As Israel’s assault on Gaza grows deadlier following Oct. 7, pro-Palestinian demonstrations have become a near-weekly occurrence in the Cincinnati area. On June 8, a protest at Goebel Park in Covington attracted just south of 100 protesters, but thousands, including demonstrators from the Tri-State, went to Washington D.C. on the same day to form a “red line” outside the White House.
“Of course, this task is daunting, and some will be skeptical of our chances. To them we say: what are the choices we have?” Amy of the Cincinnati Socialists, who did not provide their last name, told Saturday’s crowd at Goebel Park. “If we are not willing to fight, we do not deserve to win.”
Gaza at a glance
As demonstrators took to Goebel Park and the streets in D.C., Israel was conducting a raid in Nuseirat in central Gaza. According to the Associated Press (AP), the air and ground assault operation resulted in the rescue of four Israeli hostages and the death of at least 274 Palestinians. It was Israel’s largest rescue operation since the war began following Oct. 7 when Hamas militants killed upwards of 1,200 Israelis and captured 250 Israeli citizens. Israel’s counteroffensive measures have killed at least 37,000 people in Gaza. The status of the remaining Israeli hostages in Gaza is unclear.
Israel ramped up operations in Rafah, the Gaza Strip’s southernmost city, in early May, drawing international caution and criticism as the border city was previously declared a “safe zone.” The humanitarian crisis in Rafah and throughout Gaza is worsening, with thousands of refugees displaced and deprived of food, water and fuel, CNN reported.
“We are too far and too deep into the change this movement has caused for us to just say that Rafah is a ‘red line.’ If they were to have a ceasefire tomorrow, we do not care,” Laila Shaikh, president of Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of Cincinnati (SJP-UC), told demonstrators at Goebel Park. “The damage has been done.”
Local accountability
Though more than 6,000 miles away from the Tri-State, local activists have routinely called on local leaders to make declarations of support for Palestinians in the form of ceasefire resolutions, something cities big and small are experiencing across the country.
Mohammad Ahmad, head organizer of the Covington for Ceasefire organization, called out Covington’s mayor for his support of limiting public comment during commission meetings in response to numerous pro-Palestinian speakers approaching the podium.
“[Mayor Joe Meyer] has shown he not only does not care about Palestinian lives, but he does not care about life for that matter. He doesn’t care about his own constituents, because talking about Palestine is what pushed him to push for a stupid and useless resolution for public comment decorum. How does that make sense?” he said. “We have real problems like the unfortunate homelessness, our roads are potholes, which you know, we could be fixing if $660,000 [of our tax dollars] weren’t going to Israel.”
During Saturday’s protest, Shaikh announced that SJP-UC was launching an “Abandon Landsman” campaign, in reference to U.S. Congressman Greg Landsman, who represents Ohio’s First Congressional District.
“Because he has continued to have a disregard – for not only his Palestinian constituents – but the lives of Black and brown individuals in this city and throughout the United States,” Shaikh said. “Not only has he voted to censure Rashida Tlaib, the only Palestinian voice in Congress, but he has voted to sanction the [International Criminal Court] to protect Netanyahu and his murderous stances, and his tyranny he continues to cause.”
Cincinnati Socialists distributed flyers at the Covington protest advertising a protest outside Landsman’s Walnut Hills office on June 14, complete with a photo of Landsman wearing a clown nose.
“Hello, I’m Greg Landsman,” the flyer reads. “You may know me as a Democrat, but more than that, I like using my voice and vote to represent you by joining Republicans — not just against exploited migrants seeking a better tomorrow, also in shielding a war criminal actively engaged in committing a genocide.”
CityBeat reached out to Landsman, who is Jewish, for a comment on the flyer and impending demonstration.
“I’m pragmatic and bipartisan and get things done – so the Socialists have never been supportive,” Landsman said in a text.
Claims of antisemitism
On June 7, the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati released a statement criticizing Cincinnati Socialists for creating “divisions within the LGBTQIA+ and Jewish community.” Last week, Cincinnati Socialists, along with the DivestCinciPride organization, called on the Cincinnati Pride organization to cut ties with specific Pride organizers and sponsors that support or do business with Israel.
“Through their words and deeds, Cincinnati Socialists and DivestCinciPride have made clear that they mean to obstruct the process of inclusive community building,” the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati said. “Under duress from these groups, the Cincinnati Pride Board of Directors made significant missteps, capitulating to antisemitic pressure.”
Ahmad addressed the broader criticism that criticizing the Israeli government or those who support Zionism are inherently antisemitic.
“Unfortunately, the United States weaponizes anti-semitism, weaponizes the Holocaust, which it allowed to happen on its own accord, to use Palestine,” he said to demonstrators on Saturday.
The “Abandon Landsman” campaign criticizes the congressman for supporting House Resolution 894, which states that “anti-Zionism is antisemitism” and that pro-Palestinian demonstration chants, including “From the River to the Sea,” are antisemitic.
“Is that not threatening your First Amendment?” Shaikh said to the crowd at Goebel Park.
Daniel, who did not provide his last name to CityBeat, is a member of Shema Cincinnati, a self-described “pluralistic community of Jews working to develop community, religious practice and political action beyond Zionism.”
“The struggle is not against Jews, it is against a client state and service of the empire of capital,” Daniel told demonstrators at Goebel Park.
“I try to listen, even when people accuse someone like me of being a self-hating Jew, even when people I know tell me I’m dismissing centuries of Jewish oppression because I dare to call Israel an apartheid state. I try to listen when Jewish college students say they feel anxious on U.S. college campuses, knowing that every university in Gaza has been destroyed.”
Keep scrolling for photos from the June 8 protest at Goebel Park.
Photos by Aidan Mahoney
