any sort of religious conflict.”
Follow CityBeat’s staff news writer Madeline Fening on Twitter and Instagram.
Subscribe to CityBeat newsletters.
Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Or sign up for our RSS Feed
Related Stories
Cincinnati Holocaust & Humanity Center Offers Free Admission to Combat Antisemitism
CityBeat Asks Greg Landsman Why He Voted With Republicans on Border Policy Bill
This article appears in Nov 15-28, 2023.