Muriel Kane: Israel Behind Militarized Brutality of US Police!

The extreme militarization of American police forces has been brought to public attention by the tactics employed against Occupy protesters, which often appear more appropriate to counter-terrorism operations than to the control of non-violent protest. According to investigative journalist Max Blumenthal, however, the proper term for this ruthless suppression of dissent should be "Israelification."In an article which begins with examples of American police training alongside Israeli security forces, Blumenthal writes, "Having been schooled in Israeli tactics perfected during a 63 year experience of controlling, dispossessing, and occupying an indigenous population, local police forces have adapted them to monitor Muslim and immigrant neighbor -hoods in US cities. Meanwhile, former Israeli military officers have been hired to spearhead security operations at American airports and suburban shopping malls, leading to a wave of disturbing incidents of racial profiling, intimidation, and FBI interrogations of innocent, unsuspect -ing people. The New York Police Department's disclosure that it deployed 'counter-terror' measures against Occupy protesters encamped in downtown Manhattan's Zuccotti Park is just the latest example of the so-called War on Terror creeping into everyday life!