In platform, Black Lives Matter accuses Israel of ‘genocide,’ backs BDS

[Little Tich]

8. Jewish Allies Condemn Black Lives Matter’s ‘Apartheid’ Platform

Source: The Forward

A new platform associated with the Black Lives Matter movement that describes Israel as an “apartheid state” committing “genocide” against the Palestinian people has triggered critical responses from Jewish organizations — even its allies.

“(We) are extremely dismayed at the decision to refer to the Israeli occupation as genocide,” a statement from T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, read.

Since Black Lives Matter took shape in 2013 to protest police killings of African Americans, Jewish groups across the country have struggled to strike the right tone in their responses to the movement. Activists aligned with Black Lives Matter have frequently visited the occupied Palestinian West Bank in what some call “solidarity tours,” as recently as July 30.

Black Lives matter has again risen in prominence in the run-up to the presidential election and amidst a spate of video-taped killings, grimly detailed, of African Americans by police. Now the platform, announced on July 3, has prompted several Jewish organizations to more precisely define their relationship to the movement.

T’ruah is one of several Jewish organizations that have stood with the grassroots movement to end police brutality against African Americans.

Read more: http://forward.com/news/346828/jewish-allies-condemn-black-lives-matters-apartheid-platform/