KANSAS CITY– A month after the May 25 police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis Jamie Jackson interviewed journalist Eli Day about the solidarity of the Black community in the United States with Palestinians.
Within days of the George Floyd murder, Israeli police murdered a 32 year old Palestinian man, Iyad Al Halak, who was both autistic and nonverbal. Protesters in Israel and Palestine responded by calling out the name of both victims, thereby expressing an historical solidarity that recognizes similarities between the oppression that people of color experience at the hands of US police and the oppression of Palestinians by Israeli police and soldiers.
Eli Day applauds the efforts of leaders in the Black community – Marc Lamont Hill, Angela Davis and R.G. Kelley – to highlight parallels between police brutality and racism in the US and in Palestine. He also credits the work of grassroots groups. The Green Defenders in Florida sponsor educational trips to the West Bank. The Black Youth Project successfully ended training programs of Durham North Carolina police with the Israeli military. Eli Day recognizes the networks of oppression embodied in imperialism, militarism and colonialism.
-Jamie Jackson
