The Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement has expressed its support for the Palestinian people following Israel's deadly aggression on the Gaza Strip, as 248 Palestinians were killed in the aggression, including 66 children and 39 women. "Black Lives Matter stands in solidarity with Palestinians," the movement declared on its official Twitter page on Monday. "We are a movement committed to ending settler colonialism in all forms and will continue to advocate for Palestinian liberation ( always have. And always will be )," the movement added along with the hashtag #freepalestine. https://twitter.com/Blklivesmatter/status/1394289672101064704?s=19 Palestine has long been a major point for BLM, which called 'Israel' as "an apartheid state." “This is an apartheid state,” BLM co-founder Patrisse Khan-Cullors told Ebony magazine in 2015. "We can’t deny that and if we do deny it we are a part of the Zionist violence,” she said. That same year, Kahan-Cullors told “The Laura Flanders Show” that black Americans felt a “kindred-ness” with Palestinians because of their “eerily similar” experiences. “We are in deep solidarity with them, and frankly believe that Palestine is the new South Africa,” she declared at the time. She later admitted that the full-blown support “did receive backlash” and “many funders pulled funding from us.” “Many of us dug our heels into the ground and said, ‘No. That’s even more reason why we should be showing up,'” she told Al Jazeera in 2019. Local chapters also made public statements, including Black Lives Matter in Paterson, NJ, which said it “condemns the ongoing violence against Palestinians in East Jerusalem by the state of Israel and stands in solidarity with those fighting occupation.” https://twitter.com/zellieimani/status/1394071847910707203?s=19 “We as an organization believe in the freedom to worship and a life free from fear of expulsion and violence,” the group said early in the conflict, according to a press release on Insider NJ. "Our deep roots of solidarity are part of a rich tradition of mutual support and exchange between Palestine and US-based liberation movements, from the Black Panthers to the most recent communication between activists in Gaza and Ferguson, MO." “Our struggles are connected in many ways,” the group said, adding, “We stand together with our Muslim brothers and sisters.” https://twitter.com/zellieimani/status/1392920408073113605?s=19