Philly to Palestine – A Public Debriefing

At Uncle Bobbie’s Coffee & Books

A debriefing of a debriefing

By Steve Halpern     

Recently I attended a forum that was a report-back of a group of African American educators, activists, and artists who visited Palestine. The evening was a frigid cold 16 degrees, but this event more than filled a room of people who wanted learn about what this group had to say.

The organizer of this tour was Marc Lamont Hill who is the owner of Uncle Bobbie’s Coffee & Books where the event was held. Shortly after this group returned from Palestine, Hill spoke at the United Nations in support of Palestinian rights.

Two hours after Hill gave his speech, the CNN so-called news network fired Hill from his commentary job because of his speech. The next day, the Chairman of the Board of Temple University spoke out against Hill’s speech and stated there were people who wanted to fire Hill from his professorship job at the university.

When we think about the experiences this group had in Palestine—Israel, and the response to Marc Lamont Hill by his employers, I can only think of the gross depravity of those who hold power in the capitalist world today.

We can begin the story with the arrival of this group of African Americans at the Ben Gurion Airport in Israel. Before travelling to Israel, this group was warned about what they might face upon arriving in the country. Typically Palestinians might be detained for hours, sometimes eight hours before they are allowed out of the airport. Some political activists are blocked from entering Israel because the authorities have found that these people made statements critical of Zionism.

One member of the group reported that although he had been thoroughly warned about what to expect, he still found the reality of his reception shocking. As he disembarked the aircraft, an armed Israeli soldier pointed to him and waved with a remark of, “come with me.” So, at this airport, all that is needed is for someone to be a Black man, and that is enough to be detained. 

Then, there was the woman who is a Christian who noticed that one of the cities she visited was the same location where Jesus Christ walked before his crucifixion. She found this realization to be stunning.

Then, as she was thinking of the enormity of what this place represented, she witnessed a young Palestinian being frisked by an armed Israeli soldier. Then, she viewed a shop selling tee-shirts with the name Donald Trump and an aircraft dropping bombs on Palestinians. Somehow, I don’t think Jesus Christ would have approved of this.

Then, there was the other altercation with a young Israeli soldier who had a machine gun. The group of African Americans had a tour guide that is Palestinian. Other tours had Israeli tour guides. Because of this, the African American tour was stopped while other tours went about unmolested.

An Israeli soldier asked what was the religion of the tour member. The member of the tour refused to answer the question. Because the religion of this U.S. citizen was unknown, this person was denied access to certain parts of Israel.       

Then, there was the story of the Palestinian poet. This poet wrote a poem where she mentioned Palestinian martyrs. The punishment for this crime was three years in prison.

The educator who reported this teaches poetry to young people. He had a difficult time contemplating the fact that, in Israel reciting the art form that he teaches, could land someone in prison for years.

This young Palestinian poet might have had a trial. However, the conviction rate of Palestinians who are accused of a crime is over 90%.

The unanimous verdict of the members of this group was that while they face discrimination in this country for being Black, the discrimination that Palestinians are routinely subjected to by the Israeli authorities is much worse.

Another interesting aspect to this tour is that the Palestinians who met these tour members viewed them as kindred spirits who shared a similar form of discrimination. One fact that I learned from the tour participants is that there are Black Palestinians who experience and even worse form of discrimination. One the other hand, there were Black Israeli soldiers from Ethiopia who showed an indifference to the tour members.

When Black people were being tear gassed in this country for protesting a murder by the police, a Palestinian leader sent out advise on how to best protect against tear gas. Clearly Palestinians and Black people in this country have shared this kind of repression. 

My experience

Listening to the experiences of these members of the tour, I thought of my own history.

I happen to be Jewish. When I was thirteen years old I had what is known as a Bar Mitzvah. Up until that time I went to Hebrew school where my teachers attempted to fill my head with ideas that Israel was the greatest nation in the world.

During those years I lived in Newark, New Jersey that has a majority African American population. In the 1960s there were the Newark rebellions, a long teachers strike, as well as a growing movement against the war in Vietnam.

Eventually I learned that there was a gross disparity in the funding of suburban schools and the urban schools of Newark. While most students in the suburbs were white, most Newark students were Black. During the Newark teachers strike my classmates began to organize to protest this obvious discrimination.

So, looking at this experience, I concluded that the discrimination in this country was, and continues to be wrong. This was not because of a mistake or a lack of sensitivity. The problem of racial discrimination comes from the fact that there is something profoundly wrong with the political economic system in this country.

Then, at the age of nineteen, I heard the word “Palestinian” for the first time. My background in Newark allowed me to see that the Palestinian people experience the same kind of discrimination as we see in this country. The more I read about this issue, the more I began to realize that everything I had learned about the state of Israel was a lie.

I knew that this was controversial in the Jewish community. My family members, whom I cared for and loved, refused to talk about this. So, I only talked about Palestinian liberation with people who were open to listening.

Angela Davis

After Marc Lamont Hill was fired from his CNN job, the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute rescinded an award they were about to give Angela Davis. The reason for rescinding this award was because of Davis’ statements in support of Palestinians.

Angela Davis was raised in Birmingham, Alabama and experienced the vicious system of Jim Crow segregation. Birmingham was also known as “Bombingham” because the homes where Black people lived in were being bombed. Four girls were murdered when a Birmingham church was bombed.

Angela Davis became a college professor as well as a political activist. While she was a professor, the government in California attempted to frame her on murder charges. An international defense campaign was launched on her behalf and she was found not guilty of those frame-up charges.

After Angela Davis’ award had been rescinded there were messages of protest from around the world. Eventually the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute reversed their decision and agreed to give Angela Davis her award.

Michelle Alexander

Michelle Alexander is the author of the book The New Jim Crow – Mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness. Alexander summarized what she feels is the significance of these events in a column in the New York Times.

Michelle Alexander argued that speaking out in support of Palestinian rights today, is similar to the time when Martin Luther King spoke out against the war in Vietnam.

Martin Luther King argued that the Vietnamese must view the soldiers from this country as “strange liberators.” He also argued that the government in this country is the “greatest purveyor of violence in the world.” Because of these statements King lost support from affluent backers. King was assassinated one year to the day after he gave his speech against the war.

The backlash we have seen against Marc Lamont Hill and Angela Davis underscores the fact that being critical of Israel today carries similar risks as anti-war activists took in opposing the war against Vietnam. However, the facts that are being continuously uncovered about the true reality of the state of Israel is having an effect. Looking at this column I believe we can conclude that the idea that Israel is a “democracy” is nothing more than absurd nonsense.

Clearly there continues to be many obstacles that the Palestinian people face. However, I believe that these stories point to the fact that Palestinians are receiving increased support from around the world.