Black coalition condemns Israeli atrocities

The Blacks Against Genocide Coalition is composed of groups and individuals who have come together in response to the criminal Israeli assault on the Palestinian people. The coalition is circulating the following statement: “A Declaration of Support for the Palestinian People by African People in the United States of America.” Individuals and organizations can sign by emailing [email protected].

We, Black people in the United States, condemn the criminal Israeli attacks on the people of Gaza. These war crimes are being conducted with the overt material and unapologetic political backing of the U.S. government.

Most importantly, we have learned the lessons of four centuries of racist oppression in the Western hemisphere: that the liberation struggles of the oppressed must not be divided by language, geography, gender, religion or race; that if they come for Gaza in the morning, they will most certainly come for Harlem at night.

In 1967, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke out against the U.S. war in Vietnam. He called the U.S. “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world.” For speaking this truth, Dr. King was condemned by the rulers of the U.S. and their loyal servants in the mass media, who arrogantly and condescendingly told him that the Vietnamese war had nothing to do with the Black struggle for equality. Dr. King refused to be intimidated.

The stand taken by former U.S. Congresswoman and Green Party presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney in escorting the humanitarian supplies being taken by ship to break the Gaza siege is another example of Black people’s support of justice. Her response after the “Dignity” was rammed by an Israeli military boat was not to cower but to “organize.”

In the spirit of all those who have fought in our centuries-long river of struggle, we will fight by all means necessary to ensure that this genocidal attack on and blockade of the Palestinian people is ended.

We demand that our elected officials, especially the Congressional Black Caucus, stand in opposition to the Israeli assault. We demand that sanctions be brought against Israel as they were brought against the racist apartheid regime of South Africa. We demand disinvestment in U.S. corporations which support Israel.