A fantastic opportunity for our local law enforcement has been squandered, and our community will be less safe because of it.
Due to pressure from radical anti-Israel groups, the political leadership in Northampton and Vermont opted to cancel valuable counterterrorism training for the Northampton Police Department and the Vermont State Police. The training program is funded and administered by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), an organization dedicated to fighting all forms of hate including anti-Semitism. For more than 15 years, ADL has trained over 100,000 law enforcement personnel at no cost to taxpayers.
The program at issue is extremely valuable training which brings local law enforcement to meet their Israeli counterparts, where they learn the methods Israel uses to protect its communities from hate, extremism and terrorism while safeguarding civil liberties. Participants learn best practices in anticipating, preparing for and responding to terrorist threats, exchange ideas with security leaders on emerging trends and threats, examine approaches for community engagement in security and resilience, and generally learn how to better ensure safety and security for all.
The Jewish Federation of Western Massachusetts values our relationship with local law enforcement, including the Northampton Police Department. Over the years, and, especially in recent months, these brave professionals have done a stellar job keeping the Jewish community safe. They have been with us on our high holy days. They have been with us at our major community events. They have been extremely proactive and vigilant in the face of increasing rates of hate crimes and domestic terrorism aimed at Jewish communities across the country.
It is because of our close relationship with, deep appreciation for and strong reliance upon local law enforcement that we are saddened and disappointed that they are being denied this valuable and relevant training. “The Leadership Seminar in Israel was, without question, the best training that I’ve ever received in my life … and it has helped me in my career to help protect Washington, D.C. from terrorists,” asserts Chief of Police Peter Newsham of the Metropolitan Police Department, Washington, D.C.
For years, the ADL and their law enforcement training programs have been under attack by fringe anti-Israel groups. Vermont and Northampton were the first to accede to their demands. Even as our political leaders capitulated, the leadership in Rhode Island and Boston rejected similar political pressure and went forward with this training provided through ADL.
ADL is not a political organization. It is a leading anti-hate organization which has as its ultimate goal, “a world in which no group or individual suffers from bias, hate or discrimination.” It is extremely disturbing that the Northampton leadership chose to take a stand against the ADL, in favor of groups whose goals are so diametrically opposed; groups which sow derision and divisiveness. The cost of the city leadership’s capitulation is high. Just weeks after the largest anti-Jewish terrorist attack in U.S. history, and amid a general increase in domestic terrorism, the Northampton leadership has denied our police appropriate and important training in resilience and counterterrorism.
We strongly urge Northampton’s political leaders to reverse this decision and allow the Northampton Police Department to continue their longstanding relationship with the ADL, including receiving the benefits of this and other important training programs.
Political pressure from a fringe element in the community should not dictate police policy. It should not be allowed to sever the relationship between our police force and a nationally celebrated anti-hate organization. It should not be allowed to weaken our community’s ability to respond to terrorism. It must not be allowed to make us less safe.
Ronda Parish is president and Stewart L. Bromberg is CEO of the Jewish Federation of Western Massachusetts.