Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who can drop a bucket of crocodile tears on cue, has reaffirmed his opposition to & condemnation of the Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israeli apartheid & genocide. According to him, “delegitimizing” & “demonizing” Israel violates “Canadian values.” Genocide against Palestinians must be right up his alley since Canada is so practiced at it in its treatment & dispossession of Native Americans.

For those looking for the lesser evil Democrat in the 2020 elections, every single politician who has declared their candidacy is ardent, even strident, in their support for Israel–including support for making advocacy of BDS a felony & requiring a loyalty oath to Israel for employment & social services. This is no longer just a question of where you stand on Israeli apartheid & Palestinian justice. They’re messing with the Bill of Rights which is the only salvageable part of the US Constitution which is a slave owner’s document. By not standing up against these initiatives which violate free speech, we aren’t looking at a slippery slope but an avalanche that will bury the Bill of Rights. An essential part of protecting our rights is now yoked by over-zealous Zionists to Palestinian rights. In desperation, Zionists might have just made a fatal mistake by undermining the foundations of American democracy.

In 2016, a Supreme Court decision made inroads against the 4th Amendment regarding illegal search & seizure. But of course these violations were already in practice in the Black community under the guise of the war on drugs. When Black teens were vilified as narco-terrorists, these violations were accepted as necessary for law enforcement. As far back as 1992, in an article on the fallacy of Black drug gangs & the demonization of Black teens, I pointed out that by not defending Black kids or opposing violations of the Bill of Rights in the Black community, we were headed for big trouble. That’s one of the reasons many Black activists in the US identify with the Palestinians who are also vilified as terrorists.

We need to begin immediately to organize local, state, & national coalitions to oppose these Zionist initiatives against BDS & the legal threats to the Bill of Rights, the Black community, & Palestinians. We should keep in mind the words of Martin Niemöller:

“First they came for the socialists, & I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, & I did not speak out— because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, & I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—& there was no one left to speak for me.”
Anyone interested in collaborating with me to begin that process can message me or contact me at: mscully9@msn.com.

(Photo by Mahmoud Hams is 29-year-old Palestinian Saber Al-Ashkar at the Great Return March on May 11, 2018. Our commitment to defending BDS can only dream of approximating his commitment to freedom.)