African-American rights activists endorse boycott of Israel

[bemildred]

Young African-Americans facing heavily armed police in the streets of Baltimore and Ferguson over the past year have compared their situation to that of Palestinians under Israeli fire, telling reporters that their conditions were “like Gaza.” On Tuesday, black racial-justice activists took the comparison a step further, issuing a statement linking their cause with that of Palestinians, and putting their weight behind the growing boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement.

The BDS campaign, modeled after the mass movement to isolate South Africa during the apartheid era, aims to pressure Israel through tactics of economic and cultural isolation into ending its occupation of Palestinian territories and adhering to international law in its treatment of Palestinians.

Tuesday’s statement — signed by more than 1,000 black activists, artists, scholars, politicians, students and representatives of organizations — proclaimed their “solidarity with the Palestinian struggle and commitment to the liberation of Palestine’s land and people.”

“We offer this statement first and foremost to Palestinians, whose suffering does not go unnoticed and whose resistance and resilience under racism and colonialism inspires us,” the statement said. The activists said they are committed to working through cultural, economic and political means to help the Palestinians’ cause.

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/8/19/black-activists-endorse-bds-movement.html

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

1. Oppressed peoples everywhere find common cause. nt

[leftynyc]

2. And that's the end of the BLM movement

They took a great cause - one many Americans would be willing to stand behind - and have endorsed BDS - a movement that doesn't have one elected official in the entire country's support. Stupid move getting involved in foreign policy.

[azurnoir]

3. ya but Democrats that want to get elected need votes and to get those votes well look around DU

maybe you'll get it

[leftynyc]

5. No - it seems you are the one who

doesn't get it. What does DU have on the I/P board? Less than 20 people that defend BDS? Any person running who endorses BDS will get creamed. DU doesn't even represent Democrats let alone Americans as a whole. You just refuse to accept that fact even after being shown to be wrong over and over and over again on this point. that you think any Democrat will stay home or vote for a republican (even stupider) over the Palestinians is a fantasy. It's time YOU get it.

[azurnoir]

6. i'm talking about the real world here and the reality is if a Democratic candidate

wants to get elected they need votes you seem to to be the only one here saying #BLM will die because of support of Palestinians, perhaps you haven't followed them, but I have and for quite some time and this alliance is not new, perhaps you'd be better writing your chosen candidate who met with #BLM last week, for some reason this did not seem to deter her

eta Democratic candidates seem to be lining up to support #BLM , my suggestion you look around DU was to get a feel for what's going outside of the I/P bubble

[leftynyc]

7. You don't get it

They have gone from an organization that COULD have brought just about everyone on board - Dems, Reps and Independents and now they'll just have some candidates that will meet with them on occasion while the rest of them point to their endorsement of the bigoted BDS movement in order to ignore them. They've shot themselves in the foot with endorsing BDS.

[azurnoir]

8. so your claiming that Democratic candidates will simply dismiss #BLM as bigots or that candidates

those candidates currently endorsing them are merely paying service?

[leftynyc]

9. You can stop putting words in my

mouth just because you can't stand the truth of my words. It's annoying and very unbecoming. The Democrats will meet with BLM and talk strategy and goals that should be reached but they have relegated themselves to being a fringe group with this move. They no longer will get the attention from any republican and independents don't vote on racial issues. And what's worse - it give the Americans, in general, who really don't like talking about things like this, reason to ignore them. All because they made foreign policy analogous with what is a purely domestic issue

It's like 2003 all over again. There was a groundswell of support for the anti-war movement. Then the ANSWER people got involved. I - along with 3 generations of family members - were on our way to a protest until we saw those cretins with an Israeli flag with a swastica in place of the Star of David. We all turned around and went home. They turned off many natural allies because they insisted on getting the I/P issue involved where it didn't belong. And we all saw where that wound up. It's going to be the same here. Sorry you don't like the truth about Americans who you don't seem to know at all. You can look at what happened with that regaee festival just this week - BDS shot themselves in the foot with that one also. It's like they can't get out of their own freeking way.

[azurnoir]

10. The truth is #BLM is not going away and will not be ignored

any Democrat who wants to get elected as POTUS will need to pay them heed no matter who else supports them and may I remind you 2003 led to 2004 we know what happened then

[King_David]

11. Yes but there's no democratic candidate that would endorse

Or support any facet of the BDS movement especially since they have been shown to be antisemitic and even homophobic ( witness the music festival in Spain = BDS latest display of bigotry)
The BDS movement is radioactive toxic to any Democratic Party candidate, especially Zionist ones like Bernie snd Hillary.

[azurnoir]

13. you're the reducing #BLM to a mere facet of the BDS movement?

#BLM is not about BDS, BDS supports #BLMand as it stands no Democtatic candidate that wants to be POTUS can afford to ignore them

now as to Hillary and Bernie being Zionists interesting you should bring that up, Hillary may well be, but Bernie well here ya go

Is Sanders a Zionist? Here’s what he told Vox’s Ezra Klein:

“A Zionist? What does that mean? Want to define what the word is? Do I think Israel has the right to exist? Yeah, I do. Do I believe that the United States should be playing an even-handed role in terms of its dealings with the Palestinian community in Israel? Absolutely I do.

“Again, I think that you have volatile regions in the world, the Middle East is one of them, and the United States has got to work with other countries around the world to fight for Israel’s security and existence at the same time as we fight for a Palestinian state where the people in that country can enjoy a decent standard of living, which is certainly not the case right now. My long-term hope is that instead of pouring so much military aid into Israel, into Egypt, we can provide more economic aid to help improve the standard of living of the people in that area.”

http://www.jta.org/2015/08/17/news-opinion/politics/where-does-bernie-sanders-the-jewish-candidate-for-president-stand-on-israel

King_David
11. Yes but there's no democratic candidate that would endorse
View profile
Or support any facet of the BDS movement especially since they have been shown to be antisemitic and even homophobic ( witness the music festival in Spain = BDS latest display of bigotry)
The BDS movement is radioactive toxic to any Democratic Party candidate, especially Zionist ones like Bernie snd Hillary.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1134&pid=110736

[King_David]

21. The first Jewish president's credentials on Israel are impeccable

To the chagrin of 20 DU posters...

Here's how the Foreword saw it :



Is Bernie Sanders a Lefty on Everything Except for Israel?

http://forward.com/news/national/310087/is-bernie-sanders-a-lefty-except-for-israel/

[azurnoir]

22. well Bernie also demurred on the question of is he a Zionist

oh the forward article all I can say is seen it before it's about he town hall where he told hecklers to be quiet

[King_David]

25. Safe to say there will be no BDS under this Jewish President

And relations with Israel will remain excellent.

[King_David]

26. BDS movement I'm sure do not support Bernie Sanders

He's Jewish.

They have been proven to be antisemitic....witness the banning of an American Jew from a music festival, the blocking of a Jewish exhibition, the leaking of a pigs head in a Jewish supermarket.
And so on and so forth.

Also equally disturbing is the BDS movements recent homophobia.

[leftynyc]

32. Bullshit - he didn't demure AT ALL

Zionism - as you surely already know - means you believe the state of Israel should exist - which Bernie clearly said he did. That you and others have tried to twist that definition to include support for bibi or the settlers is nothing but deflection bullshit.

[6chars]

28. Sanders stance sounds pretty decent on Israel

From your post:

“A Zionist? What does that mean? Want to define what the word is? Do I think Israel has the right to exist? Yeah, I do. Do I believe that the United States should be playing an even-handed role in terms of its dealings with the Palestinian community in Israel? Absolutely I do.

“Again, I think that you have volatile regions in the world, the Middle East is one of them, and the United States has got to work with other countries around the world to fight for Israel’s security and existence at the same time as we fight for a Palestinian state where the people in that country can enjoy a decent standard of living, which is certainly not the case right now. My long-term hope is that instead of pouring so much military aid into Israel, into Egypt, we can provide more economic aid to help improve the standard of living of the people in that area.”


---

He is not calling for BDS, he is not saying Israel is a genocidal apartheid state, he is not making excuses for Hamas, etc. He is able to call for improvement of conditions for Palestinians without having to say or wish horrible things about Israel.

[leftynyc]

12. They COULD have been a MAJOR player

NATIONALLY AND ACROSS PARTY LINES but no, they had to endorse a racist, bigoted group and sideline themselves. It's really a shame as they were finally starting to get some positive attention. Not one elected official will endorse BDS so BLM doing so only hurts themselves.

[azurnoir]

14. LOL you're saying that TeaOPers would have supported #BLM?

oh my

leftynyc
12. They COULD have been a MAJOR player
View profile
NATIONALLY AND ACROSS PARTY LINES but no, they had to endorse a racist, bigoted group and sideline themselves. It's really a shame as they were finally starting to get some positive attention. Not one elected official will endorse BDS so BLM doing so only hurts themselves.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1134&pid=110737

[leftynyc]

15. You really do have to stop trying

to shove words into my mouth. Who said anything about the tea party other than you. The tea party represents around 10% of Americans. You're getting fucking annoying with that kind of crap. It's dishonest and I really don't enjoy calling anyone a fucking liar but will do so loudly if you continue to claim I've said things I CLEARLY haven't. Just fucking stop it.

[azurnoir]

16. well define "across party lines" then please

[leftynyc]

17. Republicans and Independents

There ARE moderate republicans (not in office at the moment but they do exist) and Independents who are commonly fiscally conservative and moderately liberal on social issues including racial ones. Israel has support across all those demographics so BLM aligning with BDS just makes the population that will listen to them much, much smaller. They've made a huge mistake.

[azurnoir]

18. so moderate Republicans not in office would support #BLM ?

well okay then , but IMO it's the ones in office that count

[leftynyc]

23. I believe they would

but once they hear about their endorsing BDS, that pool becomes much smaller. I know it pains you that so many Americans support Israel but those are the facts. This story about them getting those festival promoters to disinvite (and then reinvite) a Jewish singer (not an Israeli - just Jewish) got international attention and BDS came off looking like the disgusting bigots they are. When you're already talking about a divisive issue - as race relations are - adding bullshit just gives people a reason to ignore you.

[azurnoir]

19. I'm going to add something here because I've spent the past few weeks posting mostly in GD-P

with the hot button being which candidate is more supportive of #BLM this entire conversation has a vaguely twilight zone feel about it, but it's almost refreshing in a weird way

[leftynyc]

24. And I think Bernie

was getting a raw deal on that issue from many DUers. There is no way a man who has stood for progressive values his entire life wouldn't be receptive to BLM and matters of race as a whole. But now you further muddy those waters being as how both are also strong supporters of Israel - and Bernie being Jewish - with this endorsement. It really is a shame they waded into foreign policy.

[6chars]

29. annoying isn't it?

it's a conscious tactic - if someone wants you to not be heard, they just stick other words in your mouth and you spend more time responding than saying what it is you have to say. nobody thinks you are saying things you didn't say, including the people accusing you of sayig things you didn't say.

[King_David]

30. +1

[leftynyc]

31. Thanks for that

That poster takes strawmen arguments to a whole new level and just refuses to see the truth of what I'm saying. BLM should have stayed out of foreign policy. It was an incredibly stupid thing to do given the support of Israel and the disdain for BDS that MOST Americans have.

[bemildred]

36. Well, it's a winner for all oppressed people, because it highlights the contradictions

between government policy aimed at conformity, control, profit and power; and the democratic and egalitarian pretensions we speak so effusively about in public.

And most of all the politicians have to talk about it on the record, they can't duck the issue.

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

4. Caus, ya know, BLM + BDS = anti-Semitism and all...

Palestinian lives matter!

Black lives matter!

All lives matter!


End Israeli apartheid!

[Little Tich]

20. I've had ideas similar to the ones in the OP sloshing around in my head for a while.

Both groups gain legitimacy by connecting. It's a logical step that reflects a fundamental change in how Israel is perceived in the US, and how some groups in the US are asserting themselves. BLM has obviously more in common with the Palestinians than Israel, and the current policies of the Israeli leadership only strenghtens that perception. Many Americans don't like that foreign leaders are crapping on their president.

I'm personally a little bit wary of all this, because I think there's a risk that the special relationship with Israel could be replaced by hate; hate for Israel, hate for Jews. I have no doubt that some lines will be crossed - repeatedly.

These are interesting times indeed...

[Truprogressive85]

27. not shocked but expected from some the comments

Did I see someone say black activists should stay out of foreign policy ? and saying that oh BLM support BDS well the movement is dead? WTF !

A Palestinian state and free Palestinian people are something I support,and noone will dare tell me I should stay out of foreign policy

[leftynyc]

33. Yes - I said they should stay out

of foreign policy - especially on an issue where they would represent a small minority of Americans. When you're trying to reach people, it makes sense to stick to your issues so you can reach the widest possible audience. Now many - finding out they've endorsed a movement that is both antisemitic and anti-gay - will feel free to ignore them. That's not the kind of attention they need.

[Truprogressive85]

34. not going to stay out of oppressed peoples struggle sorry

young black children are killed with no consequences for their killers
same goes when a baby is burned alive ,or children killed on a beach

if you or others want ignore BLM that your God-given right

[leftynyc]

35. Shrug

Your choice. I think it's a mistake.

[grossproffit]

37. Israeli children have been slaughtered for years. Who will stand up for them?

Me, that's who.

[link:http://daledamos.blogspot.com/2006/08/123-israeli-children-killed-by.html|

[leftynyc]

38. Me too

Seems the dead Israeli's (including children) don't bother some of the people here at all.