Oppression of blacks, Palestinians similar

Dear Editor:

Trying to get Americans to understand what it is like for Palestinians living in a racist police state should become easier now that we see how black people are treated in America.

Black communities have been underserved and overpoliced for more than a century, condemning their children and grandchildren to grow up as second-class citizens.

This is the same caste system that Palestinians have faced since the State of Israel occupied all of the Holy Land. Palestinians get substandard schools, underfunded medical facilities and job discrimination. Moreover, they continually are targeted by the police for extrajudicial killings in the streets and in their homes. They live a life of perpetual bondage and deprivation to fear.

Their children are arrested, beaten and made to confess to crimes that they didn’t commit. Each time a Palestinian child leaves the house, there is a possibility he or she won’t come back.

Black Americans and Palestinians have both watched as corrupt and loathsome national leaders have targeted them for political advantage. Both peoples have at times rebelled, demanding equal rights and equality in a repressive society that offers little of either.

One day we will rise up together and overthrow these corrupt and racist leaders in Israel and the United States. We will march in the streets, as brothers and sisters, to reclaim our democracy for we the people. Until that day, we will organize for our final victory over the racist demagogues who seek to divide us. Fred Nagel Rhinebeck