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Stokely Carmichael Contends Palestinian Arabs in Just Struggle Against Israel

April 10, 1970
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Stokely Carmichael, the black militant leader, declared today that the Palestinian Arabs were engaged in a “just struggle” against an Israeli “settler colony” that by definition “must commit genocide” but will be “destroyed.” Mr. Carmichael, who recently returned from 14 months consulting with African leaders, was making his first public speech on his return at George Washington University, where he was met with many boos from the largely white, largely Jewish student audience. “It’s beginning to look like a bar mitzvah,” he commented. Mr. Carmichael, warning his listeners not to confuse anti-Israelism with anti-Semitism, described a “settler colony” as one “where Europeans leave their land, go to an area and completely take it over.” He identified other such “settler colonies” as the United States, Canada and South Africa. But, he said, the Palestinian Arabs had “history, justice and truth” on their side, “and you can never beat that combination.” He added: “Who is Balfour to give the land of Palestine to a bunch of Zionists?” As to Jewish claims to the land, he said. “The Jews wrote the Bible, that’s why it belongs to (them).” “Why not.” he asked, “take the land (for a Jewish state) from Germany?” Mr. Carmichael described El Fatah as “a logical and scientific reaction to the Israeli bombing.”

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