It’s been almost 56 years since Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, on that dreadful day of April 4, 1968. Yet, his life, contributions, sacrifices, and legacy as a powerful voice and advocate against racism in America still resonate with truth.
On Monday, January 15, 2024, the United States and other nations will celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a federal holiday observed annually on the third Monday in January. This year, the Holiday celebrating King’s voluminous work to advance Black people across broad spectrums falls on the civil rights icon’s actual birthday. He was born January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia.
While there have been thousands of news stories, profiles, and biographical and historical accounts of King’s remarkable journey in leading the Civil Rights Movement in America from the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott to his death 13 years later, little has been recorded about King’s outspoken advocacy on behalf of Israel, its people, and his stance against antisemitism.
As the current war between Israel and Hamas rages in Gaza, many Americans don’t know that King, the prophet of peace and non-violence, made just one trip to the Holy Land, but it was enough to shape his love for Israel and strengthen his faith in God.
In the early winter months of 1959, King and his wife, Coretta Scott King, after a month-long visit to India and later Lebanon, landed in eastern Jerusalem. At the time, Jerusalem was geographically and politically divided, with western sectors of the Holy City controlled by Israel and the eastern part by the country of Jordan.
“This was a strange feeling to go to the ancient city of God and see the tragedies of man’s hate and his evil, which causes him to fight and live in conflict,” King said many times about his lone visit to the Holy Land. “Yet, the trip was one of the most important occasions of my life.”
King and his wife were mesmerized by the sacred and Holy sites in Jerusalem, Hebron, Bethlehem, Jerico, and the Samaria region, all part of Jordan, in 1959. For King, the trip was eye-opening and went beyond the Biblical significance of the sojourn, allowing him to see the deep divisions between people in the Holy Land.
Shortly after King returned to America, he delivered a rousing Easter Morning sermon at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, where he was senior pastor from 1954 to 1960. The historic church was ground zero for the many mass meetings to organize and sustain the storied Montgomery Bus Boycott from December 5, 1955, to December 20, 1956.
King’s Easter sermon in 1959 – and subsequent speeches – gave him the opportunity to express the exhilaration he felt walking on the hallowed and sacred grounds of the Holy Land that Christians learned about through reading scriptures, bible study experiences, and being attentive to the preached word. King spoke about the importance of Black Americans and Israelis establishing and maintaining a strong bond and respect for each other based on having similar journeys and histories of oppression and bondage.
King had always vowed to return to Jerusalem and other Holy cities in Israel. During the early and mid-1960s, Israel invited the King to visit the Holy Land numerous times but was unsuccessful in their bids. However, King was appreciative of Jewish support – participation and financial – of the many civil rights demonstrations, marches, and protests in America during the 1950s and ‘60s.
In November 1967, King agreed to lead an interfaith pilgrimage of thousands of African Americans to the Holy Land but canceled, saying he would instead come in 1968. Unfortunately, King was killed in the spring of ’68.
The reasons why King never returned to the Holy Land after 1959 are debatable. However, the Six-Day War in the Middle East in June 1967 is often the starting point for any debate about King’s reasoning. During the war, also known as the Arab-Israeli War, Israel fought a coalition of Arab states: Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. When the short but deadly conflict ended, Israel seized the Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip from Egypt, the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan, and the Golan Heights from Syria. In essence, the Six-Day War had tremendous geopolitical implications and consequences in the Middle East.
Many historians and geopolitical pundits believe the Six-Day War boxed King in when attempting to articulate his thoughts and position on the deadly conflict and Israel’s massive land gains of Arab territory. King perhaps felt if he had gone to Israel as planned, the visit would have been seen as if he was pro-Israel and painted a vivid picture that he was not pro-Arab.
“I just think that if I go, the Arab world, and of course Africa and Asia for that matter, would interpret this as endorsing everything that Israel has done, and I do have questions of doubt,” King said. “I frankly have to admit that my instincts, and when I follow my instincts so to speak, I’m usually right, so I just think that this would be a great mistake. I don’t think I could come out unscathed.”
“Prior to the Six-Day War, the plan was for Dr. King to go to Israel,” said Dr. Glenn Plummer, the Black Bishop of Israel representing the Church of God in Christ (COGIC) in the Holy Land. “There were official communications between Dr. King and the leaders of Israel who were expecting him. When the war broke out that’s when the controversy arose, meaning some people felt King chose not to go for political reasons, while others said it was for practical reasons. I think he felt the pressure to not openly side with Israel against Jordan. But let’s not confuse this. Dr. King was consistently in support of Israel and the Jews having Israel as their homeland. He never wavered on that.”
“Many don’t know that there’s a street in Jerusalem named after Dr. King and that he’s greatly honored in Israel,” Plummer added. “Israel is the only country in the Middle East where there’s a Martin Luther Kings Jr. Street – and it’s in Jerusalem and has been established for decades.”
While the Israel – Hamas War intensifies, many people wonder how King would look at the raging conflict if he were alive because of his unwavering support of Israel since visiting Jerusalem in 1959. King often said and wrote that “Israel was a beacon of democracy,” adding, “Israel must and has the right to exist.” However, would that mean at all costs today, amid the thousands of Palestinians being killed and others displaced in Gaza, as Israel seeks to wipe out Hamas?
After actress and comedian Amy Schumer posted vintage videos of King defending Israel’s right to exist and denouncing antisemitism in late October 2023, Dr. Bernice King, the youngest daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, checked Schumer on social media.
“Certainly, my father was against antisemitism, as am I,” Bernice King posted. “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.”
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