Black Lives Matter Chicago apparently doesn’t think Israeli lives matter.
The BLM chapter tweeted an image of a paraglider with a Palestinian flag and the caption “I Stand With Palestine,” a presumed reference to the deadly attack Saturday by Hamas on concertgoers near Kibbutz Re’im in Israel.
The outcry was immediate. “Black Lives Matter Defends Hamas, Salutes Killer Paragliders,” said conservative podcast host Todd Starnes in a Wednesday post on X.
“The guy with the parachute raped, tortured, kidnapped and murdered people … including 40 babies,” posted Chicago talk-radio station AM 560 The Answer. “That’s who BLM Chicago is standing with.”
Conservative filmmaker Robby Starbuck posted, “BLM Chicago, like many leftists, comes out in support of slaughtering innocent people they don’t like.”
“Now ask yourself this: Do they like you? Unless you’re an extremist, they probably don’t. Consider the future ramifications of that for your family,” said Mr. Starbuck.
Billionaire Elon Musk replied: “Exactly.”
BLM Chicago reacted by removing the post from X and issuing a statement Wednesday that wasn’t exactly an apology.
“Yesterday we sent out msgs that we aren’t proud of,” posted BLM Chicago. “We stand with Palestine & the people who will do what they must to live free. Our hearts are with the grieving mothers, those rescuing babies from rubble, who are in danger of being wiped out completely.”
BLM Chicago stands with the murder of women children in a tweet depicting the parachute attack of peace music festival. pic.twitter.com/Wx1iPcBVqz
— Dean Dorame (@DorameDeano) October 10, 2023
Journalist Julia Ioffe, founder of Puck News, said the image “represents the Hamas terrorists who paraglided into the music festival and shot 260 people and took hostages.”
She added, “Honest question: Does @BLMChi advocate for the kind of methods we saw from Hamas on Saturday — like paragliding into a music festival and shooting 260 people, then taking hostages & raping them — for American cops or even white Americans? Or is that reserved just for the Jews?”
Conservative radio host Erick Erickson wrote in his daily email: “Look at the progressives right now, please. BLM is sending out graphics of Hamas paratroopers with Palestinian flags claiming to support them. Hamas parachuted into a music festival in Israel and killed over 200.”
An estimated 260 people were killed at the music festival by Hamas terrorists who arrived in vans and motorized paragliders.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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