Why does the Black Lives Matter movement stand in solidarity with Palestine in the war?
Anne Eliza Canning Skinner describes her participation in the Black Lives Matter demonstrations in 2020 as the first time she “experienced the meaning of solidarity.” Three years later, the 28-year-old young woman took to the streets of New York to demonstrate in support of the Palestinians, a month after the relentless Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip.
The war broke out after a surprise attack launched by Hamas on southern Israel on October 7, which led to the death of 1,400 people, while the toll of the continuous Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip since then amounted to more than ten thousand people, most of them civilians, including thousands. Children, according to the latest statistics from the Ministry of Health in Gaza.
Canning Skinner is one of thousands of demonstrators across the United States who took to the streets demanding a ceasefire in Gaza and an end to US funding for the Israeli military.
Protesters in the United States are increasingly linking the Palestinian liberation movement to the black liberation movement, according to Agence France-Presse.
In Brooklyn recently, Canning Skinner, a black woman, went out with demonstrators who raised signs reading “Black Lives for Palestine” and “White Silence is Violence.” “Everything is interconnected,” the young woman asserts.
Historical roots of solidarity between black and Palestinian organizers are intertwined. However, experts and activists believe that the events that occurred in recent years led to the crystallization of the similarities and intersections of the demonstrators.
“In terms of doing this kind of ideological work to convince people that Palestine is an issue they should engage with, I think Black Lives Matter was very important,” Derek Aide, a historian at the University of Michigan, told AFP. He added: “There are more people on the streets; “This is certainly a result of the type of organizing that black activists were doing alongside Palestinian groups and organizations.”
“common case”
Sam Klug, an African American studies historian who focuses on decolonization, explains that with the emergence of the Black Power and anti-war movements in the mid-twentieth century, “it became more common in African American activist circles to understand Palestinians as an oppressed people.”
He says: The 1967 war represented an important turning point, noting that the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee – which was a major organizing force during the American civil rights movement – issued a bulletin that “took a strong pro-Palestinian position.”
He added: “It described a kind of shared state of oppression and occupation between African Americans and Palestinians, and a kind of global colonial society.”
A girl raises a banner reading “Palestine is a moral test for the world” in a demonstration in support of Palestine in New York (AFP)
Decades later, the police killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, sparked mass protests against racism and state violence, and the Black Lives Matter movement began to attract American attention.
In the summer of 2014, Israel launched a military campaign against Gaza for seven weeks, and historian Aydi confirms that “seeing these two things happening simultaneously (…) reinforced that these are two unified struggles” for many activists.
He noted, “We saw a kind of wave of action and dialogue between the demonstrators in Ferguson as well as the Palestinians in Gaza (…) the exchange of tactics, strategies, stories of oppression, and resistance to oppression.”
In 2020, the killing of George Floyd at the hands of police sparked more massive protests and strengthened anti-racism efforts in the United States.
Once again, Palestinians posted advice online on how to deal with tactics used by riot police, including rubber bullets and tear gas.
Klug believes that it is “hard to imagine” the current protests in the United States without the “Black Lives Matter” movement. He said: “It is certainly not the only factor (…), but I think it is important.”
“Global solidarity”
A number of demonstrators recently interviewed by Agence France-Presse pointed to the existence of links between Israeli law enforcement authorities and the American police, pointing in particular to programs that see American officers trained alongside their Israeli counterparts.
Even before the current war, Israel was waging military operations, some of which included the use of lethal force against civilians. Klug noted “a clear common visual language that people can see when Israeli security services brutalize Palestinian civilians, and which Americans have become familiar with from scenes of white police officers committing acts of violence against African-American civilians.”
These factors may help provide a partial explanation for why American opinion has grown and improved on the Palestinian issue, especially among young people, in recent years in a country whose government affirms unwavering support for Israel.
Klug asserts that the protests over the killing of George Florid and the work of “Black Lives Matter” that preceded them led to a shift in the conversation about the Palestinian issue for many black activists – and also more broadly “among young Americans of all races.”
The facts
Anti-Zionist Jewish movements
Such as the “Jewish Voice for Peace” and the “If Not Now” movement played a strong organizational role in supporting the demonstrations in support of the ceasefire in Gaza.
Kluge spoke about the increasing activity on the left among Jewish anti-Zionist movements, such as the “Jewish Voice for Peace” and the “If Not Now” movement, both of which have played a strong organizational role in recent weeks.
Joe Behanzen, who recently went out in a demonstration in Manhattan, inspired by “Black Lives Matter,” emphasized that it is about what he described as “global solidarity.”
The young man (25 years old) said that he wants to “reciprocate” the global support for the “Black Lives Matter” movement in 2020, explaining that it comes within the framework of “the ongoing global movement against white supremacy and colonialism.”
#Representatives #blame #female #representative #Palestinian #origin #Israel
2023-11-08 17:13:28
