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BLM Stands Unwaveringly with the Oppressed?
After Hamas’s surprise attack on Israel on October 7, which U.S. President Joe Biden described as the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust, Black Lives Matter groups voiced their support for “the resistance” in Palestine.
BLM also asserted that state violence against black Americans in the United States and state violence against Palestinians in Israel were similar. Therefore, “Palestinian resistance” must be understood as a desperate act of self-defense and not condemned.
BLM-grassroots clarified that as a “radical black organization” that fights to end “militarism,” they must stand unwaveringly on the side of the oppressed.
Is this a true statement?
Since 2000, Eritrea’s government has forced minors to serve in the military. Girls and boys are required to complete their final year of secondary education in a military camp.
Human Rights Watch reports that each year, thousands of young people are forcibly transported from their homes to military training. While the majority of 12th-grade pupils are over the age of 18, some are still children conscripted in violation of international standards. For trivial infractions, the children are subjected to cruel treatment and severe punishments. They are also forced to work. One former student said, “They are making us…