Donald Trump is 'calling for ethnic cleansing,' says Illinois House Democrat

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — State Rep. Abdelnasser Rashid (D-Berwyn) said President Donald Trump is enacting an ethnic cleansing after Trump called all Palestinians to leave Gaza.

"Let's call that what it is, ethnic cleansing," Rashid said.

The lawmaker said this at a press conference where he unveiled a new bill. The plan would repeal a current Illinois law that restricts companies from boycotting Israel.

The Illinois Investment Policy Board can currently restrict public funding to a company if they believe they are protesting Israel.

Alongside Palestinian leaders and members of Jewish voice for peace, Rashid said the current law is dangerous to Illinois citizens that are peacefully protesting the war in Gaza.

"Our state should have never passed a law punishing those advocating for Palestinian human rights," Rashid said. "This fight goes beyond just correcting a past mistake. It's about breaking Illinois' ties to Donald Trump's dangerous foreign policy vision."

Rashid says this bill is personal for him, when in 2023, he returned to his old home in the West Bank, and found himself and his family under fire from Israeli forces.

"They came into my family's neighborhood," Rashid said. "We heard the gunshots ringing out, ushered my family inside with my young kids who were seven at the time clinging to me saying 'dad what do we do if we get shot?'"

Illinois Coalition for Human Rights supports the new bill, saying that the bill is a call for rights for all people, not just Palestinians.

Spokesperson Sheri Maali, who's an American Palestinian living in Illinois, said this bill reflects a political realignment that will protect companies.

"Polls say 71% of Americans support placing conditions on aid to Israel," Maali said. "Yet our own state proactively punishes companies who's human rights policies do not align with Israel's actions in the occupied territories."

The plan has received support from both American Palestinians and members of the Jewish community. At the press conference, they lined up behind Rashid, applauding as he condemned Trumps comments on Gaza.

Rabbi Brant Rosen, co-founder for Jewish Voice for Peace, said the current law actively criminalizes free speech.

"It was immoral and illegal to do so when it was enacted by Gov. Rauner in 2015 and it remains so today," Rosen said.

Gov. JB Pritzker was asked at an unrelated press conference about Trump's new Gaza plan. He says if it was enacted, it would be terrible foreign policy.

"Let's me just be clear this one is dangerous," Pritzker said. "Dangerous for the Middle East, it's dangerous for Israel, it's dangerous for Palestinians and it's dangerous for the United States."

The bill has not been assigned to a committee yet, but a similar plan will be filed in the State Senate.