Fact check: Black Lives Matter tweeted in support of Palestinians, not Hamas – USA TODAY

The 11-day long military conflict between Gaza and Israel has come to a halt, and people in Gaza took to the streets to celebrate. Storyful

After 11 days of military confrontation that left hundreds dead, Israel and Hamas agreedto a cease-fire followingaunanimous votefrom Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinetto endtheassaultin theGaza Strip.

Activist groups and politicians in the UnitedStatesand abroad have been weighing in on the conflict, with more progressive Democrats urging the Biden administration to be tougher on Israel and Netanyahu.The officialBlack Lives MatterTwitter accountshowed support forPalestinians in a May 17 tweet.

"Black Lives Matter stands in solidarity with Palestinians," the tweet says."We are a movement committed to ending settler colonialism in all forms and will continue to advocate for Palestinian liberation."

Since thetweet was posted, social media userson Facebook and Instagramhave spread the claim that the organization supports Hamas, amilitant Palestiniangroup that controls Gaza. AFaith Wirearticle also promotedthe misleading claim.

Fact check:Photo of Palestinian child in tears not from recent Israeli airstrikes

USA TODAY reached out to the Facebook userswho shared the posts for comment.

The Black Lives Mattertweet indicatesthe organization's support for Palestinians, not Hamas. Several websites have corrected their stories to reflect that fact.

OneFacebookpost showsa screenshot of aDaily Wire story with a headline that reads, "Black Lives Matter Declares 'Solidarity' With Hamas In Israel Conflict."The headline has since been updated to say "Palestinians" instead of "Hamas."

Anotherpost includes a screenshot from a Fox News story with aheadline thatreads, "Black Lives Matter says it stands with Hamas terrorists in Israeli conflict."The headline of that story has since been updated, and an editor's note acknowledging the change was added tothe bottom of the article.

"This reports headline was updated to more closely reflect the Black Lives Matter tweet,"the editor's note says.

Anarticlefrom the RF AnglesaidBlack Lives Matter "essentially" declared support for Hamas in the tweet. It has since been updated. "Black Lives Matter did not declare their solidarity with Hamas, they declared their solidarity with Palestinians. The RFAngle has changed the title to reflect this,'' anoteon the article says.

But, others still misrepresent the stance taken by Black Lives Matter.

The article from Faith Wire makes the oversimplification, saying the tweet "effectively" indicated the organization's support for the militant group.

However, Black Lives Matterdid not tweet in support of the Hamas militant group, but rather the Palestinian people. Those are two distinct groups.

Fact check: Netanyahu did not give a speech thanking Hamas for uniting Israel

USA TODAY reached out to Black Lives Matter for comment.

The claim that Black Lives Matter tweeted in support of the Hamas militant group is FALSE, based onour research. The organization tweeted in support of Palestinians, not Hamas.

Thank you for supporting our journalism. You cansubscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here.

Our fact check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.

Autoplay

Show Thumbnails

Show Captions

Read or Share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/05/23/fact-check-black-lives-matter-supports-palestinians-not-hamas/5206977001/

Read more:
Fact check: Black Lives Matter tweeted in support of Palestinians, not Hamas - USA TODAY

Related Posts

Comments are closed.