Over the weekend, many Israelis woke up to rockets fired from the Gaza Strip. Hamas, the Arabic acronym for the Islamic Resistance Movement, claimed it launched 5,000 missiles during an initial barrage. The operation was called Al-Aqsa Storm by Hamas military commander Muhammad Deif.
In response to the attack, Israel launched Operation Swords of Iron, and their jets bombed the Gaza Strip. The surprise attack caught the world off guard and created many opinions on the escalating conflict.
Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving weighed in on the value of human life and how violence and war destroy families and innocent children.
Kyrie Urges Healing
“My Heart mourns for all of the innocent lives lost in the crossfires of War,” Irving posted. “GOD never intended for Humanity to destroy one another. Chief Hélà.
“All walks of life on this Earth are SACRED in my eyes and should be protected from all forms of Evil/Hate. I never want to see or hear about precious kids and innocent people being hurt/murdered in the crossfires of War. To my Tribe: Pray Loud and Pray Harder. Chief Hélà.”
Former NBA player and practitioner of Judaism Amar’e Stoudemire called out those he felt “ain’t saying nothing,” which beelined directly into the Black Lives Matter movement.
Amar’e Speaks
“I woke up, man, this morning with some disturbing news out of Israel – that Hamas kidnapping children, putting them in cages, killing women, killing the elderly,” Stoudemire said on social media. “That’s some coward s**t. That’s cowardly. And for all y’all Black Lives Matter (supporters) who ain’t saying nothing, ‘Well, let me figure out exactly what’s happening before I say anything,’ — f**k you.
“Figure out what? It ain’t never been cool to kidnap kids and put them in cages. Ain’t never been cool to kill women and elderly. Never been, no matter where you from, what you represent, what tribe you from, it don’t matter. It ain’t never been no cool thing. That ain’t never been nothing nobody supported. And then you go and hide and put the kids in front of you as a barricade. That’s some coward s**t.”
Stoudemire played for the Israeli team Hapoel Jerusalem and later for Maccabi Tel Aviv from 2016 to 2019. He converted to Judaism while living in Israel in August 2020 and practices the Orthodox version. He remains a part-owner of the Jerusalem team.
Why Drag BLM Into This?
Although Stoudemire points out that human rights in any form matter, the reason to bring up Black Lives Matter didn’t seem entirely thought out. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict dates back to the end of the nineteenth century, per the Center for Preventive Action’s Global Conflict Tracker.
History Of Conflict
In 1947, the United Nations adopted Resolution 181, the Partition Plan, which sought to divide the British Mandate of Palestine into Arab and Jewish states. The first Arab-Israeli War was sparked in May 1948, when the State of Israel was created. The occupied terriitories of the West Bank (of the Jordan River), and the Gaza Strip, homes to millions of Palestinians, were captured by Israel in the Six-Day War in June 1967.
The issues are geo-political and deep, but Stoudemire still needed to attach the issues the Black Lives Matter movement addresses to the Hamas-Israeli conflict.
“All you politicians who have something to say on the contrary – I see you,” Stoudemire continued. “F*** you. All you Black Lives Matter people who always have something to say and always supported everything else and you quiet now – fk you too. Only place in the world where I can go and study Torah and eat Kosher food. Only place in the world. Some coward s**t, dog, and all y’all support it — f***, you.
“On my mama, we don’t respect none of y’all for that. Peace.”
