Cydney Wallace, a Black Jewish community activist, never felt compelled to travel to Israel, though 鈥淣ext year in Jerusalem鈥 was a constant refrain at her Chicago synagogue.
The 39-year-old said she had plenty to focus on at home, where she frequently gives talks on addressing anti-Black sentiment in the American Jewish community and dismantling white supremacy in the U.S.
鈥淚 know what I鈥檓 fighting for here,鈥 she said.
That all changed when she visited Israel and the West Bank at the invitation of a Palestinian American community activist, along with two dozen other Black Americans and Muslim, Jewish and Christian faith leaders.
The trip, which began Sept. 26, enhanced Wallace鈥檚 understanding of the struggles of Palestinians living in the West Bank under Israeli military occupation. But, horrifyingly, it was cut short by by Hamas militants. In Israel鈥檚 ensuing bombardment of the Gaza Strip, seen around the world
Wallace, and a growing number of Black Americans, see the Palestinian struggle in the West Bank and Gaza reflected in their own fight for racial equality and civil rights. The recent rise of protest movements against police brutality in the U.S. has connected Black and Palestinian activists under a common cause.
But that kinship sometimes strains the more than century-long alliance between Black and Jewish activists. Some Jewish Americans are concerned that support could escalate the threat of antisemitism and weaken Jewish-Black ties fortified during the Civil Rights Movement.
鈥淲e are concerned, as a community, about what we feel is a lack of understanding of what Israel is about and how deeply Oct. 7 has affected us,鈥 said Bob Kaplan, executive director of The Center for Shared Society at the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York.
鈥淎ntisemitism is as real to the American Jewish community, and causes as much trauma and fear and upset to the American Jewish community, as racism causes to the Black community. 鈥
But, he added, many Jews in the U.S. understand that Black Americans can have an affinity for the Palestinian cause that doesn鈥檛 conflict with their regard for Israel.
According to a poll earlier this month from , Black adults were more likely than white and Hispanic adults to say the U.S. is too supportive of Israel 鈥 44% compared to 30% and 28%, respectively. However, Black Americans weren鈥檛 any more likely than others to say the U.S. is not supportive enough of the Palestinians.
Still, Black American support for the Palestinian cause dates back to the Civil Rights Movement. More recent rounds of violence in the Middle East have deepened ties between the two movements.
During a week-long truce between Israel and Hamas as part of the recent deal to free dozens of hostages seized by Hamas militants, Israel released hundreds of .
Some Black Americans who watched the Palestinian prisoner release and learned about Israel鈥檚 policy, where detainees are held without trial, drew comparisons to racial inequality in the U.S. prison system.
Rami Nashashibi, a Palestinian American community organizer on Chicago鈥檚 south side, invited Wallace and the others to take part in the trip called 鈥淏lack Jerusalem鈥 鈥 an exploration of the sacred city through an African and Black American lens.
鈥淢y Palestinian identity was very much shaped and influenced by Black American history,鈥 Nashashibi said.
鈥淚 always hoped that a trip like this would open up new pathways that would connect the dots not just in a political and ideological way, but between the liberation and struggles for humanity that are very familiar to us in the U.S.,鈥 he said.
During the trip, Wallace was dismayed by her own ignorance of the reality of Palestinians living under Israeli occupation. In observing the treatment of Palestinians at Israeli checkpoints, she drew comparisons to what segregation historically looked like in the U.S.
鈥淏eing there made me wonder if this is what it was like to live in the Jim Crow-era鈥 in America, Wallace said.
Over the last decade, Black Americans and the Palestinians have also found growing solidarity.
In 2020, the murder of George Floyd by a white police officer resonated in the West Bank, where Palestinians drew comparisons to their own experiences of brutality under occupation, and a massive mural of Floyd appeared on Israel鈥檚 hulking separation barrier.
In 2016, when BLM activists formed the coalition known as the Movement for Black Lives, they included in a platform called the 鈥淰ision for Black Lives.鈥 , which had largely been supportive of the BLM movement, denounced the Black activists鈥 characterization of Israel as a purportedly 鈥渁partheid state.鈥
None of the members of the 鈥淏lack Jerusalem鈥 trip anticipated it would come to a tragic end with the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks in which some 1,200 people were killed in Israel and about 240 taken hostage. Since then, in Israel鈥檚 blistering air and ground campaign in Gaza, now in its third month. Violence in the West Bank has also surged.
Back home in Chicago, Wallace has navigated speaking about her support for Palestinians while maintaining her Jewish identity and standing against antisemitism. She says she doesn鈥檛 see those things as mutually exclusive.
鈥淚鈥檓 trying not to do anything that alienates anyone,鈥 she said. 鈥淏ut I can鈥檛 just not do the right thing because I鈥檓 scared.鈥
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AP writer Isabel DeBre in Jerusalem contributed.
