‘Black Lives’ risks Jewish-black partnership

As a minority group that has faced down centuries of anti-Semitism, the Jewish people have long stood shoulder-to-shoulder with other long-suffering and persecuted minority groups such as African-Americans. 

This was evident during the Civil Rights Movement when Jewish leaders stood against segregation in the south. That allegiance continues today with Jewish figures speaking out against inequality that many African-Americans face. 

Despite this solidarity, Jewish and African-American relations today face one of their biggest challenges yet. Some affiliated with the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement are seeking to blend their struggles in America with the pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel movement.

An off shoot of BLM, the Movement for Black Lives, described Israel as “an apartheid state with over 50 laws on the books that sanction discrimination against the Palestinian people,” in an Aug. 1 platform called “A Vision for Black Lives.” 

The platform stated there was a “genocide taking place against the Palestinian people” instigated by Israel and called on the U.S. to stop all aid to the Jewish state.a

 “None of this new in the sense that they’ve been able to make that connection, loosely as it may be, from a kind of sympathy,” according to Dr. Asaf Romirowsky, executive director for Scholars for Peace in the Middle East (SPME), a non-profit that addresses anti-Semitism and anti-Israel rhetoric through academia. “Anybody looking for an underdog cause in some way has found a solution and an outlet through the Palestinian cause. BLM is no different in that regard.”

The mainstream Jewish community had been largely supportive of the Black Lives Matter movement, despite reservations concerning its fringe elements.