African-American Churches Reject Black Lives Matter “Apartheid Israel” Platform

August 16, 2016

3 min read

A group of predominantly African-American churches in America’s south has strongly condemned the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement’s anti-Israel political platform and reaffirmed its strong support for the Jewish State.

Responding to BLM’s platform, which accuses Israel of conducting “genocide” against the Palestinian people and calls it an “apartheid state”, the Ecumenical Leadership Council of Missouri (ELCM) released its own statement firmly rejecting the anti-Israel language.

ELCM logo
ELCM logo

The Ecumenical Leadership Council of Missouri, representing hundreds of predominantly African-American churches throughout the state, rejects without hesitation any notion or assertion that Israel operates as an apartheid country,” read the statement.

In its platform, BLM, a movement which arose in 2013 in response to an increase in incidents of black citizens being shot by police officers in the US, expanded significantly on its aims by making a highly critical statement on Israel. The inclusion of a stance on Israel was a decision which confused and angered many Jewish BLM supporters.

The platform calls for a ceasing of US aid to Israel, claiming that America “justifies and advances the global war on terror via its alliance with Israel and is complicit in the genocide taking place against the Palestinian people.”

The stance was met with anger and dismay not only by Jews who felt alienated by it, but by Christians who are proudly pro-Israel.

One voice which spoke up was that of the Ecumenical Leadership Council of Missouri, led by Bishop Lawrence M. Wooten. The ELCM put out a statement expressing respect for BLM’s original goals but asserting that it could not stand behind the movement’s anti-Israel position.

“Black Lives Matter as an organization arose to confront the abuse of predominantly, although not exclusively, African-American males by white police officers,” wrote Bishop Lawrence M. Wooten, president of ELCM, acknowledging that BLM “plays a vital role in addressing racially driven police abuse in America.”

However, the Bishop continued, the Council “rejects without hesitation” any suggestion that Israel is an apartheid state.

Bishop Lawrence M. Wooten (Church of God in Christ)
Bishop Lawrence M. Wooten (Church of God in Christ)

“We embrace our Jewish brethren in America and respect Israel as a Jewish state,” he wrote, adding a reminder that Jews were among the few groups which have historically supported African Americans in their struggle for civil rights.

“Jewish-Americans have worked with African-Americans during the civil rights era when others refused us service at the counter — and worse,” he admonished.

“Anyone who studies American history will no doubt find the names Michael Schwerner, James Chaney and Andrew Goodman, two Jews and an African-American, who lost their lives trying to provide civil rights for blacks in the south.”

The Christian leader was referring to the 1964 abduction and murder of Schwerner, Chaney and Goodman, three civil rights workers who were killed by members of the white supremacist Ku Klux Klan while traveling through Mississippi on a campaign to register black voters.

“We cannot forget their noble sacrifices,” concluded Bishop Wooton. “Neither should Black Lives Matter.”

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