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Israels police force is becoming alarmingly militarized – and its no surprise why - Haaretz - Isra... https://www.haaretz.com/.premium-israeli-police-militarization-is-no-surprise-1.5359033 Log in Subscribe now Saturday, February 17, 2018. Search Adar 2, 5778 Time in Israel: 3:20 PM Israel News All sections Netanyahu - bribery Russia indictments Florida shooter - NRA Huckabee Putin - Israel Kushner debt Log in Trending Now Home Are Jared and Ivanka The Freemasons Kushner's Mounting Want You! (Unless Debts a 'Threat to You Happen to Be a National Security'? Woman) Asher Schechter | May 06, 2015 12:30 PM Share Tweet 3 Zen Subscribe 1 of 10 2/17/2018, 8:34 AM Israels police force is becoming alarmingly militarized – and its no surprise why - Haaretz - Isra... https://www.haaretz.com/.premium-israeli-police-militarization-is-no-surprise-1.5359033 Palestinian What David Ben- Schoolteacher Gurion's Mistress Mauled by Israeli Said About Him, and Military Dog as Why It's Important Soldiers Watch Related tags: Israel police , Ethiopian Jews , Israel occupation Illustrative photo of police officers and Ethiopian-Israeli protesters clashing in front of Tel Aviv city hall, May 3, 2015. Credit: Tomer Appelbaum ● ● ● Netanyahu's One True Nightmare The images out of Israel this Sunday looked like they could have Chemi Shalev | Yesterday 2 been filmed in downtown Baltimore. Young Israelis of Ethiopian descent were being chased down the streets of central Tel Aviv by horse-mounted police officers, dodging stun grenades, fending off tear gas canisters and trying to evade the water cannons headed their way. The center of Tel Aviv, Israels most vibrant, economically powerful 2 of 10 2/17/2018, 8:34 AM Israels police force is becoming alarmingly militarized – and its no surprise why - Haaretz - Isra... https://www.haaretz.com/.premium-israeli-police-militarization-is-no-surprise-1.5359033 city, looked like an urban battlefield. The images, while infuriating, were of course disturbingly familiar. They paralleled in certain ways the riots that took place in Baltimore, and echoed the social unrest that has taken over major American cities in recent months. In both cases, black men and women, members of a marginalized ethnic minority that has been systematically neglected and discriminated against, have been facing off against an alarmingly militarized police force. In both An Iranian Film Breaks the Taboo on cases, demonstrations against police brutality were met with more Sexuality brutality. Shira Makin | 14.02.2018 But while there are indeed similarities between the protests in Tel Aviv and those in Baltimore, the scene was also not-so-vaguely reminiscent of another battlefield, one more familiar to Israeli citizens: the West Bank. The impressive arsenal used by Israels police forces on Sunday and at last weeks Ethiopian Israeli demonstration in Jerusalem – stun grenades, tear gas, water cannons and a skunk, a vehicle that sprays a rancid-smelling liquid at protesters – are all staples of Israels The Untold Story of the Jews Who Left Mandatory Palestine military regime in the occupied territories. They have rarely been Nir Hasson | 16 Hours Ago used within the borders of Israel, and when they were, it was almost always in the context of the Israel-Arab conflict. Email* Sign up On Sunday, however, near the square that has hosted some of the Help Israel. Stop Giving It Money biggest demonstrations in Israels history, there they all were: the Anshel Pfeffer | Yesterday 5 3 of 10 2/17/2018, 8:34 AM Israels police force is becoming alarmingly militarized – and its no surprise why - Haaretz - Isra... https://www.haaretz.com/.premium-israeli-police-militarization-is-no-surprise-1.5359033 skunk, the stun grenades, the water cannons, the tear gas. This time they werent directed at Palestinians in Qalandiyah in the occupied West Bank. This time, they were used against Jews – in the middle of Tel Aviv. The brutal response reflected the hugely disadvantageous situation of Ethiopian Israelis and the incredible adversities they face, especially when it comes to law enforcement. Already dealing with constant racism and a disproportionate incarceration rate, Israelis Netanyahu's New Scapegoat for His of Ethiopian descent were reminded once again on Sunday that Corruption Scandal Israeli justice is not impartial: In recent years, Tel Aviv has seen Yossi Verter | 8 Hours Ago 4 dozens of demonstrations and protests initiated by almost every ethnic and political group in Israel, from middle-class Promoted content predominantly Ashkenazi Jews protesting the cost of living to African asylum seekers. And while some have met a rather forceful police response, none were treated to the same kind of violence that we saw on Sunday. But the pandemonium was also part of a wider, growing phenomenon: the militarization of Israels (already pretty militarized) law enforcement, and the increasing infiltration of methods used to disperse riots in the occupied territories into the other side, the wrong side of the Green Line. Mike Huckabee Gets Lesson on Israeli Gun Policy After #PrayForParkland Tweet In recent years, Israel has seen more and more examples in which Haaretz, JTA, Andrew Silow-Carroll | Yesterday West Bank methods of crowd control and riot dispersal were imported into its borders. Stun grenades have been used against Israeli Arabs on several occasions, most recently during the riots that broke out last summer in Israeli Arab towns following the murder of the Palestinian boy Muhammad Abu Khdeir. In 2009 and again in 2013, stun grenades and tear gas were used to disperse ultra-Orthodox riots in Jerusalem. Tear gas is also no stranger to 4 of 10 2/17/2018, 8:34 AM Israels police force is becoming alarmingly militarized – and its no surprise why - Haaretz - Isra... https://www.haaretz.com/.premium-israeli-police-militarization-is-no-surprise-1.5359033 Bedouins in Israels south. While this phenomenon was limited to non-Jewish minorities and the occasional Ultra-Orthodox riot, far removed from the public eye, the Israeli mainstream paid very little attention. But in July 2012 even Tel Aviv was forced to acknowledge the growing militarization of Israeli law enforcement. During a march against police brutality and Israels high cost of living, the Border Police – a militarized branch of Israels police force that is frequently used for anti-terror How Israel Can Shrink the Occupation, activities and riot dispersal – deployed a stalker, a surveillance Without Shrinking Its Security truck usually used to gather intelligence and monitor the Micah Goodman | 8 Hours Ago 6 communications of Palestinians in the occupied territories. The truck, commonly referred to in Israel as a Raccoon, appeared again several more times during demonstrations that summer. The same machine that has been used to keep Palestinians at bay was now being used to prevent Israelis from protesting the prices of housing and cottage cheese. In many ways, this was to be expected. Israel has been occupying another people for 38 years now, monitoring their communications, Iran and the Assad Regime Are Drawing a Line in Syria’s Skies policing their every move. It has grown accustomed to war every Amos Harel | Yesterday 3 year or two. One cannot live like that without eventually taking the war back home. And so, weapons that were previously only used against apparent enemies of the state are now being used to control its own citizens. The militarization of police, of course, is not uniquely Israeli. In fact, the militarization of law enforcement – police forces using military equipment like armored vehicles and assault rifles to aggressively clamp down on civil protests – is a global phenomenon. 5 of 10 2/17/2018, 8:34 AM Israels police force is becoming alarmingly militarized – and its no surprise why - Haaretz - Isra... https://www.haaretz.com/.premium-israeli-police-militarization-is-no-surprise-1.5359033 What makes the Israeli example unique is that until now, most Israeli Jews thought they were safe. That the rules of the occupation, the daily reality of Palestinians, didnt apply to them. But occupation cant be neatly contained. Violence inevitably seeps in. The brutal crackdown of the Ethiopian protest this week reflects not only the hardships faced by one of Israels most impoverished ethnic Glad Netanyahu Is in Trouble? This Is Why groups. It also presents a dangerous escalation, a stark reminder of You're Going to Miss Him the limits of democracy when it is forced to coexist alongside a Gideon Levy / Opinion | 2 Days Ago 10 security state. The occupation of the Palestinians, in a way, is becoming the occupation of Israelis: The same tactics used to control Palestinians are increasingly used to silence them. Many Israelis have been deeply shocked by this weeks events. By the level of force used against protesters. By the sight of stun grenades exploding mere meters away from where Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated. As it turns out, theres a fine line between occupying and being occupied. And that line has never looked so thin. Florida Shooter 'Trained With White Supremacists'; at Least Four Jews Among Those Killed The Associated Press, JTA, Haaretz | Yesterday Haaretz Columnist 13 Send me email alerts Recommended by 6 of 10 2/17/2018, 8:34 AM.