Thanks to our incredible Durham community, we're proud to say that Durham City Council adopted a policy statement against police training with the Israeli military! This petition drive is now over, but please feel free to add your name to support our work, and read our full campaign statement, below:

We are concerned members of Durham’s community committed to peace and justice from Durham to Palestine. Therefore we call on the City of Durham to immediately halt any partnerships that the Durham Police Department (DPD) has or might enter into with the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and/or the Israel Police.

The IDF and the Israel Police have a long history of violence and harm against Palestinian people and Jews of Color. They persist in using tactics of extrajudicial killing, excessive force, racial profiling, and repression of social justice movements. Such tactics have been condemned by international human rights organizations for violating the human rights of Palestinians. These tactics further militarize U.S. police forces that train in Israel, and this training helps the police terrorize Black and Brown communities here in the US. Additionally, such practices erode our constitutional rights to due process, freedom of speech, and freedom of assembly. Durham officials -- including former Chief Lopez and current Chief Davis -- have participated in these racist police exchange programs.

Policing in the US has a long history of violence and harm against Black and Brown communities, and the DPD is no exception. From traffic stops that target Black drivers, to SWAT teams entering Black people’s homes illegally, to checkpoints that occupy immigrant neighborhoods, to police murders of Black, Brown, and disabled people, everyday militarization of Durham police already endangers our communities. Training police in Israel exacerbates this ongoing harm.

Durham City Council, we as concerned members of Durham’s community ask you to support justice and true collective safety, beyond police. We call on you to halt any partnerships that the DPD has or might enter into with the IDF and/or the Israel Police, including but not limited to:

● Anti-Defamation League Counter-Terrorism Seminar

● Anti-Defamation League Advanced Training School

● Any exchange program between the DPD and the IDF

● Any exchange program between the DPD and the Israel Police.

The Durham City Council has a history of taking a stance for justice around the world, including passing a resolution in 1986 to boycott Apartheid in South Africa. You have a responsibility to take a stance today and to protect our city’s own residents from all forms of police terror. We demand: Durham, don’t train police with the IDF! Divest from war and occupation, from Durham to Palestine! Divest from racism and militarization -- invest in Black and Brown communities!