BNC Statement

Stop U.S Repression of African Americans in Ferguson

Palestinians Express Deep Solidarity with U.S. Minorities’ Struggle for Justice, Equality and Dignity  "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere"--Martin Luther King, Jr. Occupied Palestine, 20 August 2014 -- On behalf of Palestinians everywhere, the Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC) expresses its deep solidarity with the African American community of Ferguson, Missouri in the aftermath of the murder of unarmed teenager Michael Brown by a police officer on August 9th.

Palestinians Express Deep Solidarity with U.S. Minorities’ Struggle for Justice, Equality and Dignity

 "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere"--Martin Luther King, Jr.

Occupied Palestine, 20 August 2014 -- On behalf of Palestinians everywhere, the Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC) expresses its deep solidarity with the African American community of Ferguson, Missouri in the aftermath of the murder of unarmed teenager Michael Brown by a police officer on August 9th. We convey our condolences to Brown’s family and friends and to all minority communities struggling to end the still-entrenched system of racism, racial discrimination and disenfranchisement.

In response to the people’s demands for justice for Michael and an end to police brutality against African Americans, police in Ferguson have shamefully launched a militarized attack against unarmed protestors. Heavily deploying tear gas and rubber bullets, police tactics partially reflected the training that some of the law enforcement agencies involved in Ferguson had received from Israeli security forces in recent years, as revealed in media reports.

We recognize those tactics being used in Ferguson and the mentality behind them. The dehumanization of the victim, the corporate media distortions of the realities, the obfuscation of the root causes of the protests, and the methods of unbridled violence and control being used by security forces are all too familiar to Palestinians living under Israel’s decades-old occupation. Indeed, Israel’s dehumanization of Palestinians, particularly the 1.8 million living in the world’s largest open-air prison in Gaza, paved the way for the current massacre being perpetrated by the Israeli army. How else can Israel rationalize its murder of more than 470 Palestinian children and the obliteration of entire families in Gaza by air, sea and land bombardment?

We recognize that Michael Brown’s murder is part of a system that claims the mantle of some “Anglo-American civilization” while stereotyping and endangering African Americans, especially young men, based on their race. U.S. racial justice and labor activist Bill Fletcher Jr. comments on the wider context of the Ferguson repression saying, "The racial terror against African Americans seeks to ensure that we remain immobilized and disorganized.” But our sisters and brothers in Ferguson have not been intimidated by this terror; they have shown the world their inspiring capacity to mobilize and self-organize in empowering actions against repression, for social and economic justice, for equal rights, and for a dignified future.

Michael’s death has been met with outrage and anger among the people of Palestine struggling for freedom, justice and equality. We strongly believe that the oppressed of the world must stand united in the face of racism, racial repression and injustice. Together we can prevail. Together we shall prevail.

Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC)


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