Deadly Exchange is a political campaign launched by

Jewish Voice for Peace Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP; ) is an American Jewish anti-Zionist and left-wing advocacy organization. It is critical of Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories, and supports the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign ag ...

, a

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

Jewish-American American Jews (; ) or Jewish Americans are Americans, American citizens who are Jews, Jewish, whether by Jewish culture, culture, ethnicity, or Judaism, religion. According to a 2020 poll conducted by Pew Research, approximately two thirds of Am ...

activist organization, the goal of which is to end exchange programs between American and Israeli security forces.

History

(JVP) launched the Deadly Exchange campaign in June 2017. JVP describes the campaign as "a group of multiracial Jews and allies who have been working to end U.S.-Israel law enforcement exchange programs." JVP had named several major Zionist organizations as "complicit" in these exchanges, including

AIPAC The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC ) is a pro-Israel lobbying group that advocates its policies to the legislative and executive branches of the United States. It is one of several pro-Israel lobbying organizations in the ...

, the ADL and

Birthright Israel Taglit-Birthright Israel (), also known as Birthright Israel or simply Birthright, is a free ten-day heritage trip to Israel, Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights for young adults of Jewish heritage between the ages of 18 and 26. The program is spon ...

, and believes that "institutions who run and fund the deadly exchange" must be held accountable.

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...

, become the first American city to bar police funding for police training in Israel in April 2018. JVP's Deadly Exchange worked with a coalition of Muslim, pro-Palestinian, and civil rights groups to lobby the Durham City Council. The petition delivered to the city council stated that the "

Israeli Defense Forces Israeli may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the State of Israel * Israelis, citizens or permanent residents of the State of Israel * Modern Hebrew, a language * ''Israeli'' (newspaper), published from 2006 to 2008 * Guni Israeli (b ...

and the

Israel Police The Israel Police (; ) is the civilian police force of Israel. As with most other police forces in the world, its duties include crime fighting, traffic control, maintaining public safety, and counter-terrorism. It is under the jurisdiction o ...

have a long history of violence and harm against Palestinian people and Jews of color." The city council's vote was unanimous. In March 2020, a leaked Anti-Defamation League memo stated that the group had not facilitated any police exchanges since 2019. The memo was published by ''

Jewish Currents ''Jewish Currents'' is an American progressive Jewish quarterly magazine and news site whose content reflects the politics of the Jewish left. It features news, political commentary, analysis, and Jewish arts and literature. Publication histo ...

'' and ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' in March 2022. The "Deadly Exchange" campaign celebrated this as a victory, but the ADL claimed that activists were wrong to take credit for a "pause" in the programs and that the programs may be resumed in future, with the dimensions of that endeavor to be determined. In 2020, JVP issued an update on the campaign, stating that making connections between the United States and Israel could cause harm if context is not provided. The update said that "Suggesting that Israel is the start or source of American police violence or racism shifts the blame from the United States to

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. This obscures the fundamental responsibility and nature of the U.S., and harms Black people and Black-led struggle. It also furthers an antisemitic ideology." In September 2021, the

Seattle City Council The Seattle City Council is the legislative body of the city of Seattle, Washington. The Council consists of nine members serving four-year terms, seven of which are elected by electoral districts and two of which are elected in citywide at-larg ...

voted 5–4 against a bill that would have ended the "Deadly Exchange" with the

Seattle Police Department The Seattle Police Department (SPD) is the principal police force, law enforcement agency of the city of Seattle, Washington, United States. It is responsible for the entire city except for the campus of the University of Washington (which is und ...

Criticism

According to Steven L. Pomerantz, an "architect" of a U.S.-Israeli exchange program who served as Assistant Director of the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

and Director of the Homeland Security Program at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA), referred to the idea of a "Deadly Exchange" based on sharing "worst practices" as a false and dangerous lie. Pomerantz believes supporters of Deadly Exchange are at best operating on a "deep misunderstanding" and at worst on "virulent bias". The

American Jewish Committee The American Jewish Committee (AJC) is a civil rights group and Jewish advocacy group established on November 11, 1906. It is one of the oldest Jewish advocacy organizations and, according to ''The New York Times'', is "widely regarded as the wi ...

(AJC) believes that the Deadly Exchange campaign promotes an

antisemitic trope Antisemitic tropes, also known as antisemitic canards or antisemitic libels, are " sensational reports, misrepresentations or fabrications" about Jews as an ethnicity or Judaism as a religion. Since the 2nd century, malicious allegations of J ...

that falsely suggests that "Israel is responsible for American

police brutality Police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement against an individual or Public order policing, a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, b ...

due to training programs between U.S. and Israeli police forces." AJC has condemned the idea that "Israeli and U.S. law enforcement exchange security practices and ideologies to purposely target people of color" as "hate" and a "false equivalence", stating that accusing Israel or Zionists of "complicity in the murder of Black people is malicious, perpetuates antisemitism, and blames Jews for societal ills (see scapegoat)."

References

{{Reflist

External links

Deadly Exchange

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

Deadly Exchange official website

Seattle Deadly Exchange official website
2017 establishments in the United States Anti-militarism Anti-racism in Israel Anti-racism in the United States Black Lives Matter Jewish anti-racism Jewish anti-Zionism in Israel Jewish anti-Zionism in the United States Jewish pro-Palestinian activism Law enforcement in Israel Law enforcement in the United States Palestinian solidarity movement in the United States Police abolition movement Police brutality in Israel Police brutality in the United States Political campaigns

History

Criticism

See also

References

External links