CAA calls out bigoted claim by Black Lives Matter UK that “Zionism” has “gagged” Britain
Campaign Against Antisemitism has called out the UK chapter of Black Lives Matter (BLM) today after it claimed that “Zionism” has “gagged” Britain.
BLM’s official UK account tweeted this morning: “As Israel moves forward with the annexation of the West Bank, and mainstream British politics is gagged of the right to critique Zionism, and Israel’s settler colonial pursuits, we loudly and clearly stand beside our Palestinian comrades. Free Palestine.”
Campaign Against Antisemitism responded: “The Black Lives Matter movement should embrace solidarity from Jews. There have been calls for violence against us from prominent BLM supporters with no official condemnation. Now from the official UK BLM account, we hear the lie that fighting antisemitism has ‘gagged’ legitimate debate.
“Zionism is the movement for the self-determination of Jews. The right to the ‘self-determination of peoples’ is universal and enshrined in Article 1 of the UN charter. So-called ‘anti-Zionism’ exclusively denies Jews that universal right and is therefore antisemitic.
“BLM should aspire to be a movement against racism that unifies people and achieves lasting change, not a movement that spreads hatred and achieves lasting division.
“Educate yourselves. You cannot fight prejudice with prejudice.”
As social media swiftly divided amongst those who firmly backed BLM and those who were appalled by their bigotry, BLM chose to entrench its position, issuing further tweets that ‘gaslight’ Jews and seek to redefine what antisemitism is.
Campaign Against Antisemitism has continued throughout the day to expose and explain their bigotry.
The far-right attacks the Jews for not being white enough and the far-left attacks the Jews for being too white.
BLM is treading a well-worn path walked by many extremists and abhorred by real civil rights leaders like Dr Martin Luther King Jr, who once told a student in Boston who had made a comment attacking ‘Zionists’: “When people criticise ‘Zionists’, they mean ‘Jews’. You’re talking antisemitism!”
This is not the first time that Campaign Against Antisemitism has had to contend with prejudice from supposed anti-racists, and no matter where the hatred comes from, we will always do whatever it takes to defend British Jews. It is why we are here.
