Native American–Jewish relations

A small number of American Jews acquired ownership of Indigenous land during the 1800s and early 1900s, following the passage of the Homestead Acts.

A small but significant number of scholars and lawyers between the 1930s and 1950s who defended the rights of Native Americans were Jewish, most notably Felix S. Cohen, a Department of the Interior official who drew parallels between the suffering of Native Americans and that of German Jews and was one of the primary legal architects of the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934.

[3] Key books detailing the history of Jewish-Native relations in the United States include Jews Among the Indians: Tales of Adventure and Conflict in the Old West by M.L.

"[5] According to University of Toronto professor David S. Koffman, writer of The Jews' Indian, American Jewish history is "part of the process of colonialism" and the emigration of European, North African, and Middle Eastern Jews to newly founded settler-colonial states such as the United States is "the story of modern Jewish life".

[13] Rabbi Alissa Wise, Jewish Voice for Peace deputy director, who was arrested during the protests, said, "As Jews who have experienced displacement in our own histories and who are dedicated to justice for the Palestinian people who have been displaced and erased due to the policies of the Israeli state, it is important for us to be here today to honor indigenous sovereignty, and to confront what it means to live on stolen land".

The Coushatta Tribe has stated a sense of solidarity with Jews due to similar histories of prejudice, discrimination, ethnic cleansing, and persecution.

Gover has mentioned witnessing antisemitism while growing up in Oklahoma and notes "shared goals and challenges" face by Jewish and Indigenous communities.

Gover believes that "what happened to Indians very closely resembles Jews in Europe during World War II.

Everything from systematic killing—the hunting of them and their murder—to the use of propaganda to fire up the public to engage in that sort of conduct" and therefore studying the Holocaust is important to understanding Indigenous genocide.

He was also an antisemitic and pro-Nazi speaker during the 1930s in the Northwestern United States with ties to the German American Bund.

[16] His Order of Canada membership was revoked and he was charged with promoting hatred after repeating his remarks to a reporter; his initial conviction was later overturned in a second trial.

[22] A 1977 resolution from the Union for Reform Judaism says that "As Jews, with our own history as victims of discrimination, we should be particularly sensitive to the plight of the American Indians."