Palestinians express “solidarity with the people of Ferguson” in Mike Brown statement

Rana Baker Activism and BDS Beat 15 August 2014

Palestinian groups and individuals inside and outside of historic Palestine have signed the following statement in solidarity with their brethren in Ferguson, Missouri.

Unsurprisingly, many of the police deployed to crush unarmed protesters demanding justice for the brutal murder of eighteen-year-old black American Mike Brown are Israel-trained. Despotic tactics Palestinians largely associate with Israel’s colonial military, such as teargassing protesters and harassing journalists, have all been implemented in Ferguson. 

Although Ferguson and Palestine are two different contexts, both places and their people are fighting against white supremacist regimes of oppression which continue to view them as “disposable others” and act accordingly. 

The individuals who signed the statement below may not all know or agree with each other. However, the undersigned all believe that it is the moral responsibility of every Palestinian to support and foster relations with the struggles of the oppressed all over the world.

It is also worth noting that the Palestinian struggle for freedom is not a copy of the struggle of our black brothers and sisters both in the past and present. Neither is the black struggle a homogeneous one. Finally, the struggle of our black brethren is not a simple tool to “popularize” ours.

But the Civil Rights, anti-apartheid and anti-colonial movements in the United States, South Africa and foreign colonies across the African continent in the past offer us various models from which we should learn. In the present, Palestinians (though this does not apply to sell-outs such as Mahmoud Abbas and his minions) stand up against the despotism which the US, the settler-colony known as Israel, and various European and Arab governments embody.

Full statement

We the undersigned Palestinian individuals and groups express our solidarity with the family of Michael Brown, a young unarmed black man gunned down by police on August 9th in Ferguson, Missouri. We wish to express our support and solidarity with the people of Ferguson who have taken their struggle to the street, facing a militarized police occupation.

From all factions and sectors of our dislocated society, we send you our commitment to stand with you in your hour of pain and time of struggle against the oppression that continues to target our black brothers and sisters in nearly every aspect of their lives.

We understand your moral outrage. We empathize with your hurt and anger. We understand the impulse to rebel against the infrastructure of a racist capitalist system that systematically pushes you to the margins of humanity.  

And we stand with you.

We recognize the disregard and disrespect for black bodies and black life endemic to the supremacist system that rules the land with wanton brutality. Your struggles through the ages have been an inspiration to us as we fight our own battles for basic human dignities. We continue to find inspiration and strength from your struggles through the ages and your revolutionary leaders, like Malcolm X, Huey Newton, Kwame Ture, Angela Davis, Fred Hampton, Bobby Seale and others.

We honor the life of Michael Brown, cut short less than a week before he was due to begin university.  And we honor the far too many more killed in similar circumstances, motivated by racism and contempt for black life: Ezell Ford, John Crawford, Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin, Tarika Wilson, Malcolm Ferguson, Renisha McBride, Amadou Diallo, Yvette Smith, Oscar Grant, Sean Bell, Kathryn Johnston, Rekia Boyd and too many others to count.

With a Black Power fist in the air, we salute the people of Ferguson and join in your demands for justice.

Signatories

  • Susan Abulhawa, novelist and activist
  • Linah Alsaafin, graduate student, SOAS
  • Budour Hassan
  • Rinad Abdulla, Professor, Birzeit University
  • Ramzy Baroud, Managing Editor, Middle East Eye
  • Diana Buttu, Lawyer, Palestine
  • Rana Baker, graduate student, SOAS
  • Abbas Hamideh, activist and organizer
  • Abir Kopty
  • Ahlam Muhtaseb, Professor, CSU
  • Alaa Milbes, Ramallah, Palestine
  • Alaa Marwan, Ramallah, Palestine
  • Nour Joudah, Washington DC
  • Ali Zbeidat, Sakhnin, Palestine
  • Areej Alragabi , Jerusalem, Palestine
  • Areej Saeb, student, Jerusalem
  • Asma Jaber
  • Beesan Ramadan, Nablus
  • Dina Zbidat, Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • Dr Jess Ghannam, UCSF
  • Huwaida Arraf, Attorney, New York
  • Nejma Awad, Tetra Tech DPK
  • Monadel Herzallah, USPCN, San Francisco Bay Area
  • Ghassan Hussein
  • Dinna Omar
  • Randa C. Issa
  • Amal Khoury, MD MPH, Washington, DC
  • Amani Barakat Moorpark, California
  • Fadi Quran 
  • Fajr Harb
  • Falastine Dwikat, PCACBI
  • Hala Gabriel
  • Khaled Jarrar
  • Osama Ahmad, AMP Bay Area director
  • Hala Turjman
  • Halla Shoaibi, Birzeit University
  • Harun Arsalai  
  • Zaid Shuaibi
  • Hurriyah Ziada
  • Dima Eleiwa, Shujaiyah, Gaza, Palestine
  • Jamil Salem, Birzeit University
  • Karam Saleem, International Solidarity Movement, Palestine
  • Khaled Barakat
  • Khuzama Hanoon, Palestine
  • Laila Awartani, Ramallah, Palestine
  • Lana Habash, Let’s Go There Collective
  • Lana Khoury, Washington DC
  • Yousef Aljamal, University of Malaysia 
  • Safwan Hamdi
  • Leena Barakat
  • Lema Nazeeh, lawyer
  • Yara Kayyali Abbas, Palestine
  • Mariam Barghouti, Birzeit University
  • Mohammad Ayyad, graduate student, SOAS
  • Nader Elkhuzundar
  • Nancy Mansour, Existence is Resistance, New York/Palestine
  • Mohammed Alkhader, Birzeit University
  • Nazik Hassan, attorney, Riverside, California
  • Nora Taha
  • Rena Zuabi
  • Roleen Tafakji-Haidami
  • Samera Sood
  • Sana Ibrahim
  • Sherene Seikaly, UCSB
  • Taher Herzallah
  • Tamara Reem, Washington DC
  • Ahmad Nimer, Palestine
  • Riya Al’sanah, journalist, London
  • Alaa Milbes, Ramallah
  • Belal Dabour, Gaza doctor
  • Huda Asfour, PhD, Durham NC
  • Iyad Afalqa, Irvine, CA
  • Ruba Leech, Portland, OR
  • Rashad Al-Dabbagh, Network of Arab American Professionals
  • Maysoon Suleiman-Khatib, Civil Rights Specialist
  • Diana Alzeer, Ramallah, Palestine
  • Mona Kadah, Boston MA
  • Lucy Garbett, Jerusalem, Palestine
  • Hadeel Assali, Columbia University, NYC
  • Magid Shihade, Oakland, CA
  • Tamara Tamimi, Palestine
  • Hammam Farah, psychotherapist and editor
  • Dina Elmuti, Treatment and Rehabilitation Center for Victims of Torture
  • Laila Hamdan, Portland OR
  • Bushra Shamma, VA, USA
  • Rev. Fahed Abuakel, Presbyterian minister , Atlanta, GA
  • Rehab Nazzal, artist, Canada
  • Ezees Silwady, Palestine
  • Dua’ Nakhala, freelance researcher, Belgium
  • Amal Oweis, Palestine
  • Shaheen Nassar, UCR
  • Amin Dallal, youth counselor
  • Dr. Tariq Shadid, surgeon
  • Zaha Hassan, Esq
  • Randa Issa, PhD
  • Murad Saleh, GED
  • Lila Sharif, Ph.D
  • Sa’ed Atshan, Ph.D
  • Rasha Khoury, MD Jerusalem
  • Hadeel Assali, Columbia University, NYC
  • Rabab Ibrahim Abdulhadi, Associate Professor of Race and Resistance Studies, San Francisco University
  • Tanya Keilani
  • Shahd Abusalama

Organizations

  • American Muslims for Palestine
  • Free Amer Jubran Campaign
  • International Solidarity Movement, Palestine
  • Let’s Go There Collective
  • Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network
  • Students for Justice in Palestine, University of New Mexico
  • The Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa’adat
  • Bay Area Intifada, Bay Area
  • PAWA, Palestinian American Women Association
  • NSJP, National Students for Justice in Palestine
  • Americans United for Palestinian Human Rights
  • Mashjar Juthour, Palestine
  • Harvard Palestine Solidarity Committee
  • Al-Awda NY, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition 
  • Stop the Wall
  • The US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel

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Comments

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Izak Friend replied on

That's right. 1969 is sure to come around again. Just keep waiting for it.

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Alim replied on

great show of solidarity. though i wonder how many of the undersigned support the rights of lgbtq... the point i make is that selectively standing up for rights (which i am sure is what many of these folks do) shouldn't be portrayed as a commitment to everyones rights.

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Lee replied on

So??? This is something positive. Leave it to someone to point out something negative.

You should take the time and think, not ALL countries/ Religions/ cultures support that lifestyle.

This is not about the LGBT community although every problem or injustice some how ends up a LGBT problem.

So let's focus on the problem at hand.

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Hanan replied on

I support LGBT rights... I also support all human and animal rights. I know many who also selectively support rights by not supporting animal rights, other living beings. I agree with you on the selectivity but I find very few are truly ego-less in supporting all rights and freedoms.

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Tyrone Scales replied on

It is 2 in the morning here in Pittsburgh and I have been reading through the numerous cases such as Mike Brown's occuring in the United States this week alone. I have watched as the news that he stole cigarettes from a store prior to his shooting has emerged, the narrative has shifted to his death being warranted because he was shown to not be a perfect person. Following the story from the beginning I have been operating under the assumption that the theft was possible. I have not been upset that the life of a perfect person was taken this whole time but rather that of a human being, faults and all, appears to have occurred and that again the excuses for it have been the same racist defenses used all the time. That again a black man in the US was killed by those in positions of authority and when the community seeks answers they are met with a response that assumes they are savage brutes who can't be reasoned with in anyway but through force.
It is not anger that consumes me but disappointment as I try to talk to my diverse network whom far too many do not understand this plight nor care to because the progress they feel this country has made its far greater than what has been achieved. I have never been arrested or detained, to my knowledge my worst offense would be jaywalking and since the age of 20 I have been working, in college or both. However, the one time I needed the police to investigate someone shooting at my and neighbors' houses, I was met with questions that assumed the worst of my character. When I answered no to them all my mother was interviewed in the other room just loud enough for me to hear them call me a liar and state that my illegal or illicit acts that they believed had to exist were putting her in danger.

I sit on a board trying to spread word on Palestine. In the coming months that is the most I can offer as I juggle my time with that, work and college. However, once I graduate I will be free to do much more.

Thank You,
Tyrone

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Anonymous replied on

I am Palestinian, born and raised in Germany. i am lawyer by profession.

This is awful and tragic!
Indeed, as a Palestinian I really feel the pain and the longing for justice!

As a Palestinian I have empathy with marginalized people, like native Americans and black people!

May God bless the soul of Michael Brown.

Said Abu El-Haija
-attorney, Germany-

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Christina Nordlander replied on

I wish to thank all signatories of this statement. There's not much words can do right now, but thank you.

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Shahab Abro replied on

It is clearly a brutal murder by an Israel trained Polices officer. It looks all white police officers trained by Israel have been posted there for cleansing Black American from the city. If they do not prevail the justice "Hang the Murderer" than it is clear that these white police officers are there only for cleansing Black Americans.

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Malcolm Nazareth replied on

You've connected the dots well intercontinentally. Whiteness is defined as historical, systemic race-based superiority. This structure is at the root of Israel's ethnic cleansing, apartheid, genocidal practices. Traditional Jewish religious belief about Jews being the "chosen people" lends itself to the Ashkenazi Jews' colonization and oppressive treatment of the original inhabitants of Palestine. Israelis massacred Palestinians, expelled or colonized survivors, and put them on two major "reservations" which they are constantly "mowing" and eroding. Despite censure from the vast majority of nations around the world, Israel continues as an outlaw, rogue settler-state today. White supremacy did the same to American Indians and Mexicans and, surprise, surprise, the USA was the first nation to recognize the State of Israel in 1948, some 15 minutes after Israelis declared their arrival/existence on the world stage. This mere fact suggests that the US found nothing reprehensible about the mass murders of Palestinian villages in which Israelis engaged during the year before Israel's birth. One rogue state supports the other, both founded on the same outrageous, despicable structure of Whiteness. If even today Israel continues its siege and choke-hold on the Gaza Strip, it's mostly because the US approves, supports, and abets Israel's war crimes and considers Israel as its major ally. So Whiteness supports Whiteness inside the US and outside its shores. The powerful pro-Israeli lobby in the US is effective in the political sphere through AIPAC. Some American Jews have historically played a key role in the Civil Rights Movement and fought to end discrimination and racism. But the more powerful American Jews today use their connection with Israel to keep White supremacy alive and well in the USA and abroad through the media-security-military industrial complex. Mike Brown's killer needs to be brought to justice. Palestinians need to be liberated from Israel's clutches.

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Paul replied on

I believe in total equal rights for every person on this planet. No one, I mean NO ONE should be above the law no matter what position they hold. I am a white person in the lower class society. I agree that racism plays a huge part of the problems going on in this world. What the majority of people don't realize is that lower class white people are being oppressed as well. For the most part it seems that the other races have the nerve and bravery to stand up to oppression the most, for that they have my respect and support. The bigger picture is; this is class warfare between the haves and havenots. All lower class societies around the world should stand together to take the power from the elitists in a peaceful manner. It is possible by not buying their products and services by buying local products. Take your money out of federal and national banks and use local and private banks. Stop buying at chain stores and buy form mom and pop stores and go to the farmers market for food. If we stop making them rich, then they will lose power over us. We out number the elitists, they need us to survive, we don't need them to survive.

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peace hipnotica replied on

I agree, 1% the elitist doing everything they can to keep the 99% disenfranchised. PEACE N GOOD WINS AGAINST RACISM, CLASSISM AND SEXISM. WE MUST DO WHAT WE HAVE TO DO TO BE FREE. THE GOVERNMENT IS FOR THE PEOPLE BY THE PEOPLE. THE WORKING POPULATION'S FRIEND, THE POOR, MISPLACED AND DISENFRANCHISED SINCE WE CAME TO AMERICA. JUSTICE WILL REIGN, RULE N PREVAIL. The poor whites have been used as pawns to death, murder, and kill others, OUR WHITE BROTHERS N SISTERS ARE TIRED OF BEING USED AND ABUSED AS WELL. UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL. We AFRIKANS AND DESCENDANTS OF AFRIKA BOUGHT HERE AS SLAVES, BUILT AMERICA THROUGH HARD LABOR, PATENTS FROM OUR INVENTIONS AND MONEY INVESTED ON WALL STREET. WE SEEK REPARATIONS THROUGH USURY,THE PRINCIPAL INVESTMENTS, AND PATENTS OF THE SAME.

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Anonymous replied on

We support you in your time in grief Ferguson. Justice will prevail. It pains me that people take innocent life for granted, no matter ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation.

Sincerely,

A Muslim.

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Anonymous replied on

I don't think Palestinians will ever understand just how much black Americans appreciate this support. Thank you so much, and know that the majority of us stand with you in solidarity against your oppressors as well. Your oppressors are also our oppressors. In peace, a black American woman

Rana Baker

Rana Baker's picture

Rana Baker is a PhD student at Columbia University, New York.