BLM Chicago backs Palestine after Hamas terrorist invasion of Israel

CHICAGO (TND) — Black Lives Matter Chicago publicly asserted its support for Palestine Tuesday in the wake of the terrorist invasion of Israel, sparking outrage on social media.

The organization shared a photo to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, Tuesday of a Palestinian flag tied to a paraglider. The photo bears the words "I stand with Palestine."

"That is all that is it!" BLM Chicago wrote alongside the photo.

BLM Chicago expanded on the sentiments on its Facebook account, sharing photos of "conversation piecers" surrounding the Israel-Hamas war. The "conversation piecers" are largely in support of Palestine, with one defining terrorist organization Hamas as "a political party in Gaza, who were also kind of started by Israel."

Another falsely claims that the "few" Israeli hostages taken by Hamas terrorists are to blame for keeping Palestinians "hostage" in Gaza. At least 150 hostages were taken by Hamas in its invasion of Israel, and many of them, including those attending a music festival, have no link to land disputes between Palestinians and Israelis.

"Higher education isn’t apical [sic] to everyone and we want to make sure everyone can under [sic] what is happening," the organization wrote on Facebook.

The remarks have drawn the ire of social media users, with some comparing the paraglider depicted in the X photo to those used by Hamas terrorists to attack an Israeli music festival Saturday.

"The Jewish & Black communities are often aligned as we take the cause of justice seriously given historical oppression," one user wrote. "This is appalling from [BLM Chicago]. The image is a Hamas hang glider. The same Hamas that beheaded, burned, raped, murdered & kidnapped for the crime of being Jews."

READ MORE | US student groups blame Israel after Hamas terrorist invasion: 'Act of liberation'

"While you were posting this, the Black people in Chicago you claim to represent organized and stopped the city from converting Amundsen Park fieldhouse into a migrant shelter without you lifting a finger to help," a user based in Chicago wrote.

The user was referring to Chicago officials' attempts to convert a popular city park into a migrant shelter. The shelter, which was reportedly placed on hold this week, would have housed up to 200 migrants for six months.

X owner Elon Musk also weighed in, replying "your position is clear" to BLM Chicago's X account.

READ MORE | Chicago residents decry plans to house migrants at neighborhood park: 'Nobody is fighting for us'

Other BLM groups have expressed similar stances to that of the Chicago-based group. Black Lives Matter Grassroots shared a statement Monday on the "clear parallels between Black and Palestinian people."

"When a people have been subject to decades of apartheid and unimaginable violence, their resistance must not be condemned, but understood as a desperate act of self-defense," the group wrote.

The National Desk reached out to BLM Chicago for comment, but did not immediately receive a response. This story will be updated if a response is received.