JCRC Statement Regarding Black Lives Matter Platform

On August 1, the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement released a platform, created collectively by organizations representing a range of BLM groups around the country.

We are deeply dismayed by elements of this platform, specifically the co-opting and manipulation of a movement addressing concerns about racial disparities in criminal justice in the United States in order to advance a biased and false narrative about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. To conflate the experiences of African-Americans and Palestinians oversimplifies complex matters and advances false equivalencies that diminish the unique nature of each.

JCRC cannot and will not align ourselves with organizations that falsely and maliciously assert that Israel is committing “genocide.” We denounce an agenda to wage economic and cultural warfare against Israelis, including efforts to mobilize against state and local efforts that reject the “BDS” movement. We reject participation in any coalition that seeks to isolate and demonize Israel singularly amongst the nations of the world.

As we dissociate ourselves from the Black Lives Matter platform and those BLM organizations that embrace it, we recommit ourselves unequivocally to the pursuit of justice for all Americans, and to working together with our friends and neighbors in the African-American community, whose experience of the criminal justice system is, far too often, determined by race. We will not allow this profoundly disturbing development to deter us from values and principles we hold dear regarding the character of our nation and the pursuit of equality for all Americans. We remind our community that the posture on Israel expressed in this platform does not reflect or represent the views of many in the African-American community including our own cherished partners here in Boston, a community that has staunchly supported Israel’s existence and rights as a nation.

We take this opportunity to assert once again that the only realistic and moral solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is to achieve two states for two peoples living in peace and security. It is time to end the destructive campaign against Israel’s existence and to pursue peace through negotiation, dialogue and cooperation between two people who share a homeland.

Adam Suttin                                     Jeremy Burton
President                                           Executive Director