November 3, 2023
Bernice King Responds To Amy Schumer Posting MLK Speeches Of Support For Israel: ‘We Have Much To Correct’
Amy Schumer attempted to reference old Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speeches to garner support for Israel.
Amy Schumer attempted to reference old Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speeches to garner support for Israel. But according to the daughter of the late civil rights icon, he would’ve called for an end of the war between Israel and Hamas.
The Jewish comedian has been extremely vocal on social media about the Israel-Hamas war, expressing her support for Israel despite the civilian casualties impacting both sides. To further reiterate her stance on the current war, Schumer recently posted a video of clips where Martin Luther King Jr. spoke in support of Israel and denounced antisemitism.
“Israel must exist and has a right to exist and is one of the great outposts of democracy in the world,” MLK said in the clip. In another clip, King denounces antisemitism as “wrong” and says “It’s unjust and it’s evil.”
But once King’s daughter, Bernice King, caught wind of Schumer’s post, she took to Twitter to offer some clarity on her late father’s behalf.
“Amy: Certainly, my father was against antisemitism, as am I,” Bernice King wrote in a thread on Twitter/X. “He also believed militarism (along with racism and poverty) to be among the interconnected Triple Evils.”
“I am certain he would call for Israel’s bombing of Palestinians to cease, for hostages to be released and for us to work for true peace, which includes justice,” she continued. “He said, ‘Justice at its best is love correcting everything that stands against love.’ We have much to correct.”
Bernice King concluded her message with a different clip of her father, where he touched on the “moral power” in withdrawing from the Vietnam War. She also encouraged Schumer to read her father’s book, Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?
“I mourn with all who are mourning,” Bernice King wrote. “I know that we can’t afford to diminish & dehumanize each other if we are truly committed to ridding humanity of the Triple Evils & to freedom from oppression for all.”
Since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, over 1,400 people have died on the Israeli side (via the Associated Press) and over 9,200 Palestinians in Gaza have died due to Israeli retaliatory strikes, via Al Jazeera.
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