Black Lives Matter Organization Wants Refund for US Weapons Sent to Israel

A Black Lives Matter (BLM) organization in Chicago demanded a refund on Tuesday for U.S. weapons sent to Israel amid the war with Hamas.

After the militant group led the deadliest Palestinian attack on Israel in history on October 7, Israel launched its heaviest-ever airstrikes against Gaza. As of Tuesday, at least 1,200 people have been killed in Israel, the Associated Press reported, citing the Israeli government. More than 13,300 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to the Gaza Health' Ministry, the AP said.

Since the attack, President Joe Biden, who later stressed the need for humanitarian aid to Gaza, announced that the U.S. would stand with Israel during the conflict and pledged to send the country a trove of military equipment and weapons, including U.S.-made Tamir interceptor missiles, a key component of Israel's Iron Dome defense system.

As of November, the Pentagon has ramped up military aid to Israel, delivering on requests that include more laser-guided missiles for its Apache gunship fleet, as well as 155mm shells, night-vision devices, bunker-buster munitions and new army vehicles, according to Bloomberg News, citing an internal Defense Department list.

Newsweek has reached out to the Defense Department via email for comment.

On Tuesday, BLM Chicago took to X, formerly Twitter, to state its disapproval over the U.S. weapons sent to Israel by quote-posting from Refaat in Gaza that featured pictures of the American-made shells in Gaza and said, "We want our money back!!!

Newsweek has reached out to the Black Lives Matter Chicago via email for comment.

Tamir missiles were among the first items to be sent to Israel following the initial attack. They are manufactured by U.S.-based RTX, formerly known as Raytheon, in partnership with Israeli company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems. Nearly identical weapons built for the U.S. military are known as SkyHunter missiles.

The missiles are used as part of the mobile Iron Dome system to intercept and destroy incoming air attacks detected via radar. Each Tamir interceptor costs about $40,000, according to Foreign Policy. Iron Dome has a success rate of about 90 percent.

The Black Lives Matter movement has faced backlash over initial silence about the attack as well as over a subsequent statement of a BLM grassroots chapter supporting Palestinians.

In a statement posted on social media, in early October, BLM Grassroots responded to the ongoing conflict by saying: "As the world is faced with deep questions about self-determination, as well all desire and pray for a world of peace, we must stand unwaveringly on the side of the oppressed. When a people have been subject to decades of apartheid and unimaginable violence, their resistance must not be condemned, but understood as a desperate act of self-defense.

"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 incarcerations in our own communities, let us understand the resistance in Palestine as an attempt to tear down the gates of the world's biggest open air prison. As a radical Black organization grounded in abolitionist ideals, we see clear parallels between Black and Palestinian people."

In response, a number of other social media users spoke out against Black Lives Matter.

"Wow, I used to support BLM. I don't know if I can anymore. Do you guys even know what happened?" X user Aryeh Levine wrote.

On Instagram, others commented on the BLM Grassroots post with similar remarks.

"Wow I've supported this movement from the beginning. Phone calls. Emails. Money. Wow wow. Barbaric murders. Women children raped and paraded named. infants taken from there parents. Elderly murdered lived on Facebook. Raped and beaten women being sat on and spat on. That's justified? I'm for human life. Whatever you are. Blown away," one comment said.