Pro-Palestine rally draws crowd at State House. How Jewish groups and RI officials reacted.

PROVIDENCE — A pro-Palestine rally cosponsored by the Rhode Island chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America drew several hundred people to the Rhode Island State House on Saturday, in the pounding rain, to demand "an end to the Israeli occupation" and "an immediate end to U.S. military aid to Israel."

From the peaceful but impassioned crowd waving "Free Palestine" signs came the chant: "Stop the killing. Stop the crime. Israel out of Palestine."

"From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free," they chanted, to the dismay of the president of the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island.

"They're essentially calling for the end of Israel, the end of the Jewish state and really calling for Jews to be excised from the land as well," said Adam Greenman, the president and CEO of the Jewish Alliance.

"We understand people are passionate and our community also mourns the innocent Palestinian lives that have been lost, but also believe that Israel has a right to defend itself," he said. And "our community is still mourning the 1,400 Israelis who were brutally murdered a couple of weeks ago ... so to hear those kinds of chants, that's really disturbing."

RI rally mirrors similar demonstrations around the U.S. and the world

The rally and the reaction to it mirror what's been happening in cities across the globe, as people take sides in the decades-old conflict in the Middle East.

A rally in New York nearly two weeks ago drew more than 1,000 pro-Palestine backers, who chanted “Resistance is justified when people are occupied." New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, condemned the pro-Palestinian rally in advance, calling it “abhorrent and morally repugnant.” Other political leaders in New York issued similar statements.

Reaction to the protest from RI officials

Rhode Island state Rep. Mia Ackerman on Saturday wrote "Despicable!!" on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

But there was little else said about the "All Out for Palestine" rally in Providence. Gov. Dan McKee's office did not initially respond, but McKee, a Democrat, issued this statement on Monday:

“Let me be very clear — I unequivocally condemn the despicable acts of war and terror perpetrated by Hamas against the people of Israel."

McKee thanked President Joe Biden "for securing an agreement for the first shipment of humanitarian assistance from the United Nations to Palestinians civilians in Gaza,'' commended him for "his swift response in providing increased military assistance to Israel and urge[d] Congress to come together and pass the President’s request."

The stated reason for the Providence rally — to demand "an immediate end to U.S. military aid to Israel, and an end to the occupation and genocide in Palestine."

'We feel a century of struggle screaming in our bones'

Amid conflicting accounts of who was actually responsible for the Oct. 17 bombing of a hospital in the Gaza strip, organizers of Saturday's demonstration alleged that in the last two weeks alone, "Israel has killed over 3,000 Palestinians, including over 1,000 children ... bombed hospitals; shut off power and water to 2 million people; attempted a forcible relocation of 1 million people."

"We are witnessing ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people — greenlit and funded by our federal government — after nearly a century of violent occupation and displacement," said Anusha Alles, executive director of Direct Action for Rights and Equality. "We will not tolerate any further support by the American government for the state of Israel."

More: Providence City Council to hear dueling resolutions on Israeli-Palestinian violence

Speaking as a Palestinian who made it to Brown University "against all odds," Sherena Razek said: "American news media and politicians will have us believe that violence began on Oct. 7, when it is a century old for the Palestinian people.

"We feel a century of struggle screaming in our bones and bear the wounds of generations of trauma that [the] empire has imposed on us. We appear intact ... [but] we are aching because [a] U.S.-backed genocide [is] taking place ... right now and it must be stopped. ... It is the latest iteration of ... [the] colonial ethnic cleansing project called Israel."

Joel Reinstein of Jewish Voice for Peace stated: "Jewish grief and historical trauma must not be weaponized to justify the genocide [it] is carrying out right now against Palestinians. ... We must call it what it is. Israel locking over 2 million Palestinians off in an open-air prison, shutting off all food and water, relentlessly carpet bombing them is genocide."

There is, however, more than one view of what is happening in the Middle East and conflicting accounts.

Hundreds of people were feared dead after an explosion at a hospital on Oct. 17 on the Gaza strip, a little more than a week after the Palestinian group Hamas staged a terrorist attack on Israel that reportedly killed 1,400 people and led Israel to declare war and begin bombing the territory.

Hamas, which controls Gaza, blamed the hospital blast on an Israeli airstrike. Israel said it was caused by an errant rocket fired by another armed group, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which denied the assertion. President Biden backed Israel’s position, according to The New York Times.

Senators Reed and Whitehouse: 'We must recognize Israel’s right to defend itself'

In a joint statement on Thursday night, U.S. Sens. Jack Reed, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island said: “After the briefing we received, it is clear that the United States is standing fully with Israel. We must recognize Israel’s right to defend itself from murderous terrorists.

“We are also assured that President Biden has negotiated the flow of humanitarian aid to Gazans. ... We must minimize harm to innocent civilians in Gaza, even as Hamas uses Palestinian civilians as human shields.”

Of the hospital bombing, they said: “The intelligence community has concluded that the tragic explosion at the hospital in Gaza was the result of an errant rocket launched by terrorists and not an Israeli airstrike. "

Mark Patinkin: His parents survived the Holocaust, now this RIer watches as a friend is attacked in Israel

Reed's office announced that he had arrived in Saudi Arabia on Friday, en route to Israel later as part of a group of senators who went to the Middle East to show their support for Israel.

The explanation for the trip: "The United States and Saudi Arabia have a common interest in preserving the stability, security, and prosperity of the Gulf region and consult closely on a wide range of regional and global issues. Saudi Arabia has an important role to play in working toward a peaceful and prosperous future for the region."

The groups organizing Saturday's rally at the State House included the Party for Socialism and Liberation Rhode Island; ANSWER Coalition; Direct Action for Rights and Equality; Jewish Voice For Peace Rhode Island; Rhode Island Club — Communist Party USA; Providence Democratic Socialists of America; Brown Students for Justice in Palestine; RISD Students for Justice in Palestine; RI Antiwar Coalition; No Endless War or Excessive Militarism; Providence Youth Student Movement; Alliance to Mobilize Our Resistance; SISTA Fire; and the Reform Solitary Coalition.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Pro-Palestine rally in Providence seeks end to U.S. military aid to Israel