6th District hopeful Ruzevich suggests Palestinians should reclaim ‘stolen’ property in Israel

The Chicagoan challenging U.S. Rep. Sean Casten of Downers Grove for the Democratic nomination in Illinois’ 6th Congressional District said expatriate Palestinians should be allowed to reclaim familial properties in Israel and the occupied territories.

“I support a right of return for Palestinians who have had their homes stolen from them over the last 80 years,” candidate Joey Ruzevich said. The Israeli government says no such right exists.

Ruzevich, a 29-year-old software engineer, made the comment days after posting the “From the river to the sea, love means liberation” on Facebook among a series of politically themed Valentine’s Day messages.

The slogan “From the River to the Sea Palestine Will Be Free” refers to the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea — two of Israel’s borders. Some see it as a rallying cry for the liberation of Palestinian people; others — including U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider of Highland Park and the Anti-Defamation League — consider it a call to eliminate Israel and the Jews who live there.

Democratic U.S. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, who is Palestinian American, was censured in 2023 for, in part, posting a video in which the phrase was chanted. The U.S. House declared the phrase “an antisemitic call to arms” in a bipartisan resolution in 2024.

Casten, who is seeking a fifth term, declined through a spokesperson to respond to Ruzevich’s statements.

The 6th District, which includes parts of Cook and DuPage counties, is home to one of the nation’s largest Palestinian American communities. Casten and Ruzevich were asked about Israel in a joint video interview with the Daily Herald, a questionnaire and follow-up emails.

Criticizing Israel’s treatment of Palestinians — especially during the current war in Gaza — has been a key part of Ruzevich’s campaign platform.

Israel exists today, Ruzevich said, because the then-new nation drove an estimated 750,000 Arab people from their homes in 1948 in an event many call the “Nakba,” or “catastrophe.” Israel has continued to expand its territorial claim “through violence and forced displacement,” Ruzevich said.

While some people think adjoining Jewish and Palestinian countries should exist, Ruzevich said there should be one state that offers equal rights to all its residents. Despite repeated requests for clarification, he wouldn’t say if that nation should be Israel or something else.

When asked if he thinks Israel has a right to exist, Ruzevich said, “States do not have rights, people do.”

Casten, on the other hand, believes creating separate, sovereign homelands for Israelis and Palestinians is the path to peace.

“A two-state solution (would) ensure security for Israelis and freedom and self-determination for the Palestinian people,” the 54-year-old Casten said in his questionnaire.

Ruzevich said he was motivated to run for Congress, in part, by watching “two-and-a-half years of brutal starvation and slaughter of innocent people in Gaza facilitated by my government.” The U.S. long has supplied Israel with arms.

He supports legislation that would withhold the transfer of certain weapons to Israel. The proposal, dubbed the Block the Bombs Act, was introduced last May by U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez, a Chicago Democrat who represents the neighboring 3rd District.

Casten repeatedly has condemned the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel by Hamas and its allies that triggered the current war, and he’s backed Israel’s right to defend itself. But Casten also has voted to provide humanitarian assistance to Gaza, criticized the construction of new Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Gaza and opposed President Donald Trump’s proposal to relocate Gaza’s Palestinian population.

On Monday, Casten proposed legislation that seeks to ban Israel from using U.S.-made weapons in Gaza and the West Bank if it violates the October 2025 ceasefire agreement or Trump’s 20-point plan to end the conflict; annexes the West Bank; or fails to combat settler violence against Palestinians.

Illinois’ primary Election Day is March 17. The 6th District’s Republican primary pits Niki Conforti against Skylar Duensing.