In Platform, Black Lives Matter Accuses Israel Of ‘Genocide,’ Backs BDS

[Purveyor]

Source: Times of Israel

Ahead of elections, umbrella group releases document labeling Jewish state an ‘apartheid state,’ calls for stopping US support

By Eric Cortellessa August 3, 2016, 9:45 pm

WASHINGTON — Following the Republican and Democratic national conventions, groups associated with the Black Lives Matter movement released a platform Monday that labels Israel an “apartheid state” and excoriates the United States for its alliance with a country it alleges systemically perpetrates a “genocide” against the Palestinians.

The platform, which demands “an end to the war against Black people,” marks the campaign’s first official entry into America’s debate over specific federal policies. In the past, Black Lives Matter has been noted for its protests against disparities within the nation’s criminal justice system that disadvantage African-Americans and other minorities.

The document makes 40 specific policy proposals, including abolishing the death penalty, providing free tuition to public universities, and enacting reparations to Black Americans, and addressed matters of US foreign policy in a section titled “Invest-Divest.”

Highly critical of the Jewish state — which it said “practices systematic discrimination and has maintained a military occupation of Palestine for decades” — the platform devoted a section to the US-Israel relationship. “The US justifies and advances the global war on terror via its alliance with Israel and is complicit in the genocide taking place against the Palestinian people,” the text said.

Read more: http://www.timesofisrael.com/in-platform-black-lives-matter-accuses-israel-of-genocide-backs-bds/

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US Jewish Council Mad After Black Lives Matter Back Palestine

The U.S.-based Jewish Community Relations Council issued a statement Wednesday criticizing the Black Lives Matter movement over their support for Palestine after they called out Israeli "genocide" for Tel Aviv's continued occupation and systematic oppression of the Palestinian people.

“We are deeply dismayed by elements of this platform, specifically the co-opting and manipulation of a movement addressing concerns about racial disparities in criminal justice in the United States in order to advance a biased and false narrative about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict," reads a statement from the organization.

The group also dismissed the idea that the suffering of Black people in the U.S. and Palestinians are in anyway similar. “To conflate the experiences of African-Americans and Palestinians oversimplifies complex matters and advances false equivalencies that diminish the unique nature of each.”

The anti-police brutality movement issued its first platform and within it the group included a section on U.S. foreign policy. In the 40-page document, Black Lives Matter declare Israel an “apartheid state” which “practices systematic discrimination and has maintained a military occupation of Palestine for decades.”

MORE...

http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/US-Jewish-Council-Mad-After-Black-Lives-Matter-Back-Palestine-20160803-0040.html

[Democat]

1. Genocide and Reparations

Is this a political party or a group focused on stopping police violence?

[canetoad]

2. Too many progressive movements

Have made the mistake of not being able to focus on their issue. They are diluting the message.

[uhnope]

9. yep. Sounds like some orthodoxy is taking over BLM

Next they'll be denouncing "US imperialism" and complaining about "NATO aggression."

[TipTok]

30. What's to take over?

Anyone can claim association with (or even leadership of) a group that has no leadership or policy or standards.

[romanic]

37. I've longed thought BLM to be bought and paid for by someone.

I know it's not popular to stay, but the rumors of Soros and other wealthy elites using BLM to push agendas seems to be more and more likely imo.

[Justice]

11. And the right will seize on this to use

Against HRC.

[Democat]

12. Hillary is pro-Israel

I would not expect her to continue supporting Black Lives Matter if they are officially calling Israel genocidal.

[Beakybird]

3. Very counterproductive to their cause

As a liberal Jew, I find this alienating. If the Palestinians widely recognized Israel's right to exist, I would feel differently. Very complex issues. Genocide is vitriolic. It is a term the U.N. uses only in the most extreme circumstances.
This seems anti-Semitic to me.

[Lunabell]

4. Anti Israel is not anti semetic.

The Apartheid of Palestinian people needs to stop and Israel needs to scale back their land grab. Palestinians ha
ve a right to exist too.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

38. Complicated issue

I'm not Jewish, but I can understand Israelis being concerned about free access to Palestinians given past terror.

Most Palestinians have been in the region less time than the Jews, by the way. Most of them are descendants who arrived in the area from surrounding countries for work after Jews industrialized it. I mention that because the most common argument that I read goes like this, "How would you feel if someone invaded your land and then told you that you could only live in a section of it?"

Some of the expansionist tactics of the Israelis are uncool, though.

[Sgent]

5. Agreed

on all counts.

[cpwm17]

6. You don't seem to understand who doesn't recognize whom.

Who it is that's stealing from the other. Who is it that conducted the Nakba and numerous other aggressive actions against the other. Who is it that is trying to erase the other from existence.

This has to be the world's worst indentity theft con-game game in history, which includes stealing victim status from the actual victims.

[leftynyc]

8. Agree with your entire post

Black lives matters - instead of bringing people together to support their cause - is getting involved in something they seemingly know very little about. Perhaps one of them can explain to us how the Palestinians continue to show explosive growth in their population while undergoing a "genocide". Black Lives Matters obviously think they have so much support, they can afford to turn natural allies away. So be it.

[JudyM]

25. Complete agreement here. There just is no comparison.

Blacks in the US were never staging attacks, bombing cafés and school buses, launching rockets. Use of the word genocide, against Israelis, when there is none, as inflammatory rhetoric, is morally reprehensible. And that's just at the most basic level of analysis, there's much more. I'm not suggesting Israel hasn't made mistakes and error judgments, but the "occupation" is a continuing matter of national defense originally brought on by attacks against Israel, far different than apartheid. This is a sad turn of events for me re: support of BLM.

[uhnope]

7. Telesur LOL

[Justice]

10. This is not helpful to BLM at all IMO

[GulfCoast66]

13. Wow

To think I really thought they were a grass roots movement.

Looks like they are actually being run by folks from the 'crazy departments' of universities.

[jtuck004]

14. Huh. Buncha folks don't like what black folks are doing. What a change. n/t

[7962]

15. Well, a bunch of folks dont like them doing stupid shit. Or anyone else.

They obviously think they are more than what they really are.

[Democat]

19. What if you said "Huh. Buncha folks don't like what white folks are doing"

Sounds like Clint Eastwood.

[JudyM]

26. Suggesting criticism of a black group is automatically racist, is itself racist. Apparently the

substance of the criticism is irrelevant.

[jtuck004]

31. No, not at all. The people in this country have always looked out for the best

interests of black folk. Let us pay attention, then, to the content, for the criticism is most noble.

“The most monstrous monster is the monster with noble feelings”
― Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Eternal Husband

[snooper2]

32. test 3 2 1, test 9980

[geek tragedy]

16. BLM starting to adopt laundry listism in its policy demands

While they have compelling points on I/P, that has jack shit to do with people getting shot in St. Louis and Oakland.

Dilutes their message and starts to resemble the generic far left march. Only thing missing is a homemade "Free Mumia" sign though maybe I just overlooked that one.

Such moves push away 10 people from their cause for every 1 person they attract.

[7962]

18. Perfectly stated. And perfectly on-point.

I especially like the "Free Mumia" reference!!

[Democat]

27. Free Mumia

It's probably in the platform.

[7962]

17. If Israel was really committing "genocide", there would be no Palestinians

Just another bunch of ignorant anti-Israel anti-Semitic bullshit

I knew this was where they were headed when I noticed their protests started having their signs provided by "Answer Coalition"

[Odin2005]

20. Right, because there are no more Native Americans...

...oh wait.

[7962]

21. Right, and how many Native Americans routinely attack the rest of us?

If they were acting like the palestinians, they would likely be treated similarly.
Yet they have assimilated into society & work just like the rest of us.

Maybe the Palestinians could learn a lot from the Native Americans. Its good that you brought it up!

[Odin2005]

22. "assimilated into society" is a nice way of saying "had their cultures destroyed".

[7962]

23. Except that their culture hasnt been "destroyed"

There are native american celebrations across the entire country every year at certain times, many near where I live. And they're not held on "reservations" either. We also have Native American history month too!

[treestar]

29. They did in the 19th Century and before that

Now I don't think anyone wants to label that terrorism. It's not a perfect analogy.

[7962]

40. No its not. And its been over a century since any happened.

Comparing the Native Americans to the Palestinians is an insult to the Native Americans

[Nitram]

24. I'd humbly suggest that BLM stay out of the Middle East can of worms and focus on...

...threats to Black lives in America. This will only water down the message and give critics ammunition to attack them and obscure the group's primary mission.

[Lulu KC]

28. The Movement for Black Lives?

I am not familiar with this "umbrella organization," which is actually the one that included this in its platform according to the article. One of its many members is BLM.

This doesn't sound like BLM itself to me and I believe it would harm them to take this stand.

This article from The Atlantic helped make some sense of it: http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/08/movement-black-lives-platform/494309/

Still very complicated.

[awoke_in_2003]

33. So much concern in this thread

I think BLM is quite capable of taking on more than one topic.

[Throd]

34. What is their policy on Northern Ireland and Tibet?

[awoke_in_2003]

42. You need to ask them...

what I am getting at is all the people in here getting their panties in a knot because they "dared" to express an opinion on something other than Black Lives. It stinks of "they should know their place".

[Democat]

36. Political leaders cannot support a group calling Israel genocidal

So they are hurting their own cause if their cause is supposed to to stopping police violence against black men.

Just because they are capable of doing two things at once doesn't mean it's a good idea.

[awoke_in_2003]

43. I see your point...

but at what time should people start pointing out the fact that the Israeli government has its own form of Apartheid going on? How long should we keep glossing over that fact? Our ignoring what they are doing hasn't stopped it one iota.

[Democat]

44. We can agree or disagree on Israel

But if we agree that the police shouldn't be killing unarmed black men, maybe Black Lives Matter should focus on that.

[romanic]

35. Oh BLM has finally crossed that line.

Not surprised, I've seen some BLM protests with people waving Palestinian flags before (the most notable one i can think of is that bridge protest in CA). I cannot wait for the Anti-Semi....err "Anti-Zionism" to spill forth from their mouths.

ETA: And I wonder, would any of the BLM activists willing live under an organization like Hamas? I mean, despite Israel's attacks on the Palestinian people, I doubt Hamas treats the Palestinian citzenry any better.

[7962]

41. As soon as I saw "Answer Coalition" providing the signs, I knew this was next.

BLM has been corrupted by those lunatics.

[Oneironaut]

39. Their message is becoming diluted.

Occupy Wall Street had the same issue. You need to focus on one area and message, or face message dilution. This usually happens with poor group cohesion - different subgroups within a group begin diluting the message by injecting their own causes into the main message.

To fix this, a group needs to focus on and push a constant and clear message. BLM and OWS did not do this effectively, imo. Both grabbed this nation's attention and then blew it horribly. This is BLM's last sputter before its inevitable demise. OWS died in a similar way.