Anger can move one to action, but bitterness? Nada Elia struggles with the world’s, and her own, reaction to the invasion of Ukraine.
The Black-Jewish Alliance was never what it has been made out to be. It wasn’t derailed by gullible African Americans being hoodwinked by Palestinian tales of woe, as Zionist organizations would have you believe, but because Zionism is fundamentally incompatible with the principles of equality and justice that are central to Black liberation politics.
Zionists are working hard to decouple the struggle for racial justice in the United States from Palestinian liberation, but the movements are intertwined through shared experiences of state violence and a legacy of joint struggle.
Mohammed El-Kurd shares his lessons from engaging with the Western press, and how Palestinians can most effectively tell their story: “Our mission in the coming period should not only be legitimizing the Palestinian right to resist, but also legitimizing his or her right to feel anger when our land and rights are violated.”
U.S. Jews and not Christian Zionists are Israel’s “bridge” to the Congress and the White House, Israeli minister Nachman Shai tells the American Jewish Committee. “I believe only in you.” And that means shutting down the “Squad” in Congress. “I don’t want to hear those voices coming from the Democratic Party sidelines of refusal to send arms to Israel or to support Israel internationally.” P.S. Shai is a J Street hero.
Israel’s Diaspora Minister Nachman Shai tells the American Jewish Committee: “if we see more of the radical left or the progressive liberal Jews continuing to support BDS and Black Lives Matter, as similar to the Palestinians, and they relate to Israel as a genocide state or an apartheid state, we may lose America.”
As Palestinian and Jewish educators, and members of the Seattle Education Association, we call on other brave individuals and institutions to join us in endorsing BDS.
“Facing History,” a rich source of teaching materials, tells students that the bigotry and hatred we see today are legacies of past injustices. And systemic racism and indigeneity are the subjects of entire Facing History courses. But the nonprofit’s omission of Palestinian history is intentional. “Facing History” functions as though it is possible to be both anti-racist and Zionist.
Rep. Cori Bush’s statements in support of Palestinians during the most recent uprising reflect how the US discussion of Israel-Palestine is increasingly impacted by the anti-racism and anti-colonialism of the Black Lives Matter movement.