Connect with us

Israel

Black Lives Matter UK Faces Backlash Over Anti-Israel Tweet

Published

3 years ago

on

BLM UK 1

Black Lives Matter’s U.K. chapter posted a series of tweets over the weekend dismissing the Jewish people’s right to self-determination in Israel. The backlash, however, that followed the group’s statement has increased accusations of antisemitism as the group continues what it describes, as its fight for social justice.

BLM has been leading protests that have erupted across the globe in recent weeks since the death of George Floyd. Floyd tragically died in police custody when a Minneapolis Police Officer knelt on his neck for over 8 minutes.

“As Israel moves forward with the annexation of the West Bank, and mainstream British politics is gagged of the right to critique Zionism, and Israel’s settler colonial pursuits, we loudly and clearly stand beside our Palestinian comrades. FREE PALESTINE,” BLM UK wrote on Twitter Sunday, defending that the comments are not antisemitic, but are merely “opposition to Israel’s policies.”

In this case, the comments come as Israel inches closer to claiming sovereignty over parts of Judea and Samaria, also known as the West Bank. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has “strongly objected” the move, calling it a “breach of international law.”

Black Lives Matter has now inserted itself into that debate, but with an outright dismissal of Jewish claims to the land. It isn’t the first time for the supporter of the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions movement.

As a Zionist, myself, it’s been quite difficult to reconcile my support for our right to our homeland and for the pursuit of justice. The same goes for other Zionists, who have come out in outspoken condemnation of the group’s recent comments.

Yoni Michanie, a former IDF paratrooper, pointed to this on Twitter saying, “The belief that you can achieve justice and equality by demanding the dismantling of a movement which seeks to protect indigenous rights to national liberation seems counterintuitive.”

Jerry Dunleavy, a reporter for The Washington Examiner wrote, “Black Lives Matter ***the org*** is a radical group founded by Marxists who admire cop killers. The UK org says it is endorsed by Patrisse Cullors, current leader of BLM, who openly admits that she is a Marxist. Looks like they’re openly anti-Israel too.”

Ashager Araro, an IDF reserves lieutenant and Founder of Bettae – Ethiopian Israeli Heritage Center, questioned the group’s mission, asking, “Can someone explain to me how promoting an anti-Israel agenda help black people in the UK? AHAHA..it doesn’t?” adding, “So you’re just abusing legitimate and important struggle to promote your uneducated political point of view?”

Read BLM’s Twitter thread below:

You may like

Related Topics:
Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Israel

Biden Administration Sacrificing Saudi-Israel Deal on Altar of Palestinian Statehood

Published

5 days ago

on

September 18, 2023

By

Saudi crown prince

Iran kicked out one-third of its nuclear inspectors. The Biden administration is on the verge of getting Iran to release five hostages in exchange for unfreezing $6 billion of Iranian cash, and potentially five Iranian prisoners held in US custody. As Iran is on the march, a breakthrough in Middle East peace can’t come fast enough.

The best way to check Iranian ambitions in the region would be the normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel. While such a deal would be “tectonic,” the Biden administration is destroying the prospects for normalization because it continues to be obsessed with linking the deal to Palestinian nationalism.

More than any of the known Palestinian demands to date, the Biden administration is fixated on Palestinian statehood. And the administration continues to browbeat Israel on that point. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has recently claimed that both Saudi Arabia and the Biden administration view a two-state solution an important piece to any deal. Previously, Blinken told Israel’s minister of strategic affairs, Ron Dermer, that Israel would be “misreading the situation” if it doesn’t think that significant concessions to the Palestinians would be required to broker a Saudi-Israel deal. White House National Security Council spokesman Jake Sullivan also told Dermer that that Israel will need to give significant concessions to the Palestinians so that the Biden administration can sell the deal to Democrats in Congress.

One unconfirmed Saudi press report stated that the Saudis have walked away from talks, due to concerns that Israel wouldn’t agree to placate the Palestinians. However, both an American and an Israeli official have asserted that that report is false.

What is more likely is that the Saudis are taking a pragmatic, not absolutist, approach to a Palestinian track. According to an unnamed Arab official who is familiar with recent talks between Saudi Arabia and the Palestinian Authority (PA) earlier this month, Saudi Arabia is now communicating to the PA that it is willing to abandon the two-state solution as a pre-condition for normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel, and that the PA needs to acclimate its demands to that fact. Additionally, Saudi Arabia has proposed to re-start aid to the PA, halted since 2016, in efforts to get the PA to at least tacitly support normalization.

The Israeli response to Palestinian nationalism is much more publicly opposed. Israeli National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi has rejected the idea of Palestinian statehood as part of the deal. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the concept of Israeli concessions to the Palestinians as a part of normalization is “a fiction” as such a deal “has nothing to do with Judea and Samaria [commonly referred to in the West as the ‘West Bank’].”

Israel’s hostility to Palestinian nationalism is well founded. As the Oslo Accords turn 30 years old, the so called “peace process” has failed to bring peace to Israel, as Israel has had to defend itself against at least five warsand countless smaller violent conflicts against the Palestinians since 1993. PA President Mahmoud Abbas continued to show his true bigoted face with a recent anti-Semitic diatribe, part and parcel of the systemic anti-Semitism and incitement to violence of the PA.

The Biden administration continues to stand in the way of Saudi Arabia’s normalization of relations with Israel, as it continues to pursue maximalist demands on Palestinian statehood. This is a non-starter for Israel, and not a top concern for Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia, like Israel, is primarily focused on using the deal to leverage its strength against Iran – as Saudi Arabia is looking to secure US support for advanced weapons, a NATO-like alliance, and civilian nuclear energy. In order to make a sustainable counterweight against Iranian aggression, the Biden administration must jettison its demands for Palestinian statehood, and at the very least answer Saudi concerns with a serious counter-offer. Failure to buttress Israel, Saudi Arabia and our Gulf allies will likely result in a resurgent Iran.

You may like

Continue Reading

Trending