A week ago Saturday, rockets began to pour out of Gaza and Hamas militants stormed Israeli villages, killing and kidnapping civilians as well as military and police.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The surprise attack left the key U.S. ally shaken and bloodied, and more violence is expected in a blooming conflict that could have major implications at home and abroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Georgia\u2019s elected officials and regular citizens expressed shock, sadness and anger in the first week of the Israel-Hamas war, though the targets of those emotions varied from person to person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gov. Brian Kemp announced Friday that he has instructed the state treasurer to buy $10 million in bonds from Israel as a show of support, which he said was the highest available amount on the market. The state\u2019s total current bond investment in Israel is $25 million, according to his office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIsrael is one of Georgia\u2019s strongest allies and greatest friends, and our support for its people as they endure horrific attacks from terrorists is unwavering,\u201d Kemp said in a statement. \u201cThough this conflict was not of Israel\u2019s choosing, we know they will be victorious in this fight against evil and those who seek its destruction.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kemp, who visited Israel in May on an economic development trip and met with Israeli leaders, also ordered the U.S. and Georgia flags to fly at half-staff on state property until sunset on Saturday.<\/a> Gov. Brian Kemp shakes hands with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a visit to Israel in May. Via Twitter<\/p>\n\n\n\n And he blasted former President Donald Trump on social media after the GOP presidential frontrunner made comments at a rally<\/a> criticizing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and calling Hezbollah \u201cvery smart.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt is never acceptable to praise deranged murderers or undermine one of our closest allies in their darkest hour,\u201d Kemp said Thursday<\/a> on X, formerly known as Twitter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sen. Jon Ossoff, a Democrat who is Georgia\u2019s first Jewish U.S. senator, returned early from a bipartisan Senate national security delegation trip to Asia because of the turmoil. Ossoff\u2019s staff said the senator spoke with Israeli President Isaac Herzog from the U.S. embassy in Beijing on Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe American people and the people of Georgia stand in support of and, in solidarity with, the Israeli people at this moment of outrage and tragedy,\u201d Ossoff said in remarks read by a staff member at a solidarity event held this week in Sandy Springs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The fallout also quickly touched the Gold Dome, where future legislative debates will likely be shaped by the attacks and ongoing response to those attacks. A bill defining antisemitism in state law that would have enabled stricter penalties for those who commit crimes inspired by antisemitism stalled this year<\/a> amid concerns that it could stifle legally protected speech criticizing Israel\u2019s government. That bill remains alive for next year.<\/a> Sen. Jon Ossoff talks with Israeli President Isaac Herzog from the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. Via Twitter<\/p>\n\n\n\n State Sen. Russ Goodman, a Cogdell Republican, was visiting Israel with a group when Hamas attacked. He said he could hear rockets being launched from the protective Iron Dome and automatic weapons being fired near his hotel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI will continue to pray for our brothers and sisters in Israel, and I will stand with them in solidarity against the disgraceful attacks from both the terrorists that surround them and terrorist sympathizers here at home,\u201d Goodman said in a statement Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gaza is a 140-square mile Palestinian enclave bordered by Egypt, Israel and the Mediterranean Sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n People living there say the Israeli government suppresses their rights, using laws restricting their ability to travel and participate in politics, a blockade preventing basic goods from arriving, constant surveillance and violent repression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Israeli authorities say sanctions against Gaza are necessary for security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Human rights groups like Amnesty International have accused Israel of violating international law in its treatment of Palestinians, a charge Israel and the United States government disagree with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was from Gaza that on Oct. 7, a group of militants from Hamas, an Islamist Palestinian political party designated as a terrorist group by the U.S. and other nations, broke through a sophisticated, fortified border and launched a surprise attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fighters reportedly swarmed into Israel using land vehicles, boats and motorized paragliders. Israeli and international media described armed men arriving in multiple towns and indiscriminately killing or capturing civilian men, women and children, as more than 6,000 rockets were launched toward Israel, according to Israeli officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As of Friday, the Israeli death toll stood at more than 1,200 people killed and another 3,227 injured, Israel reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A bloody attack on a late night music festival where at least 260 people were reportedly killed particularly horrified international observers, as did reports that Hamas had targeted children and babies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Netanyahu shared photographs he described as \u201chorrifying photos of babies murdered and burned by the Hamas monsters.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Images like those were on the minds of over a hundred pro-Israel demonstrators in downtown Atlanta Thursday as they waved blue and white Israel flags and waved signs with slogans like \u201cStand with Israel\u201d and \u201cFree the Hostages.\u201d<\/a> Marc Urbach of Alpharetta marches in support of Israel. Ross Williams\/Georgia Recorder<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marc Urbach waved an American flag and carried a sign reading \u201cIsrael\u2019s 9\/11.\u201d He said he felt compelled to drive from his Alpharetta<\/a> home to show his support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo nation would put up with this, as you would agree,\u201d he said. \u201cNo nation would allow its citizens to be murdered. So Israel has to fight back against evil. If you can imagine any of our cities, Austin, any of our southern cities getting 5,000 rockets shot at them, what would be the response from the United States? It would be utter destruction from President Biden, and his administration would destroy the enemy. So that\u2019s what Israel is going to have to do, unfortunately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cUnfortunately in any war, innocents and civilians are killed,\u201d he added. \u201cThat\u2019s just what happens in any war. You know that. So Israel will do its best not to bring that to civilians, but they\u2019re stuck. They\u2019re stuck with Hamas. And until Hamas is rooted out, this will continue.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Other marchers did not distinguish between Hamas and other Palestinians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe world is waking up to see the truth of Palestine,\u201d said one protester who identified himself as Benjamin, an Israeli-born Atlantan, but declined to give his last name. \u201cThey\u2019re murderers. They are terrorists. They want to kill us and they want to come for you. It\u2019s all about the Sharia. It\u2019s all about the Khalifa. It\u2019s not about freedom. It\u2019s not about the land. It\u2019s a religious war against the Jewish people, 1939, happening again, 2023, Holocaust for the Jews.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n But the division lines are not perfectly drawn along religious or ethnic lines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ari Bee, a Jewish activist, said they have been called a traitor to Judaism for their support of Palestine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c(Jews) have been harassed and intimidated, we have been kicked out of our homes, and I understand why we are scared and why we believe that Israel makes us safe,\u201d they said. \u201cI don\u2019t agree with that, but I do (understand). People are coming from a place of activation here, and I can just stand for what\u2019s true and hope that other people eventually join us in understanding that all human lives matter, and that $2 billion in U.S. aid to allow Israel to just do whatever it wants to Palestinians is absolutely unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bee and a few other Palestine supporters crossed paths with the pro-Israel demonstrators on the way to a competing rally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Atlanta<\/a> Police, Georgia State Patrol and Georgia State University police officers were gathered downtown en masse and kept the two sides separate, but in a few cases, stragglers from one camp came upon members of the other, sometimes leading to shouted taunts, curses or expletives from both directions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Bee spoke with reporters, a young man shouted at them from across the street.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI don\u2019t know why you have a yarmulke on your head, but you definitely don\u2019t represent us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI understand I don\u2019t represent Israel and Israelis, but I am a Jew,\u201d Bee shouted back.<\/a> Demonstrators demand Georgia State University drop its GILEE program. Ross Williams\/Georgia Recorder<\/p>\n\n\n\n As blue and white flags of Israel waved near Atlanta\u2019s Woodruff Park, the black, white, green and red flag of Palestine flew a couple blocks away near Georgia State University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A large crowd of mostly students gathered there to show their support for Palestinians in Gaza, who they feared would be victims of retaliation for Hamas\u2019 attacks on Israel \u2013 as of Friday, at least 1,900 people have been killed in Gaza as Israeli air strikes continuously hammer the territory \u2013 and to demand their school put an end to a program that encourages partnerships between local law enforcement agencies and Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange, or GILEE, advertises on its website that it provides peer-to-peer training for law enforcement and security professionals \u201cin or from\u201d 23 states and 12 countries.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n A university spokesperson did not respond to a request for more information on the program. The state passed a law<\/a> in 2011 that limits open records requests about GILEE after a progressive student group began looking<\/a> for information. Lawmakers said too much openness could put national security at risk.<\/a> Pro-Palestine marchers at Georgia State University. Ross Williams\/Georgia Recorder<\/p>\n\n\n\n In June, former GBI Director Mike Register participated in the program, leading a 20-member delegation including 12 Georgia police chiefs and command staff to Israel for two weeks of training with police there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reports indicate that one of the Israeli officers who previously trained Georgians was killed<\/a> in the fighting in the town of Sderot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI spent time at the Sderot police station, learning from our Israeli counterparts,\u201d said Georgia Insurance and Fire Safety Commissioner John King, a former police officer in Atlanta and police chief in Doraville. \u201cSeeing what happened there makes me sick. It\u2019s heartbreaking, and the terrorists responsible must pay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n GILEE was founded in 1992 in hopes of preventing a terrorist attack at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, and despite its popularity with law enforcement and Georgia\u2019s elected leadership, the program has come under question<\/a> from student groups who charge it has an anti-Muslim bias.<\/a> Pro-Palestine demonstrators at Georgia State University. Ross Williams\/Georgia Recorder<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many of the students gathered on the campus Thursday said they worry Georgia law enforcement officers are learning to oppress vulnerable populations. Some, like senior Graciela Cain, said they fear U.S. departments will take techniques honed on Palestinians and use them against Black populations at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAll of our struggles are interconnected, and we just want Georgia State to divest from spending that money on that when they could be spending the money on students,\u201d she said. \u201cI am a student here, it\u2019s my senior year, I\u2019m in the Africana Studies Department. I have students and friends who are single mothers who can barely pay to park on campus, who can barely afford tuition. And this is a state university, and we should be able to come here and not worry about those things.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The pro-Palestine demonstrators marched through the city chanting slogans like \u201cFree Palestine\u201d and \u201cFrom the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free,\u201d towards the university building where university president M. Brian Blake\u2019s office was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The pro-Palestine demonstrators marched through the city chanting slogans like \u201cFree Palestine\u201d and \u201cFrom the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free,\u201d a reference to the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea where Israel exists today. They marched toward the university building where university president M. Brian Blake\u2019s office was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After negotiations with campus police and human resources, Cain entered the building with a professor to deliver a letter to Blake demanding the university pull out of the training program. Cain said she handed the letter off to a representative but is not confident it will be read or considered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI don\u2019t think he\u2019s going to look at it or care,\u201d she said. \u201cBut the students, I\u2019m glad they came through, made their voices very loud and clear.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A week ago Saturday, rockets began to pour out of Gaza and Hamas militants stormed Israeli villages, killing and kidnapping civilians as well as military and police. The surprise attack left the key U.S. ally shaken and bloodied, and more violence is expected in a blooming conflict that could have major implications at home and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":141526,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[13448,14330],"class_list":["post-141525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-israel","tag-palestine","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=141525"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141525\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=141525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=141525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=141525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Some context<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
The attacks<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Atlanta protests<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Israel and Georgia law enforcement<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
![<\/a> Gov. Brian Kemp shakes hands with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a visit to Israel in May. Via Twitter<\/p>\n\n\n\nAnd he blasted former President Donald Trump on social media after the GOP presidential frontrunner made comments at a rally<\/a> criticizing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and calling Hezbollah \u201cvery smart.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cIt is never acceptable to praise deranged murderers or undermine one of our closest allies in their darkest hour,\u201d Kemp said Thursday<\/a> on X, formerly known as Twitter.<\/p>\n\n\n\nSen. Jon Ossoff, a Democrat who is Georgia\u2019s first Jewish U.S. senator, returned early from a bipartisan Senate national security delegation trip to Asia because of the turmoil. Ossoff\u2019s staff said the senator spoke with Israeli President Isaac Herzog from the U.S. embassy in Beijing on Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cThe American people and the people of Georgia stand in support of and, in solidarity with, the Israeli people at this moment of outrage and tragedy,\u201d Ossoff said in remarks read by a staff member at a solidarity event held this week in Sandy Springs.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe fallout also quickly touched the Gold Dome, where future legislative debates will likely be shaped by the attacks and ongoing response to those attacks. A bill defining antisemitism in state law that would have enabled stricter penalties for those who commit crimes inspired by antisemitism stalled this year<\/a> amid concerns that it could stifle legally protected speech criticizing Israel\u2019s government. That bill remains alive for next year.<\/a> Sen. Jon Ossoff talks with Israeli President Isaac Herzog from the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. Via Twitter<\/p>\n\n\n\nState Sen. Russ Goodman, a Cogdell Republican, was visiting Israel with a group when Hamas attacked. He said he could hear rockets being launched from the protective Iron Dome and automatic weapons being fired near his hotel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cI will continue to pray for our brothers and sisters in Israel, and I will stand with them in solidarity against the disgraceful attacks from both the terrorists that surround them and terrorist sympathizers here at home,\u201d Goodman said in a statement Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\nSome context<\/h4>\n\n\n\nGaza is a 140-square mile Palestinian enclave bordered by Egypt, Israel and the Mediterranean Sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\nPeople living there say the Israeli government suppresses their rights, using laws restricting their ability to travel and participate in politics, a blockade preventing basic goods from arriving, constant surveillance and violent repression.<\/p>\n\n\n\nIsraeli authorities say sanctions against Gaza are necessary for security.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHuman rights groups like Amnesty International have accused Israel of violating international law in its treatment of Palestinians, a charge Israel and the United States government disagree with.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe attacks<\/h4>\n\n\n\nIt was from Gaza that on Oct. 7, a group of militants from Hamas, an Islamist Palestinian political party designated as a terrorist group by the U.S. and other nations, broke through a sophisticated, fortified border and launched a surprise attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\nFighters reportedly swarmed into Israel using land vehicles, boats and motorized paragliders. Israeli and international media described armed men arriving in multiple towns and indiscriminately killing or capturing civilian men, women and children, as more than 6,000 rockets were launched toward Israel, according to Israeli officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAs of Friday, the Israeli death toll stood at more than 1,200 people killed and another 3,227 injured, Israel reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\nA bloody attack on a late night music festival where at least 260 people were reportedly killed particularly horrified international observers, as did reports that Hamas had targeted children and babies.<\/p>\n\n\n\nNetanyahu shared photographs he described as \u201chorrifying photos of babies murdered and burned by the Hamas monsters.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nAtlanta protests<\/h4>\n\n\n\nImages like those were on the minds of over a hundred pro-Israel demonstrators in downtown Atlanta Thursday as they waved blue and white Israel flags and waved signs with slogans like \u201cStand with Israel\u201d and \u201cFree the Hostages.\u201d<\/a> Marc Urbach of Alpharetta marches in support of Israel. Ross Williams\/Georgia Recorder<\/p>\n\n\n\nMarc Urbach waved an American flag and carried a sign reading \u201cIsrael\u2019s 9\/11.\u201d He said he felt compelled to drive from his Alpharetta<\/a> home to show his support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cNo nation would put up with this, as you would agree,\u201d he said. \u201cNo nation would allow its citizens to be murdered. So Israel has to fight back against evil. If you can imagine any of our cities, Austin, any of our southern cities getting 5,000 rockets shot at them, what would be the response from the United States? It would be utter destruction from President Biden, and his administration would destroy the enemy. So that\u2019s what Israel is going to have to do, unfortunately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cUnfortunately in any war, innocents and civilians are killed,\u201d he added. \u201cThat\u2019s just what happens in any war. You know that. So Israel will do its best not to bring that to civilians, but they\u2019re stuck. They\u2019re stuck with Hamas. And until Hamas is rooted out, this will continue.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nOther marchers did not distinguish between Hamas and other Palestinians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cThe world is waking up to see the truth of Palestine,\u201d said one protester who identified himself as Benjamin, an Israeli-born Atlantan, but declined to give his last name. \u201cThey\u2019re murderers. They are terrorists. They want to kill us and they want to come for you. It\u2019s all about the Sharia. It\u2019s all about the Khalifa. It\u2019s not about freedom. It\u2019s not about the land. It\u2019s a religious war against the Jewish people, 1939, happening again, 2023, Holocaust for the Jews.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nBut the division lines are not perfectly drawn along religious or ethnic lines.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAri Bee, a Jewish activist, said they have been called a traitor to Judaism for their support of Palestine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201c(Jews) have been harassed and intimidated, we have been kicked out of our homes, and I understand why we are scared and why we believe that Israel makes us safe,\u201d they said. \u201cI don\u2019t agree with that, but I do (understand). People are coming from a place of activation here, and I can just stand for what\u2019s true and hope that other people eventually join us in understanding that all human lives matter, and that $2 billion in U.S. aid to allow Israel to just do whatever it wants to Palestinians is absolutely unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nBee and a few other Palestine supporters crossed paths with the pro-Israel demonstrators on the way to a competing rally.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAtlanta<\/a> Police, Georgia State Patrol and Georgia State University police officers were gathered downtown en masse and kept the two sides separate, but in a few cases, stragglers from one camp came upon members of the other, sometimes leading to shouted taunts, curses or expletives from both directions.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAs Bee spoke with reporters, a young man shouted at them from across the street.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t know why you have a yarmulke on your head, but you definitely don\u2019t represent us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cI understand I don\u2019t represent Israel and Israelis, but I am a Jew,\u201d Bee shouted back.<\/a> Demonstrators demand Georgia State University drop its GILEE program. Ross Williams\/Georgia Recorder<\/p>\n\n\n\nIsrael and Georgia law enforcement<\/h4>\n\n\n\nAs blue and white flags of Israel waved near Atlanta\u2019s Woodruff Park, the black, white, green and red flag of Palestine flew a couple blocks away near Georgia State University.<\/p>\n\n\n\nA large crowd of mostly students gathered there to show their support for Palestinians in Gaza, who they feared would be victims of retaliation for Hamas\u2019 attacks on Israel \u2013 as of Friday, at least 1,900 people have been killed in Gaza as Israeli air strikes continuously hammer the territory \u2013 and to demand their school put an end to a program that encourages partnerships between local law enforcement agencies and Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange, or GILEE, advertises on its website that it provides peer-to-peer training for law enforcement and security professionals \u201cin or from\u201d 23 states and 12 countries.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nA university spokesperson did not respond to a request for more information on the program. The state passed a law<\/a> in 2011 that limits open records requests about GILEE after a progressive student group began looking<\/a> for information. Lawmakers said too much openness could put national security at risk.<\/a> Pro-Palestine marchers at Georgia State University. Ross Williams\/Georgia Recorder<\/p>\n\n\n\nIn June, former GBI Director Mike Register participated in the program, leading a 20-member delegation including 12 Georgia police chiefs and command staff to Israel for two weeks of training with police there.<\/p>\n\n\n\nReports indicate that one of the Israeli officers who previously trained Georgians was killed<\/a> in the fighting in the town of Sderot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cI spent time at the Sderot police station, learning from our Israeli counterparts,\u201d said Georgia Insurance and Fire Safety Commissioner John King, a former police officer in Atlanta and police chief in Doraville. \u201cSeeing what happened there makes me sick. It\u2019s heartbreaking, and the terrorists responsible must pay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nGILEE was founded in 1992 in hopes of preventing a terrorist attack at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, and despite its popularity with law enforcement and Georgia\u2019s elected leadership, the program has come under question<\/a> from student groups who charge it has an anti-Muslim bias.<\/a> Pro-Palestine demonstrators at Georgia State University. Ross Williams\/Georgia Recorder<\/p>\n\n\n\nMany of the students gathered on the campus Thursday said they worry Georgia law enforcement officers are learning to oppress vulnerable populations. Some, like senior Graciela Cain, said they fear U.S. departments will take techniques honed on Palestinians and use them against Black populations at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cAll of our struggles are interconnected, and we just want Georgia State to divest from spending that money on that when they could be spending the money on students,\u201d she said. \u201cI am a student here, it\u2019s my senior year, I\u2019m in the Africana Studies Department. I have students and friends who are single mothers who can barely pay to park on campus, who can barely afford tuition. And this is a state university, and we should be able to come here and not worry about those things.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe pro-Palestine demonstrators marched through the city chanting slogans like \u201cFree Palestine\u201d and \u201cFrom the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free,\u201d towards the university building where university president M. Brian Blake\u2019s office was.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe pro-Palestine demonstrators marched through the city chanting slogans like \u201cFree Palestine\u201d and \u201cFrom the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free,\u201d a reference to the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea where Israel exists today. They marched toward the university building where university president M. Brian Blake\u2019s office was.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAfter negotiations with campus police and human resources, Cain entered the building with a professor to deliver a letter to Blake demanding the university pull out of the training program. Cain said she handed the letter off to a representative but is not confident it will be read or considered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t think he\u2019s going to look at it or care,\u201d she said. \u201cBut the students, I\u2019m glad they came through, made their voices very loud and clear.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A week ago Saturday, rockets began to pour out of Gaza and Hamas militants stormed Israeli villages, killing and kidnapping civilians as well as military and police. The surprise attack left the key U.S. ally shaken and bloodied, and more violence is expected in a blooming conflict that could have major implications at home and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":141526,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[13448,14330],"class_list":["post-141525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-israel","tag-palestine","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=141525"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141525\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=141525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=141525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=141525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}](\"https:\/\/georgiarecorder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/kemp_1.jpg\"){kind=link}
![<\/a> Sen. Jon Ossoff talks with Israeli President Isaac Herzog from the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. Via Twitter<\/p>\n\n\n\nState Sen. Russ Goodman, a Cogdell Republican, was visiting Israel with a group when Hamas attacked. He said he could hear rockets being launched from the protective Iron Dome and automatic weapons being fired near his hotel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cI will continue to pray for our brothers and sisters in Israel, and I will stand with them in solidarity against the disgraceful attacks from both the terrorists that surround them and terrorist sympathizers here at home,\u201d Goodman said in a statement Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\nSome context<\/h4>\n\n\n\nGaza is a 140-square mile Palestinian enclave bordered by Egypt, Israel and the Mediterranean Sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\nPeople living there say the Israeli government suppresses their rights, using laws restricting their ability to travel and participate in politics, a blockade preventing basic goods from arriving, constant surveillance and violent repression.<\/p>\n\n\n\nIsraeli authorities say sanctions against Gaza are necessary for security.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHuman rights groups like Amnesty International have accused Israel of violating international law in its treatment of Palestinians, a charge Israel and the United States government disagree with.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe attacks<\/h4>\n\n\n\nIt was from Gaza that on Oct. 7, a group of militants from Hamas, an Islamist Palestinian political party designated as a terrorist group by the U.S. and other nations, broke through a sophisticated, fortified border and launched a surprise attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\nFighters reportedly swarmed into Israel using land vehicles, boats and motorized paragliders. Israeli and international media described armed men arriving in multiple towns and indiscriminately killing or capturing civilian men, women and children, as more than 6,000 rockets were launched toward Israel, according to Israeli officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAs of Friday, the Israeli death toll stood at more than 1,200 people killed and another 3,227 injured, Israel reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\nA bloody attack on a late night music festival where at least 260 people were reportedly killed particularly horrified international observers, as did reports that Hamas had targeted children and babies.<\/p>\n\n\n\nNetanyahu shared photographs he described as \u201chorrifying photos of babies murdered and burned by the Hamas monsters.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nAtlanta protests<\/h4>\n\n\n\nImages like those were on the minds of over a hundred pro-Israel demonstrators in downtown Atlanta Thursday as they waved blue and white Israel flags and waved signs with slogans like \u201cStand with Israel\u201d and \u201cFree the Hostages.\u201d<\/a> Marc Urbach of Alpharetta marches in support of Israel. Ross Williams\/Georgia Recorder<\/p>\n\n\n\nMarc Urbach waved an American flag and carried a sign reading \u201cIsrael\u2019s 9\/11.\u201d He said he felt compelled to drive from his Alpharetta<\/a> home to show his support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cNo nation would put up with this, as you would agree,\u201d he said. \u201cNo nation would allow its citizens to be murdered. So Israel has to fight back against evil. If you can imagine any of our cities, Austin, any of our southern cities getting 5,000 rockets shot at them, what would be the response from the United States? It would be utter destruction from President Biden, and his administration would destroy the enemy. So that\u2019s what Israel is going to have to do, unfortunately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cUnfortunately in any war, innocents and civilians are killed,\u201d he added. \u201cThat\u2019s just what happens in any war. You know that. So Israel will do its best not to bring that to civilians, but they\u2019re stuck. They\u2019re stuck with Hamas. And until Hamas is rooted out, this will continue.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nOther marchers did not distinguish between Hamas and other Palestinians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cThe world is waking up to see the truth of Palestine,\u201d said one protester who identified himself as Benjamin, an Israeli-born Atlantan, but declined to give his last name. \u201cThey\u2019re murderers. They are terrorists. They want to kill us and they want to come for you. It\u2019s all about the Sharia. It\u2019s all about the Khalifa. It\u2019s not about freedom. It\u2019s not about the land. It\u2019s a religious war against the Jewish people, 1939, happening again, 2023, Holocaust for the Jews.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nBut the division lines are not perfectly drawn along religious or ethnic lines.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAri Bee, a Jewish activist, said they have been called a traitor to Judaism for their support of Palestine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201c(Jews) have been harassed and intimidated, we have been kicked out of our homes, and I understand why we are scared and why we believe that Israel makes us safe,\u201d they said. \u201cI don\u2019t agree with that, but I do (understand). People are coming from a place of activation here, and I can just stand for what\u2019s true and hope that other people eventually join us in understanding that all human lives matter, and that $2 billion in U.S. aid to allow Israel to just do whatever it wants to Palestinians is absolutely unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nBee and a few other Palestine supporters crossed paths with the pro-Israel demonstrators on the way to a competing rally.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAtlanta<\/a> Police, Georgia State Patrol and Georgia State University police officers were gathered downtown en masse and kept the two sides separate, but in a few cases, stragglers from one camp came upon members of the other, sometimes leading to shouted taunts, curses or expletives from both directions.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAs Bee spoke with reporters, a young man shouted at them from across the street.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t know why you have a yarmulke on your head, but you definitely don\u2019t represent us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cI understand I don\u2019t represent Israel and Israelis, but I am a Jew,\u201d Bee shouted back.<\/a> Demonstrators demand Georgia State University drop its GILEE program. Ross Williams\/Georgia Recorder<\/p>\n\n\n\nIsrael and Georgia law enforcement<\/h4>\n\n\n\nAs blue and white flags of Israel waved near Atlanta\u2019s Woodruff Park, the black, white, green and red flag of Palestine flew a couple blocks away near Georgia State University.<\/p>\n\n\n\nA large crowd of mostly students gathered there to show their support for Palestinians in Gaza, who they feared would be victims of retaliation for Hamas\u2019 attacks on Israel \u2013 as of Friday, at least 1,900 people have been killed in Gaza as Israeli air strikes continuously hammer the territory \u2013 and to demand their school put an end to a program that encourages partnerships between local law enforcement agencies and Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange, or GILEE, advertises on its website that it provides peer-to-peer training for law enforcement and security professionals \u201cin or from\u201d 23 states and 12 countries.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nA university spokesperson did not respond to a request for more information on the program. The state passed a law<\/a> in 2011 that limits open records requests about GILEE after a progressive student group began looking<\/a> for information. Lawmakers said too much openness could put national security at risk.<\/a> Pro-Palestine marchers at Georgia State University. Ross Williams\/Georgia Recorder<\/p>\n\n\n\nIn June, former GBI Director Mike Register participated in the program, leading a 20-member delegation including 12 Georgia police chiefs and command staff to Israel for two weeks of training with police there.<\/p>\n\n\n\nReports indicate that one of the Israeli officers who previously trained Georgians was killed<\/a> in the fighting in the town of Sderot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cI spent time at the Sderot police station, learning from our Israeli counterparts,\u201d said Georgia Insurance and Fire Safety Commissioner John King, a former police officer in Atlanta and police chief in Doraville. \u201cSeeing what happened there makes me sick. It\u2019s heartbreaking, and the terrorists responsible must pay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nGILEE was founded in 1992 in hopes of preventing a terrorist attack at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, and despite its popularity with law enforcement and Georgia\u2019s elected leadership, the program has come under question<\/a> from student groups who charge it has an anti-Muslim bias.<\/a> Pro-Palestine demonstrators at Georgia State University. Ross Williams\/Georgia Recorder<\/p>\n\n\n\nMany of the students gathered on the campus Thursday said they worry Georgia law enforcement officers are learning to oppress vulnerable populations. Some, like senior Graciela Cain, said they fear U.S. departments will take techniques honed on Palestinians and use them against Black populations at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cAll of our struggles are interconnected, and we just want Georgia State to divest from spending that money on that when they could be spending the money on students,\u201d she said. \u201cI am a student here, it\u2019s my senior year, I\u2019m in the Africana Studies Department. I have students and friends who are single mothers who can barely pay to park on campus, who can barely afford tuition. And this is a state university, and we should be able to come here and not worry about those things.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe pro-Palestine demonstrators marched through the city chanting slogans like \u201cFree Palestine\u201d and \u201cFrom the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free,\u201d towards the university building where university president M. Brian Blake\u2019s office was.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe pro-Palestine demonstrators marched through the city chanting slogans like \u201cFree Palestine\u201d and \u201cFrom the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free,\u201d a reference to the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea where Israel exists today. They marched toward the university building where university president M. Brian Blake\u2019s office was.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAfter negotiations with campus police and human resources, Cain entered the building with a professor to deliver a letter to Blake demanding the university pull out of the training program. Cain said she handed the letter off to a representative but is not confident it will be read or considered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t think he\u2019s going to look at it or care,\u201d she said. \u201cBut the students, I\u2019m glad they came through, made their voices very loud and clear.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A week ago Saturday, rockets began to pour out of Gaza and Hamas militants stormed Israeli villages, killing and kidnapping civilians as well as military and police. The surprise attack left the key U.S. ally shaken and bloodied, and more violence is expected in a blooming conflict that could have major implications at home and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":141526,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[13448,14330],"class_list":["post-141525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-israel","tag-palestine","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=141525"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141525\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=141525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=141525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=141525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}](\"https:\/\/georgiarecorder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/ossoffherzog-scaled.jpg\"){kind=link}
![<\/a> Marc Urbach of Alpharetta marches in support of Israel. Ross Williams\/Georgia Recorder<\/p>\n\n\n\nMarc Urbach waved an American flag and carried a sign reading \u201cIsrael\u2019s 9\/11.\u201d He said he felt compelled to drive from his Alpharetta<\/a> home to show his support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cNo nation would put up with this, as you would agree,\u201d he said. \u201cNo nation would allow its citizens to be murdered. So Israel has to fight back against evil. If you can imagine any of our cities, Austin, any of our southern cities getting 5,000 rockets shot at them, what would be the response from the United States? It would be utter destruction from President Biden, and his administration would destroy the enemy. So that\u2019s what Israel is going to have to do, unfortunately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cUnfortunately in any war, innocents and civilians are killed,\u201d he added. \u201cThat\u2019s just what happens in any war. You know that. So Israel will do its best not to bring that to civilians, but they\u2019re stuck. They\u2019re stuck with Hamas. And until Hamas is rooted out, this will continue.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nOther marchers did not distinguish between Hamas and other Palestinians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cThe world is waking up to see the truth of Palestine,\u201d said one protester who identified himself as Benjamin, an Israeli-born Atlantan, but declined to give his last name. \u201cThey\u2019re murderers. They are terrorists. They want to kill us and they want to come for you. It\u2019s all about the Sharia. It\u2019s all about the Khalifa. It\u2019s not about freedom. It\u2019s not about the land. It\u2019s a religious war against the Jewish people, 1939, happening again, 2023, Holocaust for the Jews.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nBut the division lines are not perfectly drawn along religious or ethnic lines.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAri Bee, a Jewish activist, said they have been called a traitor to Judaism for their support of Palestine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201c(Jews) have been harassed and intimidated, we have been kicked out of our homes, and I understand why we are scared and why we believe that Israel makes us safe,\u201d they said. \u201cI don\u2019t agree with that, but I do (understand). People are coming from a place of activation here, and I can just stand for what\u2019s true and hope that other people eventually join us in understanding that all human lives matter, and that $2 billion in U.S. aid to allow Israel to just do whatever it wants to Palestinians is absolutely unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nBee and a few other Palestine supporters crossed paths with the pro-Israel demonstrators on the way to a competing rally.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAtlanta<\/a> Police, Georgia State Patrol and Georgia State University police officers were gathered downtown en masse and kept the two sides separate, but in a few cases, stragglers from one camp came upon members of the other, sometimes leading to shouted taunts, curses or expletives from both directions.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAs Bee spoke with reporters, a young man shouted at them from across the street.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t know why you have a yarmulke on your head, but you definitely don\u2019t represent us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cI understand I don\u2019t represent Israel and Israelis, but I am a Jew,\u201d Bee shouted back.<\/a> Demonstrators demand Georgia State University drop its GILEE program. Ross Williams\/Georgia Recorder<\/p>\n\n\n\nIsrael and Georgia law enforcement<\/h4>\n\n\n\nAs blue and white flags of Israel waved near Atlanta\u2019s Woodruff Park, the black, white, green and red flag of Palestine flew a couple blocks away near Georgia State University.<\/p>\n\n\n\nA large crowd of mostly students gathered there to show their support for Palestinians in Gaza, who they feared would be victims of retaliation for Hamas\u2019 attacks on Israel \u2013 as of Friday, at least 1,900 people have been killed in Gaza as Israeli air strikes continuously hammer the territory \u2013 and to demand their school put an end to a program that encourages partnerships between local law enforcement agencies and Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange, or GILEE, advertises on its website that it provides peer-to-peer training for law enforcement and security professionals \u201cin or from\u201d 23 states and 12 countries.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nA university spokesperson did not respond to a request for more information on the program. The state passed a law<\/a> in 2011 that limits open records requests about GILEE after a progressive student group began looking<\/a> for information. Lawmakers said too much openness could put national security at risk.<\/a> Pro-Palestine marchers at Georgia State University. Ross Williams\/Georgia Recorder<\/p>\n\n\n\nIn June, former GBI Director Mike Register participated in the program, leading a 20-member delegation including 12 Georgia police chiefs and command staff to Israel for two weeks of training with police there.<\/p>\n\n\n\nReports indicate that one of the Israeli officers who previously trained Georgians was killed<\/a> in the fighting in the town of Sderot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cI spent time at the Sderot police station, learning from our Israeli counterparts,\u201d said Georgia Insurance and Fire Safety Commissioner John King, a former police officer in Atlanta and police chief in Doraville. \u201cSeeing what happened there makes me sick. It\u2019s heartbreaking, and the terrorists responsible must pay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nGILEE was founded in 1992 in hopes of preventing a terrorist attack at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, and despite its popularity with law enforcement and Georgia\u2019s elected leadership, the program has come under question<\/a> from student groups who charge it has an anti-Muslim bias.<\/a> Pro-Palestine demonstrators at Georgia State University. Ross Williams\/Georgia Recorder<\/p>\n\n\n\nMany of the students gathered on the campus Thursday said they worry Georgia law enforcement officers are learning to oppress vulnerable populations. Some, like senior Graciela Cain, said they fear U.S. departments will take techniques honed on Palestinians and use them against Black populations at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cAll of our struggles are interconnected, and we just want Georgia State to divest from spending that money on that when they could be spending the money on students,\u201d she said. \u201cI am a student here, it\u2019s my senior year, I\u2019m in the Africana Studies Department. I have students and friends who are single mothers who can barely pay to park on campus, who can barely afford tuition. And this is a state university, and we should be able to come here and not worry about those things.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe pro-Palestine demonstrators marched through the city chanting slogans like \u201cFree Palestine\u201d and \u201cFrom the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free,\u201d towards the university building where university president M. Brian Blake\u2019s office was.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe pro-Palestine demonstrators marched through the city chanting slogans like \u201cFree Palestine\u201d and \u201cFrom the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free,\u201d a reference to the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea where Israel exists today. They marched toward the university building where university president M. Brian Blake\u2019s office was.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAfter negotiations with campus police and human resources, Cain entered the building with a professor to deliver a letter to Blake demanding the university pull out of the training program. Cain said she handed the letter off to a representative but is not confident it will be read or considered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t think he\u2019s going to look at it or care,\u201d she said. \u201cBut the students, I\u2019m glad they came through, made their voices very loud and clear.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A week ago Saturday, rockets began to pour out of Gaza and Hamas militants stormed Israeli villages, killing and kidnapping civilians as well as military and police. The surprise attack left the key U.S. ally shaken and bloodied, and more violence is expected in a blooming conflict that could have major implications at home and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":141526,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[13448,14330],"class_list":["post-141525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-israel","tag-palestine","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=141525"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141525\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=141525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=141525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=141525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}](\"https:\/\/georgiarecorder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/DSC0907_1-rotated.jpg\"){kind=link}
![<\/a> Demonstrators demand Georgia State University drop its GILEE program. Ross Williams\/Georgia Recorder<\/p>\n\n\n\nIsrael and Georgia law enforcement<\/h4>\n\n\n\nAs blue and white flags of Israel waved near Atlanta\u2019s Woodruff Park, the black, white, green and red flag of Palestine flew a couple blocks away near Georgia State University.<\/p>\n\n\n\nA large crowd of mostly students gathered there to show their support for Palestinians in Gaza, who they feared would be victims of retaliation for Hamas\u2019 attacks on Israel \u2013 as of Friday, at least 1,900 people have been killed in Gaza as Israeli air strikes continuously hammer the territory \u2013 and to demand their school put an end to a program that encourages partnerships between local law enforcement agencies and Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange, or GILEE, advertises on its website that it provides peer-to-peer training for law enforcement and security professionals \u201cin or from\u201d 23 states and 12 countries.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nA university spokesperson did not respond to a request for more information on the program. The state passed a law<\/a> in 2011 that limits open records requests about GILEE after a progressive student group began looking<\/a> for information. Lawmakers said too much openness could put national security at risk.<\/a> Pro-Palestine marchers at Georgia State University. Ross Williams\/Georgia Recorder<\/p>\n\n\n\nIn June, former GBI Director Mike Register participated in the program, leading a 20-member delegation including 12 Georgia police chiefs and command staff to Israel for two weeks of training with police there.<\/p>\n\n\n\nReports indicate that one of the Israeli officers who previously trained Georgians was killed<\/a> in the fighting in the town of Sderot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cI spent time at the Sderot police station, learning from our Israeli counterparts,\u201d said Georgia Insurance and Fire Safety Commissioner John King, a former police officer in Atlanta and police chief in Doraville. \u201cSeeing what happened there makes me sick. It\u2019s heartbreaking, and the terrorists responsible must pay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nGILEE was founded in 1992 in hopes of preventing a terrorist attack at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, and despite its popularity with law enforcement and Georgia\u2019s elected leadership, the program has come under question<\/a> from student groups who charge it has an anti-Muslim bias.<\/a> Pro-Palestine demonstrators at Georgia State University. Ross Williams\/Georgia Recorder<\/p>\n\n\n\nMany of the students gathered on the campus Thursday said they worry Georgia law enforcement officers are learning to oppress vulnerable populations. Some, like senior Graciela Cain, said they fear U.S. departments will take techniques honed on Palestinians and use them against Black populations at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cAll of our struggles are interconnected, and we just want Georgia State to divest from spending that money on that when they could be spending the money on students,\u201d she said. \u201cI am a student here, it\u2019s my senior year, I\u2019m in the Africana Studies Department. I have students and friends who are single mothers who can barely pay to park on campus, who can barely afford tuition. And this is a state university, and we should be able to come here and not worry about those things.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe pro-Palestine demonstrators marched through the city chanting slogans like \u201cFree Palestine\u201d and \u201cFrom the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free,\u201d towards the university building where university president M. Brian Blake\u2019s office was.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe pro-Palestine demonstrators marched through the city chanting slogans like \u201cFree Palestine\u201d and \u201cFrom the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free,\u201d a reference to the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea where Israel exists today. They marched toward the university building where university president M. Brian Blake\u2019s office was.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAfter negotiations with campus police and human resources, Cain entered the building with a professor to deliver a letter to Blake demanding the university pull out of the training program. Cain said she handed the letter off to a representative but is not confident it will be read or considered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t think he\u2019s going to look at it or care,\u201d she said. \u201cBut the students, I\u2019m glad they came through, made their voices very loud and clear.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A week ago Saturday, rockets began to pour out of Gaza and Hamas militants stormed Israeli villages, killing and kidnapping civilians as well as military and police. The surprise attack left the key U.S. ally shaken and bloodied, and more violence is expected in a blooming conflict that could have major implications at home and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":141526,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[13448,14330],"class_list":["post-141525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-israel","tag-palestine","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=141525"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141525\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=141525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=141525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=141525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}](\"https:\/\/georgiarecorder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/DSC0247_1.jpg\"){kind=link}
![<\/a> Pro-Palestine marchers at Georgia State University. Ross Williams\/Georgia Recorder<\/p>\n\n\n\nIn June, former GBI Director Mike Register participated in the program, leading a 20-member delegation including 12 Georgia police chiefs and command staff to Israel for two weeks of training with police there.<\/p>\n\n\n\nReports indicate that one of the Israeli officers who previously trained Georgians was killed<\/a> in the fighting in the town of Sderot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cI spent time at the Sderot police station, learning from our Israeli counterparts,\u201d said Georgia Insurance and Fire Safety Commissioner John King, a former police officer in Atlanta and police chief in Doraville. \u201cSeeing what happened there makes me sick. It\u2019s heartbreaking, and the terrorists responsible must pay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nGILEE was founded in 1992 in hopes of preventing a terrorist attack at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, and despite its popularity with law enforcement and Georgia\u2019s elected leadership, the program has come under question<\/a> from student groups who charge it has an anti-Muslim bias.<\/a> Pro-Palestine demonstrators at Georgia State University. Ross Williams\/Georgia Recorder<\/p>\n\n\n\nMany of the students gathered on the campus Thursday said they worry Georgia law enforcement officers are learning to oppress vulnerable populations. Some, like senior Graciela Cain, said they fear U.S. departments will take techniques honed on Palestinians and use them against Black populations at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cAll of our struggles are interconnected, and we just want Georgia State to divest from spending that money on that when they could be spending the money on students,\u201d she said. \u201cI am a student here, it\u2019s my senior year, I\u2019m in the Africana Studies Department. I have students and friends who are single mothers who can barely pay to park on campus, who can barely afford tuition. And this is a state university, and we should be able to come here and not worry about those things.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe pro-Palestine demonstrators marched through the city chanting slogans like \u201cFree Palestine\u201d and \u201cFrom the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free,\u201d towards the university building where university president M. Brian Blake\u2019s office was.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe pro-Palestine demonstrators marched through the city chanting slogans like \u201cFree Palestine\u201d and \u201cFrom the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free,\u201d a reference to the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea where Israel exists today. They marched toward the university building where university president M. Brian Blake\u2019s office was.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAfter negotiations with campus police and human resources, Cain entered the building with a professor to deliver a letter to Blake demanding the university pull out of the training program. Cain said she handed the letter off to a representative but is not confident it will be read or considered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t think he\u2019s going to look at it or care,\u201d she said. \u201cBut the students, I\u2019m glad they came through, made their voices very loud and clear.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A week ago Saturday, rockets began to pour out of Gaza and Hamas militants stormed Israeli villages, killing and kidnapping civilians as well as military and police. The surprise attack left the key U.S. ally shaken and bloodied, and more violence is expected in a blooming conflict that could have major implications at home and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":141526,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[13448,14330],"class_list":["post-141525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-israel","tag-palestine","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=141525"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141525\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=141525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=141525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=141525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}](\"https:\/\/georgiarecorder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/DSC0120_1.jpg\"){kind=link}
![<\/a> Pro-Palestine demonstrators at Georgia State University. Ross Williams\/Georgia Recorder<\/p>\n\n\n\nMany of the students gathered on the campus Thursday said they worry Georgia law enforcement officers are learning to oppress vulnerable populations. Some, like senior Graciela Cain, said they fear U.S. departments will take techniques honed on Palestinians and use them against Black populations at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cAll of our struggles are interconnected, and we just want Georgia State to divest from spending that money on that when they could be spending the money on students,\u201d she said. \u201cI am a student here, it\u2019s my senior year, I\u2019m in the Africana Studies Department. I have students and friends who are single mothers who can barely pay to park on campus, who can barely afford tuition. And this is a state university, and we should be able to come here and not worry about those things.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe pro-Palestine demonstrators marched through the city chanting slogans like \u201cFree Palestine\u201d and \u201cFrom the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free,\u201d towards the university building where university president M. Brian Blake\u2019s office was.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe pro-Palestine demonstrators marched through the city chanting slogans like \u201cFree Palestine\u201d and \u201cFrom the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free,\u201d a reference to the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea where Israel exists today. They marched toward the university building where university president M. Brian Blake\u2019s office was.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAfter negotiations with campus police and human resources, Cain entered the building with a professor to deliver a letter to Blake demanding the university pull out of the training program. Cain said she handed the letter off to a representative but is not confident it will be read or considered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t think he\u2019s going to look at it or care,\u201d she said. \u201cBut the students, I\u2019m glad they came through, made their voices very loud and clear.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A week ago Saturday, rockets began to pour out of Gaza and Hamas militants stormed Israeli villages, killing and kidnapping civilians as well as military and police. The surprise attack left the key U.S. ally shaken and bloodied, and more violence is expected in a blooming conflict that could have major implications at home and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":141526,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[13448,14330],"class_list":["post-141525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-israel","tag-palestine","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=141525"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141525\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=141525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=141525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=141525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}](\"https:\/\/georgiarecorder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/DSC0217_2.jpg\"){kind=link}