US: NY Sends Police Chiefs to “Israel” for Counterterrorism Training

By Staff, Agencies

More than a dozen police officers from the state of New York are on a training trip to "Israel" despite human rights experts saying that "Israel" is committing genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza.

Police officers have already been accused of being heavy-handed against pro-Palestine protestors both on student campuses in the state and in New York City.

The 13 officials are said to be learning about security issues facing "Israel", undertaking counterterrorism training to protect Jewish communities, and learning about antisemitism.

The training comes the same week "Israel" launched unprovoked air strikes on the sovereign territory of Qatar on Tuesday in violation of international law.

According to a report in JNS, "Israel’s" Ministry for so-called “Diaspora” Affairs has been running the training programme for US law enforcement officials for six years and has been dubbed “Birthright for American police chiefs,” in reference to free trips to "Israel" offered to young Jews who live outside of entity.

The training session is reportedly the second since the war on Gaza began in October 2023. Michel Kopy, commissioner of public safety for Rye, in Westchester County, told JNS, “The resilience of the 'Israeli' people just stands out."

US police trainers have been trained by their counterparts in "Israel" for more than two decades. Thousands of officers have learned crowd control, use of force, and surveillance from "Israel’s" police, military and intelligence services, according to an article by Amnesty International.

The article said that while pro-"Israel" groups privately fund some of these trips, most of these trips are taxpayer-funded.

A 2016 DOJ report found the Baltimore Police Department routinely violated civil rights, including unjustified stops, excessive force, and targeting African Americans disproportionately.

Critics of IOF training programme have said that it exacerbates American police brutality, increases racial profiling of brown and Black people, represses social justice movements and contributes to the proliferation of surveillance and a police state.

Human rights experts say the IOF teaches American police officers potentially illegal and unconstitutional policing tactics for training its officers.

The practices of draconian policing were seen in the killing of unarmed Black civilian George Floyd by white Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who asphyxiated Floyd by putting his knee on Floyd’s neck for eight minutes.

The killing, which was caught on camera, sparked national and international outcry and protests.

Activists pointed out that more than 100 Minneapolis Police Department officers were tactically trained on using one’s knee to restrain civilians at a counterterrorism event at the "Israeli" Consulate in Chicago in 2012, which was led by the IOF and police.