All right, so this is my first post, so we may as well just go right into the deep end.
Everybody says you're not supposed to talk about Gaza and the Black-Jewish conflict that's broken out since October 7th, so I'm going to talk about it. I am very, very concerned that the historic alliance between Blacks and Jews since 1909 has been breaking down.
African Americans and Jewish folks have been together trying to fight for justice, trying to fight for democracy. The NAACP was in fact a Black-Jewish alliance that was formed when the racism and discrimination against Black people and Jews were so extraordinary that we had to stand together.
In 1909, we created the NAACP together. Then the next year, together we created the organization that became the Urban League. And every decade in the last century, the best folks in the Jewish community that really believed in repairing the world and the best folks in the Black community who really believed in justice for all always worked together.
We played a huge role in co-authoring and co-creating what you now call American democracy. You would not have American democracy without the best in these two groups coming together over and over again.
But now that partnership is falling apart.
And this is dangerous because the only people who ultimately benefit from the two groups that have been the most committed to deepening and defending democracy falling apart are people who don't like democracy. White Nationalists love it when Black folk and Jewish folks fight. Our geopolitical adversaries, Russia, China, Iran, North Korea love it when Black folks and Jewish folks fall apart. These four dictatorships know they’d never be able to beat America in a straight-up war, but they can pull us apart from the inside by exacerbating these tensions.
It is for these reasons that I am committed to figuring out how can we get back together.
I have discovered that there are five H's that give us a roadmap to get back together.
The First H: The Humanitarian crisis in Gaza. H number one is the toughest one. African Americans are not going to support Bibi Netanyahu in this humanitarian crisis. African Americans did support George W. Bush going into Iraq. Muhammad Ali and Dr. King didn't support Johnson during the Vietnam War.
Black folks in general don't support wars like this. You can ask us to. We're not going to. And if that's the whole sum of the relationship between blacks and Jews, we're in trouble. Fortunately, it's not.
There are four other H's that we can focus on.
The Second H: Hostages. Now, that's a different question. The fact is that we have American and Israeli hostages being held by Hamas. Black folk came over here as hostages. We understand hostages. Reverend Jesse Jackson went all around the world freeing hostages. We hate individuals losing their liberty. That's why we have such a big movement against the incarceration industry.
And therefore, standing with American Jews and with Israeli citizens saying, “Bring the hostages home,” should be no problem.
The Third H: Hate Crimes. Hate crimes have been rising against Muslims, but also against Jewish Americans in a way that's surprised even the FBI. Black folks are not for hate crimes. We are against hate in all of its forms. We didn't like it when Asians were getting jumped on after COVID. We didn't like it when Muslims were getting jumped on after 9-11 and with Trump's Muslim ban. Standing together with Jewish people against the rising tide of hate crimes should not be an issue. We should be able to do that together.
The Fourth H: Hamas. Hamas is not a worthy organization of Black support. Nelson Mandela, who engaged in armed struggle, went after soldiers. He went after infrastructure. He didn't go after women, children, or grandparents. He didn't rape anybody. He didn't kidnap anybody. Neither did Samora Machel in Mozambique or Agustin Onicho in Angola or Amilcar Cabral in Guinea-Bissau.
Even when there's armed struggle, Black folks do not lower our standards down to the depraved tactics of a Hamas. Even Malcolm X, who said, “by any means necessary,” never personally hurt anybody. Hamas is a freedom-taking organization. They're not a freedom-fighting organization. The legitimate cause of the Palestinian people for dignity, for sovereignty, for human rights, has been hijacked by this Nazi terror group of Hamas. We should be very clear as Black folk, we don't support that type of stuff. We support the Palestinians. We don't support Hamas.
The Fifth H: Homeland. The idea of a secure homeland for both people. The Palestinians need a secure homeland. The Israelis need a secure homeland. People say it's too late and that it can't be done. There's always a way. Just at the level of principle, we don't want people saying that Jewish people should be the only ethnicity in the world without a secure homeland and without the right to a secure homeland. There are people who have been trying to push that. I think we should be pushing back and say we think both people deserve a secure homeland.
So listen, that's a pathway right there, isn't it?
Five H's, the humanitarian crisis, we're not going to be supportive of Bibi Netanyahu. Yes, let's work together to get the hostages home. Yes, let's oppose hate crimes and the roots of hate crime in terms of anti-Jewish bigotry and feeling. And then lastly, the idea of a secure homeland for both people. And I think if we do that, we will frustrate the white nationalists. We will frustrate the extreme terrorists, people like Hamas. We will frustrate our geopolitical adversaries, Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran, and get ourselves back onto a good footing.
There has never been a time when we needed more of a defense and a deepening of democracy than right now. And there have never been two ethnic groups in the history of humanity that have a stronger track record of working together to deepen and defend democracy than Black folks and Jewish folks. Let's get back together. Let’s make the right people unhappy, and let’s make the right people happy.
Black people need more friends and fewer enemies.
Jewish people need more friends and fewer enemies.
It makes no sense for us to be enemies of each other.
Let’s stay together.
-Van
The Five Hs of the Black-Jewish Alliance