A pro-Palestinian student group, New York University’s Students for Justice in Palestine (NYU SJP), has linked the deaths of two black men in America last week, who were both shot and killed by police, to Israel.
The statement was made last Thursday when NYU Students for Justice in Palestine posted that “The same forces behind the genocide of black people in America are behind the genocide of Palestinians”.
It is wrong to claim that either the events in America or in Israel and the Palestinian territories are “genocides”, but it is even more farcical to say that Israel is responsible for the actions of individual police officers in America.
The full post says the following:
“In the past 48 hours another two black men have been lynched by the police. The total number of black people lynched by cops in 2016 now totals 136. We must remember that many US police departments train with the #IsraeliDefenseForces. The same forces behind the genocide of black people in America are behind the genocide of Palestinians. What this means is that Palestinians must stand with our black comrades. We must struggle for their liberation. It is as important as our own. #AltonSterling is as important as #AliDawabsheh. Palestinian liberation and black liberation go together. We must recognize this and commit to building for it.”
The post sparked a backlash from hundreds of Facebook users, almost all of them condemning it. “What twisted logic is this?” asked one user. “Where in the world do you people come up with such an association?” asked another. Others questioned its legitimacy claiming, “This has to be a hoax”.
Arutz Sheva points out that law enforcement agencies around the world frequently learn from each other, with officers from the US regularly training with a variety of different countries. Yet no other country is accused of being secretly responsible for the actions of individual officers.
However, this kind of anti-Semitic association is not uncommon within the SJP movement who regularly jump on popular issues to try and push their agenda. They previously supported the Ferguson rallies with signs and chants saying, “From Palestine to Ferguson”. And last November they blamed “Zionists” for their high tuition fees and student debts.
