The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute has now gone full circle: It announced today that it has voted to give a human rights award to Angela Davis after all! The institute rescinded the award to Davis on Jan. 4 due in part to her support for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) targeting Israel.
Marc Ellis writes that the rescinding by the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute of an award to Angela Davis raises issues about the Black-Jewish alliance and the ability of Jews to set parameters for African Americans to speak on Jewish questions, including Israel. There is a war over that question. The Jewish establishment sees Angela Davis as an enemy. Jews of Conscience see her as an ally.
The Birmingham Holocaust Education Center has trampled on the credo, Never Again, by objecting to Angela Davis’s humanitarian award because she supports Palestinian rights. Dr. Hatim Kanaaneh calls on the Education Center to apologize for the damage it has done to Palestinian human rights.
The decision by the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute to withdraw an award to Angela Davis because of her support for BDS has become a giant embarrassment to the Institute and the Jewish groups that put pressure on it to reconsider. Both the Birmingham Holocaust Education Center and the Birmingham Jewish Federations have tried to walk back statements critical of the award.