On 10 October Black Lives Matter expressed solidarity with Palestine on social media amid the ongoing crisis between Israel and Palestine. They published an illustration that portrayed a Hamas assailant landing on the Jewish side while wearing a parachute bearing the Palestinian flag on their official X handle.
However, the internet community reacted strongly and added details about the background of the horrifying attack in the community notes and criticised the organisation for lending its support to terrorism. A netizen crossed Palestine and wrote Hamas over it as a demonstration of dissent.
End of wokeness questioned whether the adherents of the movement concur with the position adopted by the group.
Seth Dillon labelled Palestine and Black Lives Matter as terrorists.
Chairman and Chief Technology Officer of X Elon Musk also reacted to the post and stated, “Your position is clear.”
A user commented that the group is siding with those who are murdering children.
Comedian Tim Young called Black Lives Matter “trash” and referred to their action as “disgusting”.
The organisation posted a similar message on their official Instagram page titled ‘Black Lives Matter grassroots statement in solidarity with the Palestinian people’ as well which also drew a flood of condemnation.
It read, “As the world is faced with deep questions about self-determination, as we all desire and pray for a world of peace, we must stand unwaveringly on the side of the oppressed. When people have been subject to decades of apartheid and unimaginable violence, their resistance must not be condemned but understood as a desperate act of self-defence.”
The statement highlighted, “Black Lives Matter Grassroots stands in solidarity with our Palestinian family who are currently resisting 57 years of settler colonialism and apartheid.” It alleged that the resistance in Palestine was an effort to bring down the walls of the biggest open-air jail in the world which is an argument often used by extremists and their apologists to justify the violence on Israelis.
It drew a comparison with the condition of Black people living in the United States and pointed out that they are in a struggle to abolish militarism and mass incarceration in their communities. “As a radical Black organization grounded in abolitionist ideals, we see clear parallels between Black and Palestinian people.”
It further continued, “We, too, understand what it means to be surveilled, dehumanized, property seized, families separated, our people criminalized and slaughtered with impunity, locked up in droves, and when we resist they call us terrorists. We, too, dream of a world where our people may live freely on decolonized land.”
The notification desired for the borders, checkpoints, prisons, police and watchlists which it claimed to create fears in the hearts of their people to be eliminated. It hoped for a new world to be erected from their remains that honour those who lost their lives in the fight. However, it did not go into detail about what the conflict included or if the rape and murder of innocents should be denounced and forbidden from being used as a form of resistance.
“For lasting peace to come, the entire apartheid system must be dismantled. The war on the Palestinian people must cease.” It urged the government of the United States to cease financing the war right away and instead use the $4 billion that Israel spends on its military every year to repair the harm done by US-backed wars, military air attacks, coups, and destabilising interventions against oppressed people all over the world.
Notably, Black Lives Matter failed to deliver a single sentence opposing the despicable actions of Hamas terrorists and projected Palestinians as the only victims which did not go unnoticed. According to one netizen, this was not how a peaceful two-state solution for both Israel and Palestine could be reached.
Another asked if they endorsed the atrocities meted out to women and children.
An individual called out the post as “incredibly disrespectful” and stated that the group did not do any research on the matter. She mentioned that Hamas isn’t representative of all the Palestinians and added, “True BLM activists would never condone the murdering of innocent people.”
One person remarked that they have supported the Black Lives Movement but now the group is in support of the the barbaric acts of Hamas terrorists on women and children. She called herself human for life and stated, “Whatever you are. Blown away.”
Another supporter of the movement came forward and called out the group for drawing equivalences between Palestinian people and the Black Lives Matter Movement. “Do you identify with Hamas or just their supporters protesting their show of ignorance and misinformation,” he inquired. The person further referred to Jews as the “smallest minority group in the world” and accused the organisation of provoking more hate against them.
Black Lives Matter
The movement began in July 2013 with the use of the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter on social media after the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of African American teen Trayvon Martin 17 months earlier in February 2012. The organisation that was established to address the issue of racism towards black people in the United States quickly gained a reputation for looting, violence and other illegal acts.
George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was killed on 25 May 2020 by Derek Chauvin, a white police officer, who knelt on the former’s neck for more than 8 minutes until his body became unresponsive. He was reported to the police by a store owner for attempting to pass a ‘potentially counterfeit bill.’ He was pronounced dead after being brought to the Hennepin County Medical Centre.
The tragedy sparked rioting and large-scale protests throughout several American cities led by the Black Lives Matter movement. Minneapolis, the city where George the man met his end experienced the most damage. Rocks were thrown at and damaged police cars. The police used tear gas and rubber bullets to calm the enraged crowd in order to pacify the situation.
Windows of unmanned stores were broken. Many stores and boutiques were looted and destroyed by the violent rioters in various parts of the country. A woman protestor of the BLM movement had defecated on an overturned police car. Home goods such as rugs and coffee makers were stolen and stores were set ablaze. The mob also breached security and reached the police precinct in the neighbourhood where George Floyd passed away. The building was set on fire by the unruly mob amidst slogans demanding justice for the victim.
Multiple statutes including that of Mahatma Gandhi were defaced. A Black Lives Matter protestor named Christopher Hamner was charged with hate crimes against Asian American women in 2021. In the same year, Black Lives Matter (BLM) co-founder Patrisse Khan-Cullors came under fire for buying a series of properties worth millions, especially a home that cost $1.4 million in a predominantly White neighbourhood.
Hamas Attacks Israel
A surprise attack deemed ‘Operation Al-Aqsa Flood’ by Hamas on Israel which combined gunmen breaching security barriers with a barrage of rockets fired from Gaza was launched at dawn on 7 October during the Jewish high holiday of Simchat Torah which resulted in the gruesome murder of at least 1000 people including children and elderly while more than 2000 were wounded.
The terrorists also raped women and abducted hundreds in one of the deadliest attacks in history. Israel then launched ‘Operation Iron Swords’ in retaliation and invoked Article 40 for the first time since the Yom Kippur War in 1973 and officially declared war.