Did the Anti-Defamation League promote repressive policing practices here in OC?

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Cross-posted from The Happy Arab News:

On September 12, a group of progressive activists in Orange County hosted a film screening of the PBS Documenter “Documenting Hate: Charlottesville” followed by a discussion on the rise of hate groups in the county.  The event originally listed the ADL (Anti Defamation League) as a co-sponsor, which was then changed to appear as though an ADL representative was simply one of 9 panelists rather than a sponsor.

It is time for resisters and progressives to realize that the ADL is not a progressive group to partner with at events that address equality and racial justice issues because of its long history of spying on American citizens and civil rights organizations.

A 1993 Los Angeles Times article revealed details of over 40 years of spying on groups such as NAACP, ACLU, Arab Anti Discrimination Committee (ADC), the AIDS activist group ACT UP and many more.

“To the outside world, Roy Bullock was a small-time art dealer who operated from his house in the Castro District. In reality, he was an undercover spy who picked through garbage and amassed secret files for the Anti-Defamation League for nearly 40 years.

“His code name at the prominent Jewish organization was Cal, and he was so successful at infiltrating political groups that he was once chosen to head an Arab-American delegation that visited Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) in her Washington, D.C., office.

“For a time, Cal tapped into the phone message system of the White Aryan Resistance to learn of hate crimes. From police sources, he obtained privileged, personal information on at least 1,394 people. And he met surreptitiously with agents of the South African government to trade his knowledge for crisp, new $100 bills.

“These are among the secrets that Bullock and David Gurvitz, a former Los Angeles-based operative, divulged in extensive interviews with police and the FBI in a growing scandal over the nationwide intelligence network operated by the Anti-Defamation League.”

However, the ADL’s betrayal of our communities isn’t a thing of the past. The organization is heavily involved in a police exchange program championed by the Trump and the Netanyahu government, that according to deadlyexchange.org:

“…bring together police, ICE, border patrol, and FBI from the US with soldiers, police, border agents, etc from Israel. In these programs, “worst practices” are shared to promote and extend discriminatory and repressive policing practices that already exist in both countries, including extrajudicial executions, shoot-to-kill policies, police murders, racial profiling, massive spying and surveillance, deportation and detention, and attacks on human rights defenders.

“These exchanges are organized by a range of governmental and non-governmental actors, but we were disturbed to learn that many are initiated by Jewish organizations, including the neo-conservative Jewish Institute on National Security of America (JINSA), Jewish Federations, the Anti-Defamation League, and even Birthright.”

Thousands of the highest ranking police officials and law enforcement executives across the country have participated in the exchange programs, including local police departments right here in Orange County.

According to research done by RAIA (Researching the American Israeli Alliance), a research initiative dedicated to exposing the connections between American and Israeli state violence, the exchange program includes the cities of Garden Grove and Irvine police departments, and the OC Sheriff Department

 READ THE REST AT HAPPY ARAB NEWS!

Screen shot of a 2016 Anti-Defamation League promotional video for the National Counter-Terrorism Seminar in Israel, a program the group described: “Each year, ADL takes a select group of the most senior United States law enforcement to Israel to learn how their counterparts fight terror.” [via Mondoweiss]

About Rashad Al-Dabbagh

Arab American community activist based in Anaheim's Little Arabia. Founder/Director of the Arab American Civic Council. Follow him on Twitter at @Happy_Arab.