Sunday, June 21, 2020
Elder of ZiyonSteven L. Pomerantz, one of the architects of the programs to have US police train with Israeli police, puts to rest the lies by Jewish Voice for Peace and Amnesty International that claim that Israel somehow trains US police to be brutal towards minorities.
The argument falsely posits that counterterrorism trips and conferences organized by American Jewish organizations like the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA), where I work, facilitate a “deadly exchange” of worst practices between U.S. and Israeli forces. In recent years, this charge has been promoted by extremist organizations that oppose Israel’s right to exist, and amplified by institutionally anti-Semitic regimes like Iran’s.
He doesn’t mention that Amnesty International is one of the extremist anti-Israel organizations promoting the lie.
What is the truth?
The truth is, JINSA’s Homeland Security Program was launched in the wake of the September 11th attacks in order to address the well-recognized counterterrorism needs of local law enforcement in the U.S….
Despite suggestions to the contrary, there is no field training involved in either the conferences or trips, and no training on holds or arrest mechanics. The exchanges, which are hosted by the Israel National Police, focus on effective counterterrorism techniques.
Participants learn how Israeli law enforcement deters, disrupts, and responds to terrorist attacks. They explore the ideology of suicide bombers and other attackers, ways to de-escalate an ongoing incident, and the intelligence-gathering and -sharing process.
Trip participants have discussed efforts to build trust with minority communities, visited hospital trauma units and crime scenes, and spoken with terrorists serving life sentences for murder. One year, JINSA organized a specialized trip for American bomb squad commanders which focused on topics such as post-blast forensics and the materials used in explosive devices.
As I have documented, more recent trainings have focused on community policing, respecting minorities and the importance of diversity in police forces. The Jewish Voice for Peace report that supposedly documents links between US police brutality and Israel is filled with links that prove the opposite, with police (many of color) praising the program for how it taught them to use force more sparingly.
An example I haven’t mentioned before from a trip in 2018:
Assistant DeKalb Police Chief Sonya Porter headed the delegation. “It was an awesome experience and I’m thankful I got to go,” Porter said of her first visit to the country.
Like she learned from Israel, she said she also would try harder to recruit from other religions that might not be represented well in the police force. “Our diversity is by races,“ Porter said. “We have to have diversity of religions to connect more to the community.”
The delegation visited the newly established administration for services to the Arab Sector, where Maj. Gen. Jamal Hakroosh—the first Arab Muslim major general in the Israel Police—briefed them. They met with Arab cadets in the police academy, who after graduation will become commissioned officers, and saw community policing in action in the northern city of Akko, where police bridges potential and real tensions between various religious groups. The delegation also participated in an emergency drill at Rambam hospital that prepares the hospital for times of massive missile attacks.
Here’s another photo from that trip.
I suppose that the Israel haters think that female black American police officials are liars and really are learning to attack members of their own communities in Israel.
The “Deadly Exchange” lie is a libel,one that takes only a couple of minutes of thought to destroy. But some people are so filled with hate that they will fight against evidence, logic and facts.
