[News] Time to Break the Silence on Palestine - Martin Luther King Jr. courageously spoke out about the Vietnam War. We must do the same when it comes to this grave injustice of our time.
Anti-Imperialist News
news at freedomarchives.org
Mon Jan 21 11:05:39 EST 2019
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/19/opinion/sunday/martin-luther-king-palestine-israel.html
Time to Break the Silence on Palestine
By Michelle Alexander <https://www.nytimes.com/by/michelle-alexander> -
January 19, 2019
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Martin Luther King Jr. courageously spoke out about the Vietnam
War. We must do the same when it comes to this grave injustice of
our time. *
On April 4, 1967, exactly one year before his assassination, the Rev.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stepped up to the lectern at the Riverside
Church in Manhattan. The United States had been in active combat in
Vietnam for two years and tens of thousands of people had been killed,
including some 10,000 American troops. The political establishment —
from left to right — backed the war, and more than 400,000 American
service members were in Vietnam, their lives on the line.
Many of King’s strongest allies urged him to remain silent about the war
or at least to soft-pedal any criticism. They knew that if he told the
whole truth about the unjust and disastrous war he would be falsely
labeled a Communist, suffer retaliation and severe backlash, alienate
supporters and threaten the fragile progress of the civil rights movement.
King rejected all the well-meaning advice and said, “I come to this
magnificent house of worship tonight because my conscience leaves me no
other choice.” Quoting a statement by the Clergy and Laymen Concerned
About Vietnam, he said, “A time comes when silence is betrayal” and
added, “that time has come for us in relation to Vietnam.”
It was a lonely, moral stance. And it cost him. But it set an example of
what is required of us if we are to honor our deepest values in times of
crisis, even when silence would better serve our personal interests or
the communities and causes we hold most dear. It’s what I think about
when I go over the excuses and rationalizations that have kept me
largely silent on one of the great moral challenges of our time: the
crisis in Israel-Palestine.
I have not been alone. Until very recently, the entire Congress has
remained mostly silent on the human rights nightmare that has unfolded
in the occupied territories. Our elected representatives, who operate in
a political environment where Israel's political lobby holds
well-documented power, <https://www.washingtonpost.com/> have
consistently minimized and deflected criticism of the State of Israel,
even as it has grown more emboldened in its occupation of Palestinian
territory and adopted some practices reminiscent of apartheid in South
Africa and Jim Crow segregation in the United States.
Many civil rights activists and organizations have remained silent as
well, not because they lack concern or sympathy for the Palestinian
people, but because they fear loss of funding from foundations, and
false charges of anti-Semitism. They worry, as I once did, that their
important social justice work will be compromised or discredited by
smear campaigns.
Similarly, many students are fearful of expressing support for
Palestinian rights because of the McCarthyite tactics of secret
organizations likeCanary Mission
<https://theintercept.com/2018/11/22/israel-boycott-canary-mission-blacklist/>,
which blacklists those who publicly dare to support boycotts against
Israel, jeopardizing their employment prospects and future careers.
Reading King’s speech
<https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/king-papers/documents/beyond-vietnam>
at Riverside more than 50 years later, I am left with little doubt that
his teachings and message require us to speak out passionately against
the human rights crisis in Israel-Palestine, despite the risks and
despite the complexity of the issues. King argued, when speaking of
Vietnam, that even “when the issues at hand seem as perplexing as they
often do in the case of this dreadful conflict,” we must not be
mesmerized by uncertainty. “We must speak with all the humility that is
appropriate to our limited vision, but we must speak.”
And so, if we are to honor King’s message and not merely the man, we
must condemn Israel’s actions: unrelenting violations of international
law, continued occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza,
home demolitions and land confiscations. We must cry out at the
treatment of Palestinians at checkpoints, the routine searches of their
homes and restrictions on their movements, and the severely limited
access to decent housing, schools, food, hospitals and water that many
of them face.
We must not tolerate Israel’s refusal even to discuss the right of
Palestinian refugees to return to their homes, as prescribed by United
Nations resolutions, and we ought to question the U.S. government funds
that have supported multiple hostilities
<http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/CoIGaza/A_HRC_CRP_4.docx>
and thousands of civilian casualties in Gaza, as well as the$38 billion
<https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/14/world/middleeast/israel-benjamin-netanyahu-military-aid.html?module=inline>
the U.S. government has pledged in military support to Israel.
And finally, we must, with as much courage and conviction as we can
muster, speak out against the system of legal discrimination that exists
inside Israel, a system complete with, according to Adalah, the Legal
Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, more than 50 laws that
discriminate against Palestinians — such as the newnation-state law
<https://www.newsweek.com/israel-passes-nation-state-law-amid-accusations-racism-and-apartheid-1032630>
that says explicitly that only Jewish Israelis have the right of
self-determination in Israel, ignoring the rights of the Arab minority
that makes up 21 percent of the population.
Of course, there will be those who say that we can’t know for sure what
King would do or think regarding Israel-Palestine today. That is true.
The evidence regarding King’s views on Israel iscomplicated and
contradictory
<https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/martinkramer/files/words_of_martin_luther_king.pdf>.
Although the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee denounced
<https://www.crmvet.org/docs/670815_sncc_palestine.pdf> Israel’s actions
against Palestinians, King found himself conflicted. Like many black
leaders of the time, he recognized European Jewry as a persecuted,
oppressed and homeless people striving to build a nation of their own,
and he wanted to show solidarity with the Jewish community, which had
been a critically important ally in the civil rights movement.
Ultimately, King canceled apilgrimage
<https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/martin-luther-king-jr-s-pilgrimage-to-israel-that-never-was-1.5975340>
to Israel in 1967 after Israel captured the West Bank. During a phone
call about the visit with his advisers, he said, “I just think that if I
go, the Arab world, and of course Africa and Asia for that matter, would
interpret this as endorsing everything that Israel has done, and I do
have questions of doubt.”
He continued to support Israel’s right to exist but**also said on
national television that it would be necessary for Israel to return
parts of its conquered territory to achieve true peace and security and
to avoid exacerbating the conflict. There was no way King could publicly
reconcile his commitment to nonviolence and justice for all people,
everywhere, with what had transpired after the 1967 war.
Today, we can only speculate about where King would stand. Yet I find
myself in agreement with the historian Robin D.G. Kelley, whoconcluded
<https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/2509-yes-i-said-national-liberation>
that, if King had the opportunity to study the current situation in the
same way he had studied Vietnam, “his unequivocal opposition to
violence, colonialism, racism and militarism would have made him an
incisive critic of Israel’s current policies.”
Indeed, King’s views may have evolved alongside many other spiritually
grounded thinkers, like Rabbi Brian Walt, who has spoken publicly about
the reasons that he abandoned his faith in what he viewed as political
Zionism. To him, he recently explained to me, liberal Zionism meant that
he believed in the creation of a Jewish state that would be a
desperately needed safe haven and cultural center for Jewish people
around the world, "a state that would reflect as well as honor the
highest ideals of the Jewish tradition.” He said he grew up in South
Africa in a family that shared those views and identified as a liberal
Zionist,**until his experiences in the occupied territories forever
changed him.
During more than 20 visits to the West Bank and Gaza, he saw horrific
human rights abuses, including Palestinian homes being bulldozed while
people cried — children's toys strewn over one demolished site — and saw
Palestinian lands being confiscated to make way for new illegal
settlements subsidized by the Israeli government. He was forced to
reckon with the reality that these demolitions, settlements and acts of
violent dispossession were not rogue moves, but fully supported and
enabled by the Israeli military. For him, the turning point was
witnessing legalized discrimination against Palestinians — including
streets for Jews only — which, he said, was worse in some ways than what
he had witnessed as a boy in South Africa.
Not so long ago, it was fairly rare to hear this perspective. That is no
longer the case.
Jewish Voice for Peace <https://jewishvoiceforpeace.org/>, for example,
aims to educate the American public about “the forced displacement of
approximately 750,000 Palestinians that began with Israel’s
establishment and that continues to this day.” Growing numbers of people
of all faiths and backgrounds have spoken out with more boldness and
courage. American organizations such as If Not Now
<https://ifnotnowmovement.org/> support young American Jews as they
struggle to break the deadly silence that still exists among too many
people regarding the occupation, and hundreds of secular and faith-based
groups have joined the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights
<https://uscpr.org/>.
In view of these developments, it seems the days when critiques of
Zionism and the actions of the State of Israel can be written off as
anti-Semitism are coming to an end. There seems to be increased
understanding that criticism of the policies and practices of the
Israeli government is not, in itself, anti-Semitic.
<https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/07/opinion/rashida-tlaib-israel-antisemitism.html?module=inline>
This is not to say that anti-Semitism is not real. Neo-Nazism
isresurging
<https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/09/violent-protests-chemnitz-germany/569206/>
in Germany within a growing anti-immigrant movement. Anti-Semitic
incidents in the United States rose 57
<https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/29/us/anti-semitism-attacks.html?module=inline>
percent in 2017, and many of us are still mourning what is believed to
bethe deadliest attack on Jewish people in American history
<https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/27/us/jewish-hate-crimes-fbi/index.html>.
We must be mindful in this climate that, while criticism of Israel is
not inherently anti-Semitic, it can slide there.
Fortunately, people like the Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II are leading
by example,pledging allegiance to the fight against anti-Semitism
<https://www.thenation.com/article/in-response-to-pittsburgh-we-must-come-together-as-one/>
while also demonstrating unwavering solidarity with the Palestinian
people struggling to survive under Israeli occupation.
He declared in ariveting speech
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mg63AYzPwN0> last year that we cannot
talk about justice without addressing the displacement of native
peoples, the systemic racism of colonialism and the injustice of
government repression. In the same breath he said: “I want to say, as
clearly as I know how, that the humanity and the dignity of any person
or people cannot in any way diminish the humanity and dignity of another
person or another people. To hold fast to the image of God in every
person is to insist that the Palestinian child is as precious as the
Jewish child.”
Guided by this kind of moral clarity, faith groups are taking action. In
2016, the pension board of the United Methodist Churchexcluded from
<https://www.kairosresponse.org/pr_umc_divests_israeli_banks_jan2016.html>
its multibillion-dollar pension fund Israeli banks whose loans for
settlement construction violate international law. Similarly, the United
Church of Christ the year before passed aresolution
<http://www.ucc.org/news_general_synod_israel_palestine_resolution_06302015>
calling for divestments and boycotts of companies that profit from
Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories.
Even in Congress, change is on the horizon. For the first time, two
sitting members, Representatives Ilhan Omar, Democrat of Minnesota, and
Rashida Tlaib, Democrat of Michigan,publicly support
<https://thehill.com/homenews/house/419511-first-palestinian-american-congresswoman-plans-west-bank-trip-for-freshman>
the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. In 2017, Representative
Betty McCollum, Democrat of Minnesota, introduced a resolution to ensure
that no U.S. military aid went to support Israel’s juvenile military
detention system. Israel regularly prosecutes Palestinian children
detainees in the occupied territories in military court.
Relatives of a Palestinian nurse, Razan al-Najjar, 21, mourning in June
after she was shot dead in Gaza by Israeli soldiers.CreditHosam Salem
for The New York Times
None of this is to say that the tide has turned entirely or that
retaliation has ceased against those who express strong support for
Palestinian rights. To the contrary, just as King received fierce,
overwhelming criticism for his speech condemning the Vietnam War — 168
major newspapers, including The Times,denounced
<https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125355148> the
address the following day — those who speak publicly in support of the
liberation of the Palestinian people still risk condemnation and backlash.
Bahia Amawi, an American speech pathologist of Palestinian descent,
wasrecently terminated
<https://theintercept.com/2018/12/17/israel-texas-anti-bds-law/> for
refusing to sign a contract that contains an anti-boycott pledge stating
that she does not, and will not, participate in boycotting the State of
Israel. In November, Marc Lamont Hill was fired from CNN for giving a
speech in support of Palestinian rights that was grossly misinterpreted
<http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/commentary/marc-lamont-hill-temple-university-cnn-palestine-israel-united-nations-20181201.html>
as expressing support for violence*. *Canary Mission continues to pose
aserious threat
<https://forward.com/news/national/407279/canary-missions-threat-grows-from-us-campuses-to-the-israeli-border/>
to student activists.
And just over a week ago, the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute in
Alabama, apparently under pressure mainly from segments of the Jewish
community and others,rescinded an honor
<https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/alabama-civil-rights-institute-rescinds-angela-davis-honor-60208390>
it bestowed upon the civil rights icon Angela Davis, who has been a
vocal critic of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians and supports B.D.S.
But that attack backfired. Within 48 hours, academics and activists had
mobilized in response. The mayor of Birmingham, Randall Woodfin, as well
as the Birmingham School Board and the City Council, expressed outrage
at the institute’s decision. The council unanimously passed aresolution
<https://www.birminghamalcitycouncil.org/2019/01/08/birmingham-city-council-unanimously-approves-resolution-of-support-for-dr-angela-davis/>
in Davis’ honor, and an alternative event is being organized to
celebrate her decades-long commitment to liberation for all.
I cannot say for certain that King would applaud Birmingham for its
zealous defense of Angela Davis’s solidarity with Palestinian people.
But I do. In this new year, I aim to speak with greater courage and
conviction about injustices beyond our borders, particularly those that
are funded by our government, and stand in solidarity with struggles for
democracy and freedom. My conscience leaves me no other choice.
______________________________________
Michelle Alexander became a New York Times columnist in 2018. She is a
civil rights lawyer and advocate, legal scholar and author of “The New
Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness.”
A version of this article appears in print on Jan. 19, 2019, on Page SR1
of the New York edition with the headline: Time to Break the Silence on
Palestine.
--
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