We must not allow a blatant incident of hostility towards Israel by a Durham police chief pass without protest.
Two Israeli volunteer police officers filed a lawsuit against the city of Durham, North Carolina, and its police chief, Cerelyn “C.J.” Davis, over a memo in which she stated that she has “no intention to participate or initiate an exchange with Israel,” as part of the Durham Police policing exchange program.
According to the lawsuit, the memo sent out by Davis constitutes discrimination against a group of people based on their ethnicity and place of birth.
“The city of Durham has two standards when it comes to international police exchanges: One for the Israelis and one for the rest of the world,” the lawsuit stated, claiming that the policy stands in violation of a section of the North Carolina Constitution, which states that no one shall be discriminated against because of race, color, religion or national origin.
The saga began when the NGO Demilitarize Durham 2 Palestine, led by the Triangle chapter of the anti-Israel Jewish Voices for Peace, began circulating a petition demanding that Durham not send police officers to train in Israel.
In response, Davis sent out a memo to “clarify” that recent participation of Durham police officers in a training program in Israel pertained to “leadership building” and did not deal with policing, adding that she has no intention of working with the Israeli Police in the future.
Durham’s Mayor Steve Schewel dismissed the claims of anti-Israel discrimination, saying it had nothing to do with anti-Semitism and was “all about policing.”
Schewel asserted that the city will not remove the word “Israel” from the memo, saying, “We’re not going to be revisiting this. This issue is something we’ve dealt with. It’s settled.”
No! It is NOT settled!
We must not allow this blatant incident of anti-Israel discrimination pass without a protest!
Speak Up Against Anti-Israel Discrimination!
1. Click here to send the city of Durham a message on Facebook.
2. Click here to send the city of Durham a message via Twitter.
3. Send Mayor Steve Schewel an email at: Steve.Schewel@durhamnc.gov
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