BDS conflates US racial inequality with Israel-Palestinian conflict
Anti-Zionist groups use imagery of struggle for racial equality in US, accuse Israel of genocide and compare Israeli policy towards Palestinians to the Holocaust.
By JEREMY SHARONBDS(photo credit: WIKIPEDIA)
The Boston chapter of the Boycott Divestment Sanctions movement staged a rally last week which sought to conflate racial inequality in the US with the Israel-Palestinian conflict, alleged that Jewish organizations are behind the oppression of racial minorities in the US, and accused Israel of genocide against the Palestinians.These themes have become a recurring tactic of Palestinian activists and anti-Zionist groups since demonstrations against the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May, apparently seeking to ride the energy of the new protest movement.The demonstration, staged outside the Massachusetts State House, also protested the possible annexation by Israel of parts of the West Bank under the terms of the Trump peace plan, as well as political lobbying by pro-Israel groups of Massachusetts politicians and police training trips to Israel.BDS Boston announced that the demands of the assorted groups involved in the demonstration included a demand to end police training trips organized by the Anti-Defamation League, which fights against antisemitism and racism, to Israel.They also called for the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) in Boston to “stop funding propaganda trips to Israel for state and Congressional representatives.”BDS Boston also ostensibly blamed these Jewish organizations for at least partial responsibility for racial inequality in the US.The organizers described the ADL and JCRC initiatives as “investments in the infrastructure of white supremacy” which “harm our communities,” and also demanded that the ADL and JCRC “pay restitution to Black and Indigenous communities that they have harmed in Massachusetts.”The ADL organizes an annual seminar with the Israel Police in Israel for a small number of senior American law enforcement officials from US federal, state and local agencies on “the evolving nature of terrorism and insights into how agencies improve protection for and engagement with the individuals and communities they serve.”Various US police forces have conducted training and other programs with other police forces such as in Scotland, Germany, and the European countries.A BDS Boston Facebook event page described possible Israeli territorial annexation as the “further institutionalization of genocide” saying that Palestinians must have the right to self-defense against it.It added that “Zionism is a form of white supremacy and we must divest from police, prisons, and Israeli aid and reinvest in our communities.”The page even used the hashtags #DefundthePolice which has become a policy initiative to combat the use of excessive force by US police forces, as well as #DefundIsrael.Queen-Cheyenne Wade, one of the event organizers, said at the demonstration “We must stand with the people of Palestine in their fight of self-determination. We fight that same battle here, against police state, and against our own systemic oppression on Indigenous North American Land.”Tala Berro, described as a “Palestinian organizer” in BDS Boston said “If you’re here for Palestinian liberation, a struggle 6,711 miles away, then you also need to support Black liberation struggles here.”According to the pro-Israel Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (CAMERA), one speaker led the crowd of demonstrators in the chant “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” which is seen as a call for the eradication of the State of Israel.CAMERA said that the crowd also chanted “Intifada, Intifada,” the Arabic phrase for a violent, popular uprising.Protesters held aloft signs with the “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” slogan, while one protester held a sign saying “One Holocaust does not justify another,” along with a Palestinian flag and the slogan “Free Palestine.”“The protesters hijacked legitimate outrage over the death of George Floyd to justify an ugly display of hostility toward Israel and Jewish organizations on the streets of Boston,” said Dexter Van Zile, an analyst at CAMERA.Van Zile said that the crowd chanted “eliminationist rhetoric outside the offices of mainstream American-Jewish organizations – a fact which shows that this wasn’t simply about Israel, but about Jews as Jews.”