US activists find common cause in flare-up

NEW YORK — Marching in Black Lives Matter protests in 2020 was the first time AnnEliza Canning-Skinner "experienced what solidarity is", she said.

Fast forward three years and the 28-year-old has been a regular on the streets of New York, marching in support of Palestinians amid the ongoing conflict.

Canning-Skinner is one of thousands of demonstrators across the United States who have turned out for protests, with appeals including a cease-fire of deadly violence in Gaza.

Demonstrators stateside are increasingly drawing clear connections between the Palestinian and black liberation movements.

At a recent protest in Brooklyn, Canning-Skinner, a black woman, marched alongside fellow protesters who hoisted signs with messages including "Black Lives 4 Palestine "and "White Silence Is Violence".

"It all correlates," she said.

The historic roots of solidarity between black organizers and Palestinians run deep, but both activists and scholars say events in recent years have crystallized the parallels for protesters.

"In terms of doing the kind of ideological work to convince people that Palestine is an issue that they ought to take up, I think Black Lives Matter has been tremendously important," Derek Ide, a historian at the University of Michigan focused on the topic, said.

"There are more people out in the streets and that is definitely a result of the kind of organizing that black activists have been doing alongside Palestinian groups and organizations."

The 2020 police murder of George Floyd further galvanized anti-racism efforts in the US, sparking an enormous protest movement.

Agencies Via Xinhua