Black Lives Matter Grassroots issues pro-Hamas statement declaring ‘parallels between black and Palestinian people’

"As the world is faced with deep questions about self-determination, as we all desire and pray for a world of peace, we must stand unwaveringly on the side of the oppressed," the statement began.

"When a people have been the subject of decades of apartheid and unimaginable violence, their resistance must not be condemned, but understood as a desperate act of self-defense."

At daybreak on Saturday, Hamas entered Israel by land, sea, and air, with chaotic scenes from an outdoor dance party near Gaza showing attendees being brutally killed and kidnapped. Videos showed civilians being killed in the streets and abducted, with Hamas later stating that for every air strike launched by Israel in reaction to the invasion, it would kill one hostage.

"Black Lives Matter Grassroots stands in solidarity with our Palestinian family who are currently resisting 57 years of settler colonialism and apartheid."

"As black people continue the fight to end militarism and mass incarceration in our own communities, let us understand the resistance in Palestine as an attempt to tear down the fates of the world’s largest open air prison," the statement continued, adding that "we see clear parallels between black and Palestinian people."

"We too, understand what it means to be surveilled, dehumanized, property seized, families separated, our people criminalized and slaughtered with impunity, locked up in droves, and when we resist they call us terrorists."

The group stated that "for lasting peace to come, the entire apartheid system must be dismantled. The war on Palestinian people must cease. We call on the United States to immediately stop funding war and redirect the $4 billion in annual spending from the Israeli military to repair the damage caused by US-backed wars, military air strikes, coups, and destabilizing interventions against oppressed people around the world."

The group joins others around the country and globe that have held protests against Israel, with many celebrating the Hamas attacks.

In front of the Sydney Opera House on Monday night, chants of "gas the Jews" were heard by hundreds of protestors waving Palestinian flags.

31 pro-Palestinian student groups at Harvard have released a joint statement declaring that Israel was "entirely responsible" for the deadly attacks.

Pro-Hamas protests have occurred in San Francisco, Seattle, DC, and New York City, with protestors chanting "free Palestine" and "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free."