(Washington Examiner) Black Lives Matter chapters across the United States are coming out in support of Palestinians in the fallout of the deadly terror attack Hamas carried out against the Jewish state of Israel, social media posts show.
More than 1,000 Israelis have been killed following Saturday’s surprise attack by Hamas, while an estimated 900 are dead in Gaza and the West Bank, bringing the combined death toll to at least 1,900, according to the Associated Press. On the heels of the bloody conflict progressing, various BLM-affiliated groups are rushing to Twitter, Instagram, and other platforms to express anti-Israel sentiments and boost Gaza.
“As Black people continue the fight to end militarism and mass incarceration in our own communities, let us understand the resistance in Palestine as an attempt to tear down the gates of the world’s largest open air prison,” BLM Grassroots, which represents dozens of BLM chapters and previously severed ties with the national Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation in 2022 over its financial and legal issues, said Monday evening.
Black Lives Matter Grassroots
Statement in #Solidarity with the People of #Palestine. pic.twitter.com/BgsQBAZdis— BLM Grassroots (@blmgrassroots) October 10, 2023
“As a radical Black organization grounded in abolitionist ideals, we see clear parallels between Black and Palestinian people,” BLM Grassroots said. “For lasting peace to come, the entire apartheid system must be dismantled.”
Controversy has stirred in the United States since the Israeli conflict began, with pro-Israel lawmakers and groups condemning those domestically who have appeared sympathetic to Hamas, which is backed by Iran and, according to a bombshell Wall Street Journal report Sunday, helped plan the attack. The Biden administration on Tuesday went so far as to take aim at Democrats viewed as supporting Palestinians, with White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre noting, “We believe they’re wrong, we believe they’re repugnant, and we believe they’re disgraceful,” when asked about comments from “Squad” Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Cori Bush (D-MO), and others.
Another group boosting the Palestinians is BLM Chicago, which posted an image on social media of what appeared to be a Hamas terrorist in a paraglider with the caption, “I stand with Palestine.”
“That is all that is it!” BLM Chicago said.
The BLM chapter in Chicago just posted this in support of Hamas. pic.twitter.com/oLA1MwzoVO
— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) October 10, 2023
BLM Indianapolis on X reposted an image that reads, “I stand with Palestine,” from the U.S. Palestinian Community Network. The chapter also reposted a separate image from a racial justice group reading, “Palestinians have lived under the violence of Israeli colonialism for 75 years. To end all violence — the initial and ongoing violence of the oppressor and the reactive resistance of the oppressed — we must act to end oppression.”
BLM Detroit also posted on Instagram the image that BLM Grassroots released, while BLM Philadelphia has since appeared to delete a repost on its Instagram story of pro-Palestinian protesters in the U.S., with one exclaiming, “All of us here standing here today are proud of what occurred yesterday,” according to a Washington Examiner review.
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