Ramallah, MINA – The United States (US) police knee-locking technique against the neck of George Floyd, which is questioned by the international community for its cruelty, is apparently carried out daily by the police and the Israeli army against Palestinians.
The lock that was enshrined in a video finally killed Floyd, an African-American man who later sparked resentment and protest from residents.
Over the past week cities across the US have been stricken with protests against racism and police brutality, which have led to riots, arson and looting of shops.
For one community, the disproportionate violence faced by black people at the hands of US police forces has a special resonance because it reflects their own experience with the authorities.
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But for Palestinians, living under military occupation in occupied East Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank, the worst excess of the kind seen in the US recently, is an almost daily occurrence.
After Floyd’s murder, the Palestinians quickly drew parallels between the final picture of the man suffering under the knee of the US police and a similar lock used by Israeli occupation forces against Palestinian adult men and children.
“Crazy, how the same thing happened in Palestine but the world chose to ignore it,” Palestinian athlete Mohammad Alqadi wrote on his Twitter above four separate pictures showing Israeli soldiers pinning Palestinian necks or heads to the ground with their knees.
The killing of Palestinians by Israeli forces is also a common occurrence. In 2019, 135 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces with 108 in Gaza and 27 others in the West Bank, according to the United Nations.
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The similarities do not end there because some activists have drawn parallels between the way US police handled protests against police brutality after Floyd’s death and the way Israel handled protests in Gaza.
On Twitter, the BDS and Palestinian Solidarity working group within the American Democratic Socialists wrote:
“The police violence that occurred tonight in Minneapolis is directly from the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) handbook. How many times have we seen the uprising in Gaza meet with a tear gas storm? How many times were Palestinians in the West Bank doused with skunks during protests? The US police practice in Israel. ” (T/RE1)
Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)
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