Native American Scholars Oppose Navajo Friendship with Israel

Shurat Hadin reports:

A group of Native American scholars recently sent a letter to Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly, urging him to shun the Israeli democracy because of claims the latter does not mirror parallel "indigenous values and justice."

"As indigenous educators, we find your support for the state of Israel to be in complete contradiction to our values and sense of justice. Israel has illegally occupied Palestine for decades. Our public and political engagement with [Israeli] Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials sends a message that you endorse the continued occupation of the West Bank, including construction of new Jewish settlements there, as well as the ongoing settler colonial situation for Palestinians residing within the 1948 boundaries asserted by the Israeli state," the group wrote.

The Navajo Nation leader has met numerous times with Israeli officials in Jerusalem and the United States, proposing cooperation in the agricultural and technological fields.

The scholars, who have endorsed the BDS movement against Israel, added that this leader's "collusion with the Israeli government is a betrayal of that shared history and of the wisdom that has helped all Indigenous Peoples survive for centuries…Rethink your partnership with this corrupt and contested state."