Did American Police Learn Deadly Tactics From Israel?

FEATURING HUWAIDA ARRAF – When Minneapolis police officers killed George Floyd in a videotaped incident that made international headlines and sparked nationwide uprising across the US, Palestinian Americans noted the disturbing similarity between the manner of Floyd’s killing and how Palestinians are treated by Israeli forces. The similarity is not a coincidence however as activists working closely on the Israeli occupation of Palestine have pointed out that US police departments have trained with Israeli soldiers for years and learned their deadly tactics.

While the US-Israel relationship has been taken for granted as part of US foreign policy, in recent years younger lawmakers have been questioning it. That was most recently seen in the primary election defeat of long-time pro-Israel Congressman Eliot Engel by newcomer Jamaal Bowman in New York.

Huwaida Arraf, is the Palestine and Refugees correspondent for Rising Up With Sonali. She’s a Palestinian American lawyer and human rights activist, and co-founder of the International Solidarity Movement. She is also the former Chair of the Free Gaza Movement.