Pro-Palestinian activists holding a sign at a Ferguson protest in Seattle, WA. Photo: Screenshot from mikereport.wordpress.com.

JNS.org – Pro-Palestinian activists are co-opting the Ferguson protests in an effort to promote their anti-Israel views.

Unrest was sparked in Ferguson, Mo., and across the country in the wake of a grand jury decision not to indict white police officer Darren Wilson for the fatal shooting of 18-year-old black man Michael Brown. The case has reignited a debate in America about racism and the excessive use of force by the police against blacks, and has led to violence and looting.

On the West Coast, Pro-Palestinian groups joined a Ferguson protest on the steps of the state Justice Center in Portland, Ore., where they expressed their views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with shouting and signs, Seattle’s local CBS network reported. In Seattle, similar pro-Palestinian protesters held a sign reading “Occupation is a crime, Ferguson to Palestine, resist U.S. racism, boycott Israel.” In downtown Oakland, Calif., protesters blocked an intersection and held a banner reading, “Missouri, Palestine, Justice Now!”

Additionally, Palestinian activists published a letter in Electronic Intifada declaring, “With a Black Power fist in the air, we salute the people of Ferguson and join in your demands for justice.” The signatories included Diana Buttu, a legal adviser to the Palestinian Authority, the Algemeiner reported.

Detroit Lions running back Reggie Bush joined this effort to conflate the Ferguson protests with the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel by posting a photo on Instagram of a man holding a sign reading, “The Palestinian people know what mean to be shot while unarmed because of your ethnicity #ferguson #justice.”

“No matter who you are, what color skin you have, where you live, we are all in this together! This isn’t a Ferguson problem it’s a Global Problem! We need change NOW! What happened to humanity? #JusticeForMikeBrown,” Bush wrote in the post.

While Bush’s post garnered many “likes,” some social media users criticized the athlete.

“Your anti-semitism and ignorance disgust me. Shame on your stupidity,” a user named mikeljohnsan wrote, Jspace News reported.

“@reggiebush looks like that USC education is as bad as I’ve heard. Or you slept through class – two different sides of two different coins. You don’t know the half so don’t speak on Middle East policy like you do,” another user named jrthefuture wrote.