Counterpunch, August 2014:
The Struggles in Palestine and Ferguson Are One
As Israel’s most recent massacre in Gaza continues, and as police in the U.S. continue to violently repress protesters who are exercising their fundamental human right to challenge injustice and demand an end to racist police killings, activists in each conflict have tied their struggles together.
Protesters in Ferguson have noted parallels between the state-sanctioned violence in Israel and the state-sanctioned racist violence at home (and the shared military training between both forces). Palestinians have shared tips for dealing with tear gas attacks. Jewish organizations have too noticed “the similarity in the tactics and technologies of repression against those who are rising up nonviolently in both places” and have stood in solidarity with the protesters.
On 19 August, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a secular revolutionary leftist organization that has historically stood at the forefront of the Palestinian liberation movement, released its own official statement of solidarity with Ferguson, “salut[ing] and stand[ing] firmly with the ongoing struggle of Black people and all oppressed communities in the United States.” The statement is based largely on an interview with Palestinian writer and activist Khaled Barakat. The PFLP echoes the writer’s statements, adopting them as its official position.
The full article is here.
Leila Khaled 