Hamas terrorist fire rockets into Israel from civilian locations - Screenshot courtesy of CBS news on YouTube

Hamas terrorist fire rockets into Israel from civilian locations - Screenshot courtesy of CBS news on YouTube

Black Lives Matter comes out in solidarity with Palestinians and Hamas in attacks against Israel

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GAZA CITY, GAZA STRIP – Black Lives Matter has announced its full support of the Palestinians in the ongoing violence between Hamas supporters and Israel, a week after terrorists in Gaza began firing rockets onto Israel’s civilian population.

Black Lives Matter posted its solidarity with the Palestinians on its Twitter page on Monday:

“Black Lives Matter stands in solidarity with Palestinians. We are a movement committed to ending settler colonialism in all forms and will continue to advocate for Palestinian liberation. ( always have. And always will be ).”

The post featured the hashtag #freepalestine.

The tweet caught the attention of the BDS Movement, an anti-Israeli organization calling for a boycott of any Israeli companies and any foreign companies that β€œare complicit in the violations of Palestinian rights.”

The BDS Movement responded to the BLM tweet saying:

β€œThank you for your solidarity. From Ferguson to Palestine, our struggles against racism, white supremacy and for a just world are united!”

The tweet compared the conflict in Gaza with the anti-police movement in the United States championed by Black Lives Matter. Ferguson, Missouri, was the city where Michael Brown was killed in a fatal police shooting.

The shooting of Michael Brown led to a false narrative that he had his hands up when he was shot on August 9, 2014. The incident resulted in a rise in calls for police reforms, despite the shooting being ruled justified when it was proven that Brown attacked the officer and tried to take the officer’s gun.

The incident is often considered the birthplace of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Violence between Israel and Hamas militants heated up on May 10 when Hamas terrorists began firing rockets into civilian populations in Jerusalem following a violent clash between Israeli police and Palestinian protesters at the al-Aqsa mosque.

Israel launched airborne counterattacks and activated its Iron Dome defense system.

Gaza’s death toll on Wednesday crossed 227, including 64 children and 38 women. Over 12 people have died in Israel.

A delegation of BLM leaders traveled to GAZA in 2015, the first of several trips to the region, according to BLM co-founder Patrisse Khan-Cullors. In an interview with Ebony Magazine in 2015, Cullors said:

β€œThis is an apartheid state. We can’t deny that and if we do deny it, we are a part of the Zionist violence.”

Cullors has said in an interview on the Laura Flanders Show that black people in America feel a β€œkindred-ness” with the Palestinians because of their β€œeerily similar” experiences:

β€œWe are in deep solidarity with them, and frankly believe that Palestine is the new South Africa.”

 

Some local BLM chapters joined the national foundation in their support of the Palestinians in the conflict. BLM Paterson in New Jersey said in a press release:

β€œOur deep roots of solidarity are part of a rich tradition of mutual support and exchange between Palestine and US-based liberation movements, from the Black Panthers to the most recent communication between activists in Gaza and Ferguson, MO.

β€œOur struggles are connected in many ways, not least because the same Israeli forces forcibly expelling the original inhabitants of Sheikh Jarrah train repressive police forces around the world, including the US.”

The group made a demand that the United States government turn its support from Israel, long an ally of the United States, and re-direct $3.9 billion in US aid from Israel to the Palestinians:

β€œWe stand together with our Muslim brothers and sisters during the holy month of Ramadan and demand that Senator Cory Booker, Senator Robert Menendez, our 12 U.S. Representatives from New Jersey, and the Biden Administration join us in condemning these senseless acts of violence and work to end the state of Israel’s campaign of terror against the Palestinian people.

β€œWe demand that the 3.9 billion dollars in U.S. aid earmarked for Israel be diverted to help the victims of violence being perpetrated against the Palestinian people. The People United will never be defeated!”

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have announced airstrikes ahead of time to allow civilians in Gaza to flee, but many civilians have been killed despite the effort. Palestinian rockets fly indiscriminately and without warning.

IDF posted a reaction to the violence on its Twitter account. The post includes a video purportedly showing Palestinians being used as shields for Hamas equipment and facilities, and rockets being fired into Israel.

The IDF said:

β€œIsrael fights to protect its civilians. Hamas uses civilians to protect itself.”

Hamas is a U.S.-designated terrorist organization that has killed hundreds of Israeli citizens, as well as Americans, in suicide bombings and other terrorist attacks.

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LET Unity
‘Squad’ member Rep. Tlaib calls Israel a ‘racist state’, makes claim that Palestinians were excluded from vaccinations

January 20, 2021

 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – β€œSquad” member Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) claimed Palestinians are being excluded from the COVID-19 vaccine because Israel is a β€œracists state.” She made the comments during an interview on January 19 on the left-wing program β€œDemocracy Now!”

Tlaib is the first woman of Palestinian descent to be elected to Congress and one of the first two Muslim women elected to Congress, along with Ilhan Omar (D-MN). She is a member of β€œThe Squad,” the informal name for a group of six Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives who represent the left-wing of the Democratic Party.

During the interview, host Amy Goodman asked Tlaib what she thought about Israel being the β€œmost vaccinated” country, vaccinating 20% of its population, while Palestinians have not been vaccinated. Tlaib responded:

β€œI think it is important to understand that Israel is a racist state. They would deny Palestinians, like my grandmother, access to a vaccine.

β€œThey don’t believe that she is an equal human being that deserves to live, deserves to be protected by this global pandemic. β€œ

Israel has received global praise for the rapid roll-out of vaccine to its population, including those Israelis living in West Bank settlements. Israel has the most-vaccinated population on the planet.

However, the roll-out has been condemned by human rights groups and the Palestinian National Authority, claiming the 5 million Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza have been excluded from receiving the vaccine. Israel disputes the claim, saying the Palestinian Authority refused help.

Regardless, Amnesty International called out Israel on January 6:

β€œThe Israeli government must stop ignoring its international obligations as an occupying power and immediately act to ensure that COVID-19 vaccines are equally and fairly provided to Palestinians living under its occupation in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.”

Saleh Higazi, Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International, said:

β€œIsrael’s COVID-19 vaccine programme (sic) highlights the institutionalized discrimination that defines the Israeli government’s policy towards Palestinians.

β€œWhile Israel celebrates a record-setting vaccination drive, millions of Palestinians living under Israeli control in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip will receive no vaccine or have to wait much longer – there could hardly be a better illustration of how Israeli lives are valued above Palestinian ones.”

Israel points to the Oslo Accords, which gave the Palestinian Authority oversight of public health under the principles of self-determination. The Israeli government said Palestinians might receive surplus vaccines but said the Palestinian Authority had not requested help.

Originally, the Palestinian Authority condemned Israel for not including the Palestinians in the vaccine roll-out. The Authority’s Foreign Ministry said:

β€œThe search by the Palestinian leadership to secure the vaccines from various sources does not exempt Israel from its duties towards the Palestinian people in providing the vaccines.”

The Foreign Ministry backtracked on their claim Sunday:

β€œIsrael’s responsibility is not an abdication in any way of the responsibilities of the State of Palestine towards the Palestinian people, including providing healthcare and COVID vaccinations.”

American Jewish Committee CEO David Harris supported the Israeli claim that the Palestinians did not request help. He tweeted:

β€œPalestinians aren’t β€˜excluded from Israeli COVID vaccine rollout. They rejected COVID cooperation with Israel. They’re in charge of (their) own health care under Oslo Accords. They spurned UAE’s (United Arab Emirates) COVID aid -They’re awaiting millions of doses of Russian vaccine.”

https://twitter.com/DavidHarrisAJC/status/1346081557845598209 

 

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About The Author

Scott A. Davis is a 28-year veteran of law enforcement. He served as a Police Sergeant and as a Detective in Pennsylvania. Scott retired from law enforcement in 2020. Prior to his law enforcement career, Scott was an award-winning journalist and recipient of two Keystone Press Awards.

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