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US city bans brutal Israeli military training of police forces

June 9, 2020 at 7:45 pm

New Yorkers protest over the death of George Floyd at the Washington Square Park in New York City, United States on June 6, 2020 [Tayfun Coşkun / Anadolu Agency]

A US city in North Carolina has banned the training of its police force by Israel’s military, in the aftermath of the brutal police killing of Black American George Floyd, reported The New Arab.

Durham council voted unanimously 6-0 to adopt the ban, after a petition by activists garnered more than 1,400 signatures amid days of global protests against racism and police brutality sparked by the killing of Floyd. The council said the ban extends to any country that offers military-style training to its police force.

“The Israel Defence Forces and the Israel Police have a long history of violence and harm against Palestinian people and Jews of colour,” the Demilitarize! From Durham2Palestine petition said.

“They persist in using tactics of extrajudicial killing, excessive force, racial profiling and repression of social justice,” it added.

“These tactics further militarise US police forces that train in Israel, and this training helps the police terrorise black and brown communities here in the US,” the petition said.

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The move makes Durham the first city to ban the training of its force by Israeli police and military. However, more could follow as authorities across the US take drastic action to address anti-Black racism and police brutality amid some of the country’s largest ever protests.

A number of human rights groups and activists have claimed that the use of lethal force is fueled by the two-way exchange of information and training between high ranking police responsible for this violence in the US and Israeli security officials.

Floyd’s death sparked an outpouring of public anger about racially-motivated police brutality, triggering calls for the defunding of police departments in America and reforming school curriculums to include colonial history

On Sunday, a majority of council members in Minneapolis, where Floyd was killed, have voted to abolish the city’s police department, less than two weeks after the killing of unarmed Floyd.

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