“From Ferguson to Palestine/the struggle for freedom continues.”
Leaders of the Black Lives Matter movement from across the U.S. recently traveled to Palestine to learn from the resistance movement and to organize a solidarity demonstration in Nazareth calling for the support of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign that was demanded in 2005.
A recently-released video “Solidarity Demonstration in Nazareth : Ferguson to Palestine” documents the movement’s direct action in Nazareth. During the demonstration, leaders from Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago, New York, Ferguson, and Atlanta gathered for the debke–a traditional Palestinian folk dance–while Sweet Honey in the Rock’s “Ella’s Song” was reinterpreted by Charlene Carruthers of the Black Youth Project 100, Dream Defenders’ Phillip Agnew, New York Justice League member Aja Monet, and Ferguson/Hands Up United organizers Tef Poe and Tara Thompson.
The demonstration was coordinated by Patrisse Cullors, co-founder of #BlackLivesMatter, in addition to eight other organizers from and journalists from Dream Defenders, UCLA, and the New York Justice League, including Carmen Perez, who is also the Executive Director of The Gathering for Justice and founder of the Justice League NYC task force.
Watch it here.