Israel/Palestine

So why is this relevant? Since 9/11, at least 300 high ranking US sheriffs and police, FBI, US Customs and Border Protection agents have traveled to Israel to learn through the military justice system how to subdue a population under the guise of fighting terrorism. The focus is on paramilitary and counterinsurgency tactics. Thousands of US police have been trained in Israeli police and military units and it has been reported that the New York City Police Department has opened a branch in Tel Aviv. These efforts have been organized and funded by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the American Jewish Committee’s Project Interchange, and the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs.

It is not an accident that equipment frequently used by the Israeli military for (read Palestinian) crowd control, such as tear gas grenades, triple chaser gas canisters, stun grenades and LRAD (long-range acoustic devices), are now part of the US police force armamentarium. This was all exacerbated when the Pentagon and Home Land Security offered surplus military grade equipment to local law enforcement as well. While the carnage in our cities is certainly related to our own history of slavery and modern day racism and lack of gun control, and a host of societal forces, having a police force influenced and trained by an occupying military force that sees another group of brown people (Arabs) as the enemy has certainly heightened the issue. The Israelis have exported their arms, homeland security, and policing “expertise” to places like India, Canada, and China, but the US has as always been their best customer; the parallels between white racism and Jewish supremacy flourish here and abroad.