Black Lives Matter Stands up for Palestinians

 “The US justifies and advances the global war on terror via its alliance with Israel and is complicit in the genocide taking place against the Palestinian people,” The Movement for Black Lives states in a document signed by more than 50 civil rights organizations.
 
The coalition is also demanding that Washington redirect investments, including the annual $3.1 billion granted to the Israeli regime, into services for black people and other oppressed Americans, aid that is much needed to tilt the balance of equality in the U.S.
 
Critically, the movement is refusing to let government policies force Americans into paying for the crimes carried out by the Israeli Occupation Forces.
 
 “The results of this policy are twofold: it not only diverts much needed funding from domestic education and social programs, but it makes US citizens complicit in the abuses committed by the Israeli government. Israel is an apartheid state with over 50 laws on the books that sanction discrimination against the Palestinian people. Palestinian homes and land are routinely bulldozed to make way for illegal Israeli settlements,” the policy platform explains.
 
Pro-Zionist organizations were quick to react to this statement. Boston’s Jewish Community Relations Council, for example, announced it would be separating itself from any group associated with Black Lives Matter.
 
 “We cannot and will not align ourselves with organizations that falsely and maliciously assert that Israel is committing ‘genocide,’” a statement from the group declared.
 
“We reject participation in any coalition that seeks to isolate and demonize Israel singularly amongst the nations of the world.”
 
“In asserting that U.S. support for Israel makes it ‘complicit in the genocide committed against the Palestinian people,’ and labeling Israel as ‘an apartheid state,’ the MBL libels Israel, while diluting the moral seriousness of those terms,” AJC claimed in its statement.
 
However, many right-wing Jewish groups have stood against Black Lives Matter since its inception.
 
On the other hand, NGOs like Jewish Voice for Peace, which defends the Palestinian cause, said it supports the platform without reservation.
 
 “We are deeply disappointed by the response from a number of Jewish organizations to the platform, particularly the ‘Invest-Divest’ section that endorses the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement and makes a clear call for Black/Palestinian solidarity. These Jewish organizations are rejecting a thorough and inspiring transformational set of policy ideas developed by a broad coalition of Black leaders simply because these Black leaders have explicitly linked the experiences and struggles of Palestinians with their own,” the NGO stated.
 
In recent years, civil rights activists visited Palestine in a show of support for the Palestinians’ cause under the current Israeli occupation. Palestinian activists have returned these visits as ties between the two sides seem to be strengthening.
 
The platform’s Israel/Palestine section was written by Rachel Gilmer, an activist who was born and raised as a Jew but no longer identifies as such.
 
In a recent interview with Haaretz, during a visit to Palestine, Gilmer said she believes the struggle for freedom in the US and Palestine are parallel, that one cannot be achieved without the other.
 
 “Going this past May was so transformative. Seeing all the parallels between black and Palestinian struggles. ... Gentrification parallels home demolition. Going to the apartheid wall and seeing how it broke up communities ... it’s the same systems of patriarchy, imperialism and colonialism that we’re up against,” Gilmer said.  
 
“I started thinking more about how important it is for us to stand in solidarity with Palestinian people. ... We are never going to get free in the U.S. if the rest of the world is in chains,” Gilmer admitted.
 
What this entire fuss over Black Lives Matter’s stance tells us is that the Israeli lobby can get a hold of everything it disapproves of. It also speaks volumes about the extent to which freedom of expression and activism for universal rights are accepted in the West. In this context, we can perceive the power that Zionism has over the U.S., especially that recent statements indicate that it’s ok to speak for African-Americans’ rights as long as they do not try to bash the Israeli regime’s crimes or defend other causes that they strongly believe in, like the rights of the Palestinian people.