Atlanta, GA – On May 18, a Nakba Day protest took place outside of the CNN headquarters, as part of the global commemoration of the 76th anniversary of the Nakba, marking the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in 1948.

The rally highlighted the growing struggle for Palestinian liberation and programs like the Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange (GILEE) that must be defeated for the collective liberation of Palestinians and Black folks in the South.

Layla Amar, an organizer with the Palestinian Youth Movement in Atlanta, said, “We gathered in Atlanta to commemorate the Nakba, which means catastrophe in Arabic. Nakba day is a remembrance of May 15, 1948 where the Zionist entity murdered 15,000 and exiled 750,000 Palestinians. Too often when the world talks about Palestine, we center Palestinian victimhood, but I want to ensure that this Nakba day we also remember the resilience of the Palestinian people as they have played an imperative role in globalizing the Intifada.”

Speakers from the University of Georgia spoke out on the movement’s erecting encampments on campuses across the country demanding that schools disclose their ties to the Israeli occupation and divest from those ties. Community groups’ speakers highlighted the need for solidarity with the Palestinian people from the Philippines to the Black Belt South.

Laith Abdel Hader, an organizer with the Atlanta Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, stated “The tide of the Palestinian liberation movement is rising and the struggle is escalating. As this tide is rising, all liberation struggles are rising with it, especially the Black liberation struggle here in the U.S. Folks here and abroad are seeing how these struggles are connected, fighting them here at home like we are with the GILEE program.”

The GILEE program, housed at Georgia State University, allows for IOF soldiers and Georgia police officers to train one another, sharing tactics and methods to repress communities and their movements. GILEE participants include C.J. Davis, the current police chief in Memphis and former supervisor of the Red Dog unit in Atlanta, which notoriously has brutalized and maimed dozens of Black folks. The same Red Dog unit that murdered 26 year old Jamarion Robinson – shooting him 76 times “on suspicion” in 2016. Ending the GILEE program is tied directly with the fight against police crimes in the city.

The Nakba protest was organized by the Palestinian Youth Movement, Athens Against Apartheid, Georgia Students for Divestment, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Black Alliance for Peace, Atlanta Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, and ATL Radical Art.

Amar stated, “Palestine represents the worldwide oppression created by this imperial system, which means it is essential that the people in Atlanta, and all of us in the heart of the empire, play an active role in the fight for liberation.”

#AtlantaGA #GA #AntiWarMovement #International #MiddleEast #Palestine #Nakba #NAARPR #AAARPR #GILEE #PYM #FRSO #BAP #ATLRA #AAA #GSD

Atlanta, GA – Over 150 students from Georgia State University and members of the broader Atlanta community converged in Hurt Park downtown Friday, May 3, in a protest against the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza.

Of primary focus were calls for the end of the Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange (GILEE) program, which promotes reciprocal training between Georgia police and Israeli occupation forces, with a particular focus on urban warfare and control of crowds.

The GILEE program at Georgia State University (GSU), funded as a nonprofit through the university foundation, has drawn widespread criticism from activists for its officer exchanges between the U.S. and Israel. Under the auspices of “international cooperation,” police from Georgia and other parts of the United States train alongside the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) in brutal crowd control techniques and use of force against protesters. This criticism has intensified amid broader condemnations of U.S. support for Israel’s ongoing genocidal war in Gaza.

The protest drew active participation from a range of groups including GSU Students for Justice in Palestine, Black Alliance for Peace Atlanta, Dissenters, the All-African People’s Revolutionary Party, and the Atlanta Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression.

Erica Kadel of the Atlanta Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression opened the protest with a fiery address to the crowd. Kadel was one of the 28 people arrested by police at Emory University on April 25 while protesting the genocide in Gaza. Energizing the crowd with the chant, “From Palestine to Emory, stop the U.S. war machine,” Kadel linked the struggle against local police militarization with global peace efforts.

“A lot of naysayers say that what we do here could not possibly have an impact in Palestine,” said Kadel. “We know how intimately linked our struggles here in Atlanta and in Palestine are – a prime example being the GILEE program. If people still don't get it, all you have to do is look at the videos, photos and statements coming from individuals and organizations in Gaza and the West Bank thanking the U.S. student encampments. In fact, Bisan Owda, a journalist in Gaza said, 'The voice of U.S. student encampments is louder than the bombs in Gaza,' and that should give us heart that what we do here matters.”

The protesters then marched through the largely urban-based university campus before arriving at the GSU complex that hosts the GILEE offices. There, Atlanta police blocked the crowd from getting close to the building and attacked them. Officers ripped signs and umbrellas out of people’s hands and threw objects forcefully into the crowd. Referring to the Atlanta Police Department, the crowd chanted during these attacks: “APD, KKK, IDF, They’re all the same!”

As the demonstration dispersed, student activists called for further protests at GSU in the coming days.

#AtlantaGA #GSU #GILEE #AAARPR #AtlantaAlliance

Atlanta, GA – On the afternoon of November 11, about 200 community members gathered outside of the Atlanta city hall to demand an end to the Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange (GILEE) program and an end to the construction of the $90 million police training facility known as Cop City.

According to Georgia State University, GILEE is, “a joint project of Georgia State University and local, state, federal, and international law enforcement, and public safety agencies. GILEE’s mission is to enhance law enforcement executive development and international cooperation.”

In reality this program allows for the exchange of tactics and weapons between racist police forces in Georgia who occupy and violently attack Black communities and the terrorist Israeli occupation forces who are carrying out a genocide upon the Palestinian people.

GILEE has existed for over three decades and is run by the Zionist Dr. Robert Friedmann, a professor at Georgia State University. As recently as June, 12 Georgia police chiefs and command staff, three Georgia sheriffs, the former director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, as well as members of the Department of Justice, Georgia Public Safety Training Center and Georgia Department of Public Safety traveled to Israel to receive training. On that trip they were mainly hosted and trained by Israeli Lieutenant Colonel JR Davidov, who recently died during the Al Aqsa Flood operation that was launched by the heroic Palestinian resistance in October.

Opponents of GILEE and Cop City are natural allies, as there is no doubt that Israeli occupation forces would travel to Cop City for training if it were built.

The rally was organized by the Atlanta Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression and was co-sponsored by Palestine Action US, Black Alliance for Peace, Climate Justice Committee and Freedom Road Socialist Organization. Protesters held signs that read “End U.S. aid to Israel” and “From Atlanta to Palestine: occupation is a crime!” which were met with a consistent stream of supportive honking from cars driving by. The rain did not deter anyone in attendance from making their voices heard, as they belted our chants such as “They got tanks, we got gliders! Glory to all the resistance fighters!” and “There is only one solution! Intifada, revolution!”

A member of Black Alliance for Peace spoke about the “skills” exchanged between the Israeli occupation and Georgia police, “They share the worst practices. Practices that are used to promote the militarization and occupation of colonized communities throughout the U.S. These practices include racial profiling, extrajudicial killings, and Cop City. In occupied Palestine they have a ‘Little Gaza’ a mock neighborhood to practice urban warfare.” This mock town is exactly what Cop City is proposed as, a training ground to repress uprisings like the George Floyd Rebellion of 2020.

David Jones and Laith Abdel Hader with the Atlanta Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression gave a speech in both English and Arabic, stating, “The people of Gaza have been saying ‘Heaven is closer than the Sinai desert.’ They are determined to win or die fighting, and there is no other option. Palestinians and their resistance are not going anywhere, and this pathetic attempt by Israel will only fuel the flames of struggle which will burn the occupation down.”

Taylor Cook, an organizer with the Atlanta District of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, further drew the connection between Palestinian liberation and the national liberation struggles within the U.S., “We are here to demand an end to the GILEE program, because lest we forget that it was from Israeli occupation soldiers that Derek Chauvin learned and used the knee on the neck tactic on George Floyd, and it was teargas canisters from Israel used to choke us out when we took to the streets during the George Floyd Rebellion. We know that the struggle to stop Cop City is intertwined with the Palestinian struggle.”

From the campus of Georgia State University to the streets of Atlanta, it is clear that the people oppose the GILEE program and the use of Cop City by Israeli occupation forces, should it be built. The protest dispersed safely after attendees vowed to continue to stand unconditionally with the Palestinian liberation struggle and to do all they can to end U.S. aid to the Zionist occupation of Palestine.

#AtlantaGA #GILEE #Palestine #StopCopCity #AAARPR #NAARPR #Feature