By Jordan Mann August 18, 2016
On August first of this year the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, through the umbrella organization The Movement for Black Lives released a platform. The platform lists a plethora of goals, a huge expansion from BLM’s original aims. Many of the goals included in the platform are admirable and if achieved will improve life for everyone. Some of the goals, such as ending capitalism in the U.S. and paying reparations to the countries of Somalia, Iraq, Libya and Honduras, among other new objectives, may alienate the general population. However, the expanded objectives are not the problem.
The dilemma is BLM has aligned itself with hate groups. The unjustified, unnecessary and untrue attacks on the state of Israel have taken the movement in a whole new direction. The new platform accuses Israel of being an apartheid state and pursuing genocide against the Palestinian people. BLM has joined hate groups and terrorist organizations in these oft repeated libels.
Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East and the only country in its neighborhood with a free press. Like all countries, Israel makes mistakes; the government violates human rights and civil rights. But, Israel’s violations are not even close to the extreme violations of its neighbors; Israel violates human rights less than any country in the Middle East and less than most other countries anywhere. Israeli Palestinians have the right to vote in Israel, they serve in every level of government including on the Supreme Court, they serve in the army and on police forces. Those facts defy the definition of apartheid. Many Middle Eastern countries do not allow Palestinians born in their country to become citizens; they cannot vote and have few rights. That is the definition of apartheid.
Israel has been defending itself against Palestinian terrorist groups for more than 60 years, yet has killed fewer Palestinians than either Jordan or Syria. Israel is not engaged in genocide.
What possible reason could BLM have for singling out Israel while ignoring the horrendous crimes perpetrated by Syria, Iran, Iraq, Yemen and so many other countries, not to mention the crimes of Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic State, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera? The perpetration of lies in the platform will not help BLM reach its goals. It will do just the opposite, it will alienate those that refuse to be associated with hate groups and thereby make BLM’s worthy goals harder to reach.
BLM was born from the outrage of far too many unarmed Black men meeting death at the hands of law enforcement. Black lives do matter. The killings and the mass incarceration of non-violent offenders must be stopped to save our country. BLM must get back on track and must distance itself from the haters. Hate does not stop hate and bigotry does not cure bigotry.
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