Martin Luther King loved Israel

Martin Luther King loved Israel. King was a staunch Zionist and strong supporter of the Jewish people. King famously said that “when people criticize Zionists, they mean Jews.” As in most cases, he was right. Sadly, that statement could not be truer in 2019. Naturally, King was grateful for the prominent role that Jewish Americans had in founding and funding some of America’s leading civil rights organizations, including the NAACP and the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.

In addition, Jewish activists were disproportionately represented in supporting America’s black community during their struggle to obtain full civil rights. In fact, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 were both drafted in the offices of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. As for King’s beloved Israel, few countries have provided more humanitarian assistance to the continent of Africa. In countries such as Kenya, Tanzania, Cameroon, Togo, Nigeria, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda, and many others, Israel has provided invaluable humanitarian aid which has saved countless lives.

However, King would have been horrified to see the anti-Semitism that emanates from much of America’s black leadership. America’s first black President was a raging anti-Semite and ferocious hater of Israel. The Congressional Black Caucus will often unjustly attack Israel while continuing to openly embrace the neo-Nazi Louis Farrakhan. Prominent black activists such as Tamika Mallory, Alice Walker, and Marc Lamont Hill are virulent anti-Semites and Israel-haters. Black Lives Matter is anti-Semitic as well.

Martin Luther King would also have been saddened to see that much of the black leadership is being used and manipulated by the likes of Linda Sarsour, Rashida Tlaib, and Ilhan Omar, in order to spread hatred of Israel. It is regrettable that more genuine civil rights activists such as Martin Luther King have not emerged in the 21st century.