26 June 2020 — The New Dark Age
[In the light of spurious charges of anti-semitism levelled against Rebecca Long-Bailey and her subsequent firing from the Labour front bench by the leader of the Labour Party Sir Keir Starmer, after endorsing the actress’s Maxine Peake comments about US police learning violent tactics from Israeli secret services, the following report sets the record straight; that since 9/11, this, and worse, is exactly what Israel has been doing! WB]
Deadly Exchange: Israel trains US Police forces
Months after 9/11, American law enforcement representatives attended their first official training expedition to Israel to exchange “best practices,” knowledge, and expertise in counter-terrorism.
This delegation included chiefs and deputy chiefs of police departments in California, Texas, Maryland, Florida, and New York, agents from the FBI, the CIA, and future officers of ICE, and directors of security at the MTA in New York City.
To date, thousands of law enforcement officials from across the [USA] have been sent to Israel to meet with military and police forces, and thousands more have participated in conferences, trainings, and workshops with Israeli personnel.
WHO SPONSORS THESE TRAININGS?
In addition to the US and Israeli government agencies and private companies, non-profit organizations also play an important role in facilitating these joint trainings. These organizations include the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), and the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA), among others.
This report examines how these exchanges with the Israeli military, police, and intelligence agencies reinforce American law enforcement practices of:surveillance
- Expanding surveillance: Including comprehensive visual monitoring in public places and online, and the heightened infiltration of social movements and entire communities;
- Justifying racial profiling: Marking Black and Brown people as suspect, particularly Arabs and Muslims, and refining the policies, tactics, and technologies that target communities and social movements that seek racial justice;
- Suppressing public protests through use of force: Treating protestors as enemy combatants and controlling media coverage of state violence.
This report argues that while framed as an opportunity for US law enforcement to learn policing strategies from a closely aligned democracy with counter-terror experience, in fact these are trainings with an occupying force that rules a population deprived of human and civil rights.
Upon their return, US law enforcement delegates implement practices learned from Israel’s use of invasive surveillance, blatant racial profiling, and repressive force against dissent. Rather than promoting security for all, these programs facilitate an exchange of methods in state violence and control that endanger us all.
The New Dark Age 