Pop up: “Hate Cannot Drive Out Hate” — Allies, Language, and the Legacy of Dr. King

Love vs. Hate

“Hate Cannot Drive Out Hate” — Allies, Language, and the Legacy of Dr. King

Today, on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, we want to pause and dedicate space to something that often gets lost: the power and moral courage of allies.

Dr. King’s legacy is not only about justice for one community, but about standing up for truth, dignity, and humanity — even when it is unpopular, even when it carries risk. He understood that real progress is built through coalition, moral clarity, and a refusal to surrender love to hatred.

That is why allies matter so deeply right now.

Many people of conscience — Jews and non-Jews alike — respect, value, and believe in Israel, and agree with Zionism as it truly is: the recognition of the Jewish people’s right to self-determination in their ancestral homeland — and nothing that suggests destruction, harm, or the dehumanization of others — alongside a commitment to human dignity and equality. Martin Luther King Jr. was one of those allies.

We are grateful to count Arlene and Malik among our allies. Arlene has been a supporter of BCTC from the very beginning, walking alongside us and helping shape this journey. Malik, whom we were privileged to meet more recently, brings inspiration and compassion through his work, and generously shares this reflection exclusively with BCTC here.

Arlene Bridges Samuels is a pro-Israel activist, writer, and outreach leader who has held senior roles supporting grassroots advocacy and education about Israel and Jewish-Christian relations. She writes widely on these topics, including for the Christian Broadcast Network- Israel and other public forums.

Arlene, has written powerfully about the danger of weaponizing words — how language meant to heal can be twisted into tools of hate, used to normalize hatred, disguise violence, and move people away from moral clarity. Her article Weaponized Words Where Did The Architecture of Spoken Hate Come From? reminds us that words are never neutral, and that choosing love, precision, responsibility, and humanity in how we speak is itself an act of resistance.

Malik Roberts is a multimedia artist, cartoonist, and cultural commentator whose work explores history, identity, and justice through visual art, writing, and personal reflection, bringing creativity and insight to conversations about society and human dignity.

Malik’s words below remind us how deeply connected these struggles are — and how Dr. King’s moral clarity still speaks directly to this moment.

What follows is Malik’s reflection. His words stand on their own:

“I have always had enormous admiration for Martin Luther King, Jr.

His spirited devotion to racial equality cleared the path for the greatest advancements for Americans of all creeds and colors that our country has ever seen. The extraordinary feats he did also came at great risk—both personal and professional. He remained consistent in his condemnations of injustice against any people anywhere in the world, which ultimately lead to his untimely assassination.

He died a very hated man, simply because he was too loving.

In hindsight, it is oddly paradoxical that Dr. King is so celebrated a figure even in these outrageously turbulent times. His achievements in the civil rights movement are now universally acclaimed as historic and unprecedented. His steadfast commitment to the Zionist cause should be equally acknowledged.

For anyone who’s either uneducated or uninformed, Zionism—real Zionism—recognizes the State of Israel as the spiritual and ancestral home of the Jewish people, and that Israel’s right to exist is incontestable.

He was a Zionist in the best sense of the word because he had compassion for Jews and Arabs alike. He knew that Israel’s opponents posed a clear and present danger to its survival, and yet recognized the need of full equality for Palestinians as well. In a post-October 7th world, it has become increasingly precarious to create a mutually-agreed-upon path toward peace for Israelis and Palestinians.

We must continue to follow Dr. King’s example, and refuse to accept despair as the final response to the ambiguities of history; refuse to accept the notion that Man is so inextricably bound to the starless midnight of oppression and hatred that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood is an impossibility; refuse to accept that the “isness” of Man’s present nature makes him morally incapable of striving for the eternal “oughtness” that forever confronts him.

We must always remind ourselves and each other that we shall overcome.“