For the past couple of days an article written by ‘An Angry Black Woman‘ has been making he rounds.. It’s an open letter to Palestinians telling them to stop referencing Black ‘Freedom struggle‘ when speaking about their own struggle. It goes on to make the claim about how Martin Luther King , Coretta Scott King and others were all Zionists…That article can be found here–> http://bit.ly/1mYL90V
A few things to keep in mind.. First understand the article/letter which is being championed by Zionist backed publications and outlets and the Israeli Lobby is designed to do a couple of things. First and foremost it gets people debating the author who up to now has been relatively unknown and her particular merits or lack thereof.. It centers her as a Black woman in this debate and cleverly obscures the long-standing human rights abuses of Israel.
Thank God Gandhi, the Mau Mau and other liberation movements around the world that inspired and informed us didn’t get upset and write editorials telling Black folks fighting for freedom to stop referencing their movements but lets not digress. The issue here is distraction and articles like these are take the focus off of Israel..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dq6Y6LSjulU
Such articles leave have us no longer talking about innocent civilians and children that have been ruthlessly massacred in the past couple of weeks. We are no longer talking about Gaza being an open air prison where its residents are blockaded by Israels army via land, sea and water and have been for decades..
We are no longer talking about Apartheid style check points or the Jewish only roads that lead to Israeli settlements that have been set up in Gaza in the most hostile and aggressive fashion.
We are no longer talking about how an estimated 60-70% of Gaza citizens are youth..The median age in Gaza is 18..
We are not talking about the history and legacy of Afro-Palestinians..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIDXv0vI_PM
We are not talking about the tactical suppression training US police are receiving from Israel and how the increased militarization, domestic spying, secrecy and brutality of US police are playing out everyday in our communities.In particular Black and Brown communities..There is a lot of talk about the rise of the warrior cop.. Well the model and training is Israel.. Lets talk about that..read about it here–> http://bit.ly/1zqqFXp
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mp33RPksz_g
The article is designed to get us focusing on ‘An Angry Black Lady’ who dislikes Palestinians and not on Israel’s very public and widespread hostile mistreatment of Blacks as a matter of policy.. We are suddenly overlooking Israel’s racial school segregation policy as outlined here–> http://thebea.st/1mYgAbE
We are no longer talking about Ethiopian immigrants in Israel being coerced and forced to take sterilization/ birth control shots as outlined here–> http://onforb.es/1tW0dC1
We are no longer talking about her harsh mistreatment of Israel’s 60 thousand African refugees who are being forced to flee Israel after seeking asylum and being denied. Long time Israeli journalist David Sheen has a ton of documentaries and videos that show the widespread anti-Black hatred up close and personal.. You can see that here–> http://bit.ly/1tVYs7S
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPxv4Aff3IA
The article also serves another purpose which in recent years has been part of a larger trend which is to narrowly define and rewrite the Civil Rights/ Black Liberation movement. One gets the impression that the mass struggle around Black liberation was only Martin Luther King, when in fact you had everyone from Malcolm X, to the Black Panthers to SNCC, to the Nation of Islam to the Black Arts Movement etc..
Martin Luther King
The list is long and so if one wants to claim that MLK was a Zionist which he wasn’t as outlined here–> http://bit.ly/1tW55Hi and decry folks from connecting their struggle to the Black Liberation struggle you can’t make that claim if you include the words of Malcolm X who eloquently spoke out against Zionism.. You can read that here–> http://bit.ly/1l9xWCO
Also on a side note, in the article the author cleverly claims MLK Sr vs his more famous son MLK Jr was a Zionist.. In anycase many have made the false claim about MLK Jr so its good to clear up the misinformation once and for all.
Moving along, we should not forget about Black Panther co-founder Huey Newton‘s position on Palestine when he said ‘We support them 100%” .. Read that here–> http://bit.ly/1oFyqW6
We also have Stokely Carmichael aka Kwame Toure speaking out against Zionism in 1970 .. Read that here–> http://bit.ly/1xtUsvB
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gvbw9DF7Go
There is also an ad that ran in the NY Times and other papers around the country in 1969 by Black leaders condemning Zionism.. A picture of that headline to this ad is shown above..you can see a full copy of that ad here–> http://bit.ly/1AtDYIf
There are lots more to list, but the overall point is that speaking out against Zionism and supporting the Palestinian cause was not unusual or unheard of during the Civil Rights struggle.
Nelson Mandela
The other thing not to be overlooked is Israel’s alliance with South Africa’s brutal Apartheid government and their long time arms trade.. What’s overlooked is they opposed UN backed sanctions against South Africa’s Apartheid Regime up to 1986… What’s also overlooked is what Nelson Mandela had to say about his support of Palestinians as shown here in this townhall–> http://bit.ly/1tWgrv4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5TiUhhm7cQ
What we’re dealing with here is a well placed and well-financed distraction with a Black face being used as validation.. As a friend of mine recently pointed out.. These are desperate times and many out here are thirsty.. Thirsty people do thirsty things.. This article is a manifestation of that thirst..Folks should be wary.
Lastly, we should not dismiss and deny that there is Anti-Black sentiments found throughout the Arab world. And while anti-Black sentiment can be found all over to the degree there is a long history of Black-Palestinian support, it’s important that alliance not be tainted by racial ignorance. It would be nice if we saw and heard strong Arab voices loudly and publicly condemning racism left and right and planting seeds for much larger and longer conversations that should be had moving forward.
If I was Israel running this propaganda campaign.. The next steps I would be taking on top of boosting up articles like this would be to find some crazy prominent Arab who hates Blacks and give him/her a platform to spew hateful things and leave folks angry and confused.. That I feel is coming down the pipe and folks best be prepared..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LcLqP-GOj0