JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Emotions ran high at a pro-Palestinian rally held in downtown Jacksonville as organizers and protestors said they want people to see the death toll in Gaza as more than just a statistic.
RELATED: US says Israel has agreed to the framework for a Gaza cease-fire. Hamas must now decide
As the war in Gaza continues between Israel and Hamas, Florida leaders are working to change the meaning of antisemitism as a bill was unanimously passed in the Florida House on Thursday.
RELATED: Florida Senate unanimously passes bill to define antisemitism
If Governor DeSantis signs the bill, Florida will adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism.
The new definition would read:
Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.
International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance
On Saturday, United States officials began dropping humanitarian aid into Gaza following the announcement by President Biden. Among the aid was over 30,000 meals but he said it was “not nearly enough” and the United States would try to provide more aid.
“I have lost my own family members in Gaza and a lot of people I personally know here in Jacksonville who have lost their own family members,” Sara Hamdam, a Jacksonville Palestine Solidarity Network member said. “Children in Gaza, they don’t say when I grow up, they say if I grow up. These are children. it’s soul-crushing. Every time you see the numbers it’s just a statistic. They’re all people.”
Zaina Masri said the United States should be doing more to provide aid in Gaza.
“I am here today because I am Palestinian-American, and I am here to protest the genocide of my people,” Hamdam said at the rally. “We have over 30,000 people dead. We have children starving to death as we speak. Ten babies died in Gaza due to malnutrition. We have the food to feed them. Let us please! Just let us.”
Masri added that the conflict in Gaza is wrong.
“America, we have it wrong. I was raised here, but I went to visit my dad’s homeland. It is fundamentally wrong, what we are supporting there,” Masri said.
Hamdam called it a genocide.
“Gaza is so small and they are bombing such a densely packed place and they keep moving them to smaller locations. They’re trying to wipe them out. This is not retaliation, this is genocide, this is ethnic cleansing,” Hamdam said.