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June 2020

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A hasbarist argues there’s nothing wrong in the killing of Eyad al-Halaq. Palestinians may “ask to become Israel’s ‘blacks’,” Nave Dromi says, but we won’t let them be equal citizens. In fact the history of nationalism is the history of racist distinctions, and persecution, that the world has been seeking to outlaw since WW II.

Many British Jewish organizations have condemned racism at the heart of George Floyd’s murder. It’s impossible for even liberal Jewish supporters of Israel to recognise the structural and institutional racism they inhabit while they cling to the idea that only an exclusive Jewish sovereignty in Israel/Palestine can guarantee Jewish security.

Palestinian Kindergarten teacher wearing a face mask and gloves, play with children after the decision to open schools across the Gaza Strip, in Gaza City, on June 2, 2020. (Photo: Mahmoud Ajjour/APA Images)

With the state of emergency lifted across the West Bank and Gaza, the coronavirus pandemic appears to be winding into a new phase, one of social distancing but inevitable crowds as shops and mosques reopen.

George Floyd’s killing by Minneapolis police on May 25 has caused many to liken American policing methods to Israeli occupation policing, and to point out that US police have gotten training from Israeli officials under the sponsorship of Israel lobby organizations. The ADL sponsors such trainings, even as it says George Floyd murder exposes “systemic” racism in the U.S.

Protest for George Floyd in Marin City, California on June 2, 2020. (Photo: Peg Hunter/Flickr)

Uprisings across all 50 states continued into this week, with thousands protesting the police murder of George Floyd. A number of pro-Palestine organizations put out powerful statements in solidarity with the actions.

Palestinians in the occupied West Bank City of Bethlehem gathered on Tuesday outside the Church of Nativity, the birthplace of Jesus, to hold a vigil in honor of George Floyd and Eyad al-Halaq. Mahmoud Zawahreh, a local activist, told Mondoweiss that “it is important for Palestinians to stand with all the oppressed people in the world, of all nationalities, who are the victims of racism and persecution.”