Sometime around October 16, 2011, this small article appeared in the Metrowest Daily News, but only the in the print edition.

This article states that our police chief Steven B. Carl, who has identified himself as jewish is taking a trip to Israel for some counter-terrorism training sponsored by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) .

The ADL's motto on the top of the web page states

Since 1913: To stop the defamation of the Jewish people... to secure justice and fair treatment to all.

To any atheist this smells of religion and only one religion, Judaism.

Does anyone think for a moment that the ADL supports Islam?

The problem I have is this seems to be a violation of church and state if we the taxpayers are in anyway paying for this. If Steven B. Carl gets paid while he is in Israel, then we the taxpayers are paying for a specific religion.

Why is counter-terrorism training only offered in Israel and only by the ADL?

One would think that our $40 billion Department of Homeland Security (DHS) would offer such training in the US.

Something smells fishy here? Perhaps, our police chief is a a true bigot.

Steven Carl Goes to Israel October 16, 2011
Derek Mclean Boston Globe
Newton Police Chief Matthew Cummings will head to Israel on Saturday to take part in a 10-day antiterrorism training program in a trip led and paid for by the Anti-Defamation League.

Cummings will travel with several other senior high ranking law enforcement and public safety officials from Massachusetts and the northeast region to different sites in Israel where terrorist attacks have occurred.

"We will talk to the people that have dealt with it, the police captains, the generals that have handled it," said Cummings.

Other officials on the trip include Paul Fitzgerald, superintendent of the Boston Police Department; Steven Carl, chief of the Framingham Police Department; Richard McLaughlin, chief of the Belmont Police Department; and Edward Amodeo, major for the Massachusetts State Police.

Officials are participating from departments in New Hampshire, New Jersey and New York. A public safety representative from Massachusetts General Hospital, the FBI, the Eastern States Civil Rights Council and the Italian National Police will also take part.

The program will teach the attendees what to look for when spotting a terrorist attack, how to clear up the attack, and how to prevent it from happening again. "Hopefully we will pick something up from the pros who deal with this all the time," Cummings said.

Cummings does not feel Newton is a potential target for a terrorist attack, but feels the city’s threat is more homegrown, such as the recent suspected terrorist Rezwan Ferdaus of Ashland.

"The homegrown terrorists are the people we have to worry about, not Al Qaeda themselves coming over and trying to take a plane over and do something crazy."

Learning the training is something Cummings feels is very helpful for the city and can benefit the department. "In the age that we live in, it is always helpful to know this," he said. "We have a community that worries about this type of thing. We just want to be ready when we have to be."

Cummings said Newton police does or has done security plans for high profile events such as the Boston Marathon and the Democratic National Convention. "We have to plan for serious incidents even though they don’t happen," he said. "But when you are doing something in you’re community that the world is looking at, like the Marathon, we want to be ready."

This is the first time Cummings has traveled to Israel. The northeast regional trip to Israel has occurred nearly once a year for the past several years, said Derrek Shulman, head of the Northeast Region of the Anti-Defamation League.

Shulman said the trip is being funded by money from private donors.

Aaron Goldman, Newton's citizen assistance officer, said the city is not paying for any part of the trip.

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