Media Alert! Black Activists Condemn 'Israeli Genocide'

Contact: John Parker: (323) 899-2003

On the Birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Black Activists Condemn Role of U.S.
as Israel's Siege of Gaza Continues

-say Israel's war is genocide

What:
Press Conference of Black Community Leaders and Activists

Who:
Hank Jones: San Francisco 8, the Committee for the Defense of Human Rights; Jasimen Syler: co-founder Active Students for African People; Minister Tony Muhammad: Nation of Islam; KPFK Host Margaret Prescod: of Global Women's Strike; KPFK Host Dedon Kamathi, of All African People's Revolutionary Party; John Parker: International Action Center

When:
Dr. King's Birthday - Thursday, January 15th at 12 Noon

Where:
Downtown Federal Building - 300 N. Los Angeles, St., Los Angeles


While the president of the UN General Assembly has condemned Israel's killings of Palestinians as "genocide," so too have Black activists and religious leaders who will be holding a press conference Thursday at the Downtown Federal Building to denounce the U.S. government for funding and supplying with arms Israel's latest war in Gaza, which has killed nearly 1,000 Palestinians with well over 4,000 injured.

"Given the history of lynchings of Black people in the U.S., and the recent murders of Black men in Oakland, Texas and New Orleans by police, it is no wonder that we feel an obligation to be in solidarity with innocent people being massacred by a military power propped up by the U.S. government," said one organizer of the press conference.

Human Rights Watch has added to the assertion of genocide by also confirming that white phosphorous is indeed being used against Palestinians. Used as a chemical weapon, this targets civilian populations due to its indiscriminate and wide reach. Doctors in Gaza have stated that they are now witnessing the skin of children and anyone who comes into contact with this substance literally peeling off as they lay in hospital beds. Yet, as the offensive by Israel continues on the eve of Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday, so too will the outrage of these Black activists who say they are very disappointed in white, and especially Black, elected officials who have been complicitly silent in the face of this new holocaust.

Echoing Former Congresswoman and Presidential Candidate Cynthia McKinney, activists will be urging that President Obama end his silence and live up to his campaign promises of initiating change towards Dr. King's dream of justice and an end to racism and genocide.