This is classic antisemitism, and it’s bad news for Jews
We trust you are in good health during these challenging times. So many of our routines have been disrupted by Covid. On the other hand, antisemitism never stops—so we can’t either. As Psalm 121 says, “He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.”
First, we had conspiracy theories blaming Jews for COVID-19. These have not disappeared, but they have faded to the background as the media has changed its focus after the killing of George Floyd. Now it’s all about policing. As we see the calls to defund and dismantle police, we are reminded of the April 2018 Durham City council’s ban on police exchanges with Israel. We remember how they blamed problems with policing on Jews. This was just a first step in the “Durham Beyond Policing” campaign, which was part of Mayor Schewel’s election platform.
For those who may not recall, on April 3, 2018, a coalition calling themselves “Demilitarize! Durham2Palestine” wrote to Durham’s mayor, Steve Schewel, asking him to waive the usual 10-day requirement to be placed on the City Council’s meeting agenda. The coalition was led by the ironically named Jewish Voice for Peace, as part of their “Deadly Exchange” campaign. They wanted to present a petition blaming Israel (and by association, Jews), for “militarizing” police, use of “excessive force” and tactics that “terrorize Black and Brown communities here in the US.” Why did they want the time waiver? What was so urgent? It seems that some of them had already arranged to be off work to attend on that date, and their student supporters would be leaving town to go home, as the end of the semester was upon us. They mayor broke the usual council rules, so the petition was presented on April 5th. Just 11 days later the Durham City Council unanimously approved the first ban in the US against all police training with Israel, and only Israel.
Durham Beyond Policing
It should be no surprise that the decision was made so fast. Schewel supports “Durham Beyond Policing,” which postulates that if there is housing and jobs for everyone, that crime will magically disappear. During her campaign, Durham City Council woman Vernetta Alston said she has an “instinct around community policing, that if we put more police into our neighborhoods that’s going to result in more harassment, arrests and detention and trauma and death than we’re already seeing.” Clearly, the deck was stacked against Israel and the police.
More recently, JVP has gone even further, updating their message to support defunding the police and releasing all prisoners, with their new slogan of “Free All Prisoners from Rikers Island to Palestine.”
Sound familiar? This false intersectional sentiment is echoed by the Demilitarize group that recently protested outside the Durham Jail with shouts of “we see you, we love you,” while the prisoners inside were dancing in front of the windows. Apparently all who are imprisoned are, by this group, considered victims, while the true crime victims are ignored.
The vast majority (more than 80%) of Americans oppose the elimination of police, yet this is what the Durham mayor and many city council members favored in their campaigns. If they show such poor judgement in this regard, why would Durham residents trust them to make good judgements about police exchanges with Israel?
Rescind the Antisemitic Resolution!
We have petitioned them to rescind their ban on police exchanges with Israel. If you have signed, THANK YOU, if not, here is a link to the petition. Once the city opens up again, it will be OUR turn to present a petition!
In recent years, the world has come to recognize that BDS is antisemitic in both its intent and in its effect. BDS has been condemned by the Austrian and German Parliaments, the governments of Canada and the Czech Republic, 28 states in the USA, and the UN. Much to our great shame and regret, to date the Durham City Council is the only government entity to endorse the “Deadly Exchange” campaign in the form of a resolution.
We remember what you did. We remember how it made us feel. We, the undersigned, demand that the Durham City Council rescind this decidedly discriminatory, anti-Israel, and antisemitic resolution!
Click Here To Sign Petition
Addendum
The articles below describe three more examples of how intersectionality is misused to create false links between Israel and tragic problems in the United States.
Jewish Voice for Peace Tries to Walk Back Attacks on Israeli Police Training Amid Racial Protests
The attention on policing in America after the murdering of George Floyd has at finally revealed insight into the campaign to discriminate against Jews, to some extent driven by the Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP).
The anti-Israel group Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) is behind the “Savage Exchange” which criticizes Israel for policing issues in the US. In Durham, North Carolina, we have seen the harm this fight does to the Jewish social order with respect to this town.
The Palestinian Appropriation of Black Pain
We as black Americans need to quit giving individuals with no genuine intrigue access our prosperity disclose to us how to carry on toward our Jewish cousins
We as black Americans need to stop letting people with no real interest in our well-being tell us how to behave towards our Jewish cousins.
Hijacking the Cause of George Floyd US Protests
Racism must be revealed, denounced, and rooted out in the US. Some of those criticizing the US from abroad are acting in bad faith.
