Milwaukee, WI – On February 15, about 30 community members gathered at University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee for a teach-in and discussion on Black and Palestinian liberation. Led by Kobi Guillory, a member of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, this event highlighted the commonalities between the Black and Palestinian fight against oppression and how they have historically helped each other in this fight.

Guillory stated, “Something that I learned at the first refounding conference of the National Alliance Against Racism and Political Repression in 2019 is that the prison-industrial complex didn’t just come into existence because white people felt like being racist. It was specifically a reaction of the state to the fact that there was a Black liberation movement that was forming.”

Guillory said Israel is a project of imperialism and the weapons used in the 2020 George Floyd Uprising against protesters were first tested in Israel. “The same police who are running around in Black neighborhoods shooting people are trained by the Israeli occupation forces. That’s the connection.”

Guillory continued, “At every turn for our struggle for community control of the police, CPAC, some of our biggest supporters have been Palestinian. Every time we went out and canvassed for CPAC, Palestinians supported us. When we protested the murder of Laquan McDonald, Rekia Boyd and so many other people, Palestinians were there supporting us. And we do the same for them. Recently on January 31, Chicago became the largest city in the United States to pass a ceasefire resolution.”

Guillory went on to talk about parallels between apartheid in South Africa, where he was born, and the state-sanctioned apartheid in Palestine, stating, “Apartheid South Africa and apartheid Israel were started at the same time in 1948. Both shared tactics and weapons. The biggest military supporter of apartheid South Africa was Israel. Nelson Mandela understood that when he was in Chicago in the 90s. Someone asked, ‘Why don’t you condemn Yasser Arafat and the PLO?’ He answered ‘They supported us while you, Americans, along with Ronald Reagan, supported apartheid in South Africa. Why would be condemn them now that we’re free? Our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of Palestinians.’ And that’s not just a metaphor, there’s still this colonial entity that is stealing land by the day.

“If we’re actually serious about liberating ourselves and any other form of social justice in the world, we have to understand the connections between those fronts of struggle. The connection between the Black liberation movement, the struggle for the Chicano liberation, the indigenous struggle, the Palestinian movement, workers’ rights, immigrants rights, reproductive justice, they’re all linked, and there’s a thousand different ways to point out how. Not just from a historical basis, but from a personal basis as well.”

The event was a success, and those in attendance appreciated the presentation and left committed to continuing demonstrations of solidarity with the Black and Palestinian liberation struggles and to build their respective movements.

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