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Black Lives Matter Endorses Boycott And Sanctions Of Israel

By Jordan Zaitchik
B’nai Brith Canada

The Black Lives Matter (BLN) movement has come out encouraging people to boycott Israel as well as calling on the American federal government to end all military aid to Israel.

On Monday, BLN released its expanded political platform; its “Invest-Divest” section includes the organization’s calls to action on Israel. This section does not primarily focus on Israel but when it discusses the Jewish State the platform describes Israel as “a state that practices systematic discrimination.”

The platform calls for federal action:

“Build invest/divestment campaigns that ends US Aid to Israel’s military industrial complex and any government with human rights violations.”

The group also calls for the federal government to fight anti-boycott and sanctions bills being passed in states around the country.

The platform continues on to say that US military aid to Israel, $3-billion annually, is too much. The platform calls for these funds to no longer be given to Israel and be redirected towards “reparations and for building a just and equitable society domestically.”

Later in the platform it accuses the United States government of advancing the global war on terror through its alliance with Israel. The organization explains that the US “is complicit in the genocide taking place against the Palestinian people.”

Some of the groups attributed for their contribution to the section include the Green Party of the United States, United for Justice with Peace, The Dream Defenders, The US Campaign to End the Occupation, and a few other political activist groups. All of these groups are pro-Palestine and outspoken critics of the Jewish state.