Black Lives Matter Grassroots organization showed support for the Palestinian militant group Hamas on Tuesday as the terrorist group launched the deadliest attack on Jewish people since the Holocaust.
Black Lives Matter Grassroots, which represents 26 local BLM chapters across the country, issued a lengthy statement “in solidarity with the Palestinian people.”
Hamas launched a terror attack on Israel from Gaza over the weekend on the Jewish holiday of Shemini Atzeret, the final day of the annual High Holy Day cycle. The attack has resulted in over 900 deaths and at least 2,500 wounded, according to the latest reports. At least 11 Americans were also killed during the violent terror attacks.
Firefighters douse a car blaze in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon after a rocket attack from Gaza on October 9, 2023. Stunned by the unprecedented assault on its territory, a grieving Israel has counted over 700 dead and launched a withering barrage of strikes on Gaza that have raised the death toll there to 493 according to Palestinian officials
The statement references the violent attacks on Israel as an understandable “desperate act of self-defense.”
“As the world is faced with deep questions about self-determination, as well all desire and pray for a world of peace, we must stand unwaveringly on the side of the oppressed,” the statement read. “When a people have been subject to decades of apartheid and unimaginable violence, their resistance must not be condemned, but understood as a desperate act of self-defense.”
Black Lives Matter Grassroots
Statement in #Solidarity with the People of #Palestine. pic.twitter.com/BgsQBAZdis— BLM Grassroots (@blmgrassroots) October 10, 2023
The statement continued:
Black Lives Matter Grassroots stands in solidarity with our Palestinian family who are currently resisting 57 years of settler colonialism and apartheid. As Black people continue the fight to end militarism and mass incarcerations in our own communities, let us understand the resistance in Palestine as an attempt to tear down the gates of the world’s biggest open air prison.
The organization also recognized what it claims are “clear parallels between Black and Palestinian people.”
The statement also seemed to call on the United States to stop funding Israel.
“For lasting peace to come, the entire apartheid system must be dismantled,” BLM Grassroots said. “The war on the Palestinian people must cease. We call on the United States government to immediately stop funding war and redirect the $4 billion in annual spending to repair the damage caused by U.S.-backed wars, military air strikes, coups, and destabilizing interventions against oppressed people around the world.”
The Chicago chapter of Black Lives Matter also showed support for the Palestinian cause, posting a photo that reads, “I stand with Palestine.” The photo also featured a paraglider with the Palestinian flag, which is notable because Hamas gunmen paraglided into a music festival in Israel and attacked the attendees.
That is all that is it! pic.twitter.com/7DhTIeJ0yl
— BLMChicago (@BLMChi) October 10, 2023
Black Lives Matter activists have a lengthy history of supporting Palestinian causes during times when Hamas has waged violent attacks on Israel.
Jordan Dixon-Hamilton is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter.
