On Thursday, May 27 at 19:30 GMT:
As the Black Lives Matter movement pushes conversations about race and social justice to the forefront in the US, is it also changing the way Americans view the conflict between Israel and Palestine?
The alliance between African American and Palestinian communities is defined by shared experiences of state violence, systemic racism and mass incarceration. Black-Palestinian solidarity goes back decades to Malcolm X and his vision of global solidarity for oppressed peoples. Today, with social media highlighting the experiences of marginalised peoples from Ferguson, Missouri to the Gaza Strip, that bond and understanding of shared oppressions appears to be growing stronger.
During the latest escalation in violence in Gaza and occupied East Jerusalem, Black Lives Matter was vocal in their support for Palestinian liberation. “We are a movement committed to ending settler colonialism in all forms,” they tweeted. In the US, vocal support for Palestine is still considered taboo, yet more US progressives are speaking out against the Israeli government and billions in US military aid given each year to the Israeli Defense Forces.
In this episode of The Stream, we’ll look at the impact of Black-Palestinian solidarity and what their unity hopes to achieve.
On this episode of The Stream, we speak with:
Linda Sarsour, @lsarsour
Palestinian Muslim American organiser
Marc Lamont Hill, @marclamonthill
Host, UpFront