A New Era of the Black-Jewish Alliance
IBSI's event at Hillel UCLA
Last Wednesday evening, I delivered a lecture to the Jewish students of Bruins for Israel and Club Z for Teens at the UCLA Hillel. The talk was based on my book, Zionism & the Black Church. The theme was What the Israel-Africa/Black-Jewish Alliance Truly Means. It was the Institute for Black Solidarity with Israel (IBSI)’s first event at UCLA since shortly after IBSI was founded in 2013. That means, when I last spoke at UCLA, the college students I saw Wednesday were in primary grade school. And over the past nine years, much has transpired in the world of Israel advocacy and Black-Jewish/Africa-Israel relations. So, we had much ground to cover in more ways than one.
We started with a brief overview of the 3,000-year relationship between Israel and Africa. I told the young people that, at IBSI, we consider the Queen of Sheba’s visit to Jerusalem to meet King Solomon to be the first Africa-Israel Summit. There is no story like it in the entire Bible, and the Ethiopian Kebra-Negast also records it as fact. We quickly shifted to early 20th century America (1912) when Booker T. Washington and Jewish philanthropist, Julius Rosenwald began building Rosenwald Schools for Black students throughout the segregated south. We mentioned Israeli Foreign Minister, Golda Meier (1956-1966), who was called “the mother of Africa” by then Tanzanian President, Julius Nyerer.1 We then touched on the civil rights movement and its iconic figure, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who stated, “probably more than any other ethnic group, the Jewish community has been sympathetic and has stood as an ally to the Negro in his struggle for justice.”2 It was at this point that the young people and I lingered as we unpacked what it means to be an ally; what it means to truly help someone in need or to be in partnership. First and foremost, it means to listen.
One lesson a former mentor taught me is that our greatest strength is also our greatest weakness. An incredible strength of the Jewish community — as Dr. King stated — is its collective ability to show sympathy and empathy for those who are oppressed. In defending Israel against United Nations charges of racism, former Black Panther turned Zionist, Eldridge Cleaver stated:
Of all the people in the world, the Jews have not only suffered particularly from racist persecution, they have done more than any other people in history to expose and condemn racism. Generations of Jewish social scientists and scholars have labored long and hard in every field of knowledge, from anthropology to psychology, to lay bare and refute all claims of racial inferiority and superiority.3
The weakness of a group or person who shows great empathy is to potentially be deceived by those who present themselves as helping. Such is the case with those well-meaning individuals and organizations taken in by the rhetoric of groups like Black Lives Matter.
Ironically, just as IBSI began in 2013, so did Black Lives Matter, and IBSI has been aware of and has called out BLM’s anti-Israel, anti-Jewish activities since their demonstrations in Ferguson, Missouri in 2014. One can peruse titles on this blog and find multiple, well-researched articles detailing BLM’s anti-Zionism, antisemitism, disdain for the Black family, fiscal unaccountability, demonization of law enforcement, opposition to education choice, opposition to entrepreneurialism, encouragement of looting and violence, and much more. BLM represents a faux-ally of the Black community, as every topic I just mentioned is in disagreement with the vast majority of Black Americans. But BLM seized on the intense emotions around the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, as they did of Michael Brown in Ferguson, and cashed in — literally and figuratively. Add to that mix a complicit media and opportunist politicians, and you have a behemoth of a “justice” organization thoroughly exploiting poor and working-class high-crime Black communities.
IBSI’s PEACE Initiative (Plan for Education, Advocacy, and Community Engagement) teaches young, ascendant Black American and African men and women about the Africa-Israel relationship, takes them to Africa and Israel, and returns them to their homes where they will be the hub of Black-Jewish synergy in their cities. One of the ways the Community Engagement portion of our Initiative works is with the help of our coalition partners.
In December, we visited and shared about the work of Pastor Corey Brooks of Project H.O.O.D. (Helping Others Obtain Destiny) in South Chicago. For twenty years, Pastor Corey and his team have worked in their community to turn broken lives around. In addition to Pastor Corey’s selfless service is his willingness to speak truth to power. He has called out Black Lives Matter for its destructive rhetoric and practices including its exploitation of disenfranchised people. Pastor Corey is also a strong supporter of Israel and the Jewish people. All of this makes Pastor Corey and Project H.O.O.D. a prototypical partner for future IBSI Ambassadors in Chicago.
Another of IBSI’s coalition partners is the Ghana-Israel Civil Diplomacy Alliance (GICDA) led by Israeli, Justin Stover. GICDA does the work of Israel advocacy among the Muslim population of Africa. It was IBSI’s alliance with GICDA that inspired the article, Africa's Future is Tied to Effective Counterterrorism and the subsequent online event, Israeli Counterterrorism Helping Secure Africa’s Future. Members of GICDA are committed to strengthening the ties between their countries and Israel, and to that end, have been exposing extremist threats that are increasing there. According to the Global Terrorism Index, Africa has, “seven of the 10 highest risk countries.”
IBSI hosts a weekly gathering on Zoom and Clubhouse Chat called the Forum on Israel, Africa, & Black America, each Thursday at 12 PM Eastern. In a recent Forum, a Ghanaian member of GICDA, Mohammed, spoke in solidarity with Israel after the latest terrorist attacks on Israelis.
“We join other like-minded people and condemn the attacks, and hope that these things do not happen. Imam is advising most of the Muslims [in Ghana] to reject scholarships by Iran. We are standing with Israel.”
After ending the talk, I took questions and comments from the group. It was at this point that I began feeling a deep intellectual connectedness in the room. The young people asked pertinent, relevant, deep questions that underscored not only their understanding but willingness to apply what they’d learned. “How do I engage in helping the Black community (or any community) and not compromise who am as a Jew?” “How do we identify organizations that do real work in the community but are not against Israel or Jews?” All the questions were along the lines of, “what we can do to be true allies?”
I had a question for the group. “Who can tell me one reason why they think Africa and its relationship with Israel would be such an integral part of IBSI’s work in the U.S.?” After a few seconds, a young lady raised her hand. “Because the Israel-apartheid lie references South Africa and it would be important to dispel the lie and highlight Africa’s connection to Israel.” I gave her a fist tap. I have yet to pose that question to an adult and get a correct answer — even among Israel advocates.
One last thing I must mention about the event is the strong representation of young men and women of Iranian Jewish descent. They were second-generation children of those who fled Iran after the revolution in 1979. I had the honor of meeting with leaders of the Iranian Jewish community in January 2016, as my colleagues at Christians United for Israel (CUFI) and I prepared to launch The Mizrahi Project. The Mizrahi Project remains the only Christian effort to tell the story of the over 850,000 Jews who were expelled or forced to flee their homes throughout North Africa and the Middle East. I saw the same love of Israel and commitment to Zionism in the eyes of the Hillel group as I did of their elders. It was a reminder that some of the fiercest defenders of Israel among the American Jewish population are those whose families know what it is to live as dhimmi or otherwise persecuted people in another country.
As long as the connection is authentic, the Black-Jewish/Africa-Israel alliance will remain strong. It will thrive. The young people gathered in the UCLA Hillel last week are a shining example of why this is true. There are equally impressive Black American and African young men and women who are enthusiastic partners. I’m reminded of the lyrics to the Negro Spiritual, Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing that apply to both peoples.
We have come over a way that with tears has been watered
We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered
Out from the gloomy past
'Til now we stand at last
Where the white gleam of our bright star is cast
The future is bright indeed.
Moynihan's Moment: America's Fight Against Zionism as Racism by Gil Troy
https://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/sites/default/files/public/resources-ideas/cj/classics/1-4-12-civil-rights/conversation-with-martin-luther-king.pdf
Cornell, George W. "Eldridge Cleaver: He Chose to Switch than Fight." The Free Lance-Star.
That's beautiful. Wish I was there to witness the "New Beginnings with a new generation"
C. Bailey