Aug 11, 2016

To Black Lives Matter With Love: Isreal is not committing genocide

(Above is an Isreali soldier, a rabbi, and an a religious Isreali)

From an early age my elders, especially my mother and grandparents, warned me to not talk back to the police, never run, and never have your hands where they couldn't see them. Growing up in West Baltimore I always followed what I was taught. Without fail. And still I ran into problems with Baltimore police. The incidents I had with police coming up never turned physical; but left scars nonetheless. The words, looks and aggression of police let me know for a black man in America freedom remains a very relative concept.

When Mike Brown was gunned down by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri I followed events online and became inspired by the movement led by young African-American youth. Fate would have it when Freddie Grey was taken for his "rough ride" by Baltimore police I was visiting my family and able to join protests in the streets of my hometown. What I saw inspired me.

A son of Baltimore I've been most fortunate. Hard work, education, the sacrifices of those who came before me, answered prayers, and luck when I needed it has allowed me to succeed in my career. My career in international trade has taken me to many countries and I've lived in five. Currently I'm in Israel.

I wake up every morning in my diverse Tel Aviv neighborhood. Joggers are out, the smell of bakeries fill the street, and I normally run into my neighbor Boaz on my way to work. He's an Israeli Jew. In America he could easily pass as a Latino or even a light-skinned African-American. Over dinners with Boaz and his lovely family he's told me of how his family fled Yemen in 1948. All of their possessions confiscated by government forces and local tribesmen. Two female cousins, ages five and six, kidnapped as a retaliation for the creation of Israel and never to be seen again.

I grab coffee from a street vendor named Yosef. Always smiling and chatty I've learned from Yosef his family came from Syria in 1948 and like Boaz he most certainly doesn't look white.

When I get to my office I'm greeted by security. Two young men. Black men. Men who would be dead if Israel wouldn't have rescued their families from famine and war in Ethiopia.

As an African-American man I've been treated with nothing but respect in Israel. Whether I be in a nightclub or bar in Tel Aviv, walking the streets of the Old City in Jerusalem or scuba diving in Eliat. When my parents visited me it was my great pleasure to take them to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. My younger brother Courtney travelled with them. He's a convert to Islam. Courtney was thrilled at being able to visit the al-Aqsa Mosque. He didn't receive any problems from Israeli soldiers guarding the mosque. However, once inside he was verbally harassed by a few Palestinians insisting he wasn't a real Muslim.

I'm not an Israeli nor am I Jewish. My stay here will not last. More than likely Italy or Brazil is next. However, I've enjoyed my stay here, have sought to get to know the people and learn the history, and I'm happy I came here.

Words can't express how disheartened I was to read the Black Lives Matter statement claiming there is a genocide against the Palestinian people and support of the BDS Movement.

The allegation of genocide is of course patently absurd. There are no death camps, no mass graves, and no forced starvations. On a daily basis I see Arabs, who identify as Palestinians, living and working in Israel. They vote. Their kids go to school here. They work hard and pay their taxes. Arabic is heard on the streets of Tel Aviv as is the Muslim call to prayer. If Israel wanted to pursue genocide it possesses the military capability to kill every single Palestinian within days and the entire Arab World within weeks. If the aim was genocide that is what would be happening.

The BDS Movement targeting Israel would punish my neighbor Boaz, my coffee dude Yosef and the Ethiopians who guard my office. Hardworking, honest and decent people. Where is the BDS Movement for Iran where gays are hanged from cranes or Saudi Arabia where women can't leave home without a male chaperone and critics are beheaded alongside criminals? I know racism and double standards when I see them. West Baltimore taught me that. I'm afraid some anti-Semitic forces have influenced some within Black Lives Matter for a purpose that has nothing to do with the betterment of the black community.

My argument isn't that Israel is perfect. I've been around the world and can tell you no place is. Rather my argument is simple; Israel is a state that needs to be respected, African-Americans can come here and get respect, and I adamantly disagree with the Black Lives Matter statement and positions on Israel.

This doesn't mean I no longer support Black Lives Matter. As an African-American I don't have that luxury. After all I could be a hashtag in the future and a friend or loved one today or tomorrow. It simply means I seek to stand for justice whether that be in Baltimore, Ferguson or Jerusalem and false accusations of genocide and economic warfare on a beautiful and diverse people is most certainly unjust