{"id":548474,"date":"2026-03-20T06:55:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T06:55:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/548474\/"},"modified":"2026-03-20T06:55:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T06:55:10","slug":"speakers-condemn-edmonton-police-chiefs-israel-trip-at-emotional-commission-meeting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/548474\/","title":{"rendered":"Speakers condemn Edmonton police chief\u2019s Israel trip at emotional commission meeting"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Edmontonians from a range of backgrounds condemned their police chief\u2019s recent trip to Israel during an emotional police commission meeting Thursday, with only a small number of speakers voicing their support.<\/p>\n

While Warren Driechel issued a statement earlier this week about the visit, Thursday marked the first time he has spoken publicly since news about his February trip sparked outrage from a range of Edmontonians, including Muslim and non-Muslim groups.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Last week, mosques, Palestinian groups and others signed an open letter to the Edmonton police commission denouncing the trip\u00a0amid Israel’s ongoing attacks on Gaza<\/a>. <\/p>\n

At least two dozen speakers took the podium on Thursday, with most using their five minutes to try to explain to police and commissioners why the trip had increased their distrust in the Edmonton Police Service, and why they don\u2019t feel safe.<\/p>\n

They raised concerns and had questions about what kind of policing tactics are used in Israel and how they might be employed here.<\/p>\n

A few of the speakers even called for Driechel and commission chair Ben Henderson to resign. Henderson approved the trip.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Both Driechel and Henderson said they did not foresee a problem in the lead-up to the trip.<\/p>\n

Outside the meeting, Driechel stood firm, echoing the written statement he had previously issued: he won\u2019t apologize, and he won\u2019t resign.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat can I be sorry for?\u201d Driechel asked reporters.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the path forward is to sit down with trusted leaders, with individuals within that community and talk about this and then understand what we can do together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Driechel said it has been \u201ca challenging couple of weeks\u201d and acknowledged \u201cthere\u2019s a feeling of a lack of trust.\u201d However, he said learning from community leaders in Israel about what \u201cthey’re doing with the police to try to solve some of their problems\u201d was a valuable experience.<\/p>\n

Among the speakers who defended Driechel\u2019s trip was Stacey Leavitt-Wright, CEO of the Jewish Federation of Edmonton.<\/p>\n

She argued international exchanges are standard practice and warned against what she described as politically motivated criticism.<\/p>\n

Leavitt-Wright said there was no evidence the trip had caused concrete harm in Edmonton and characterized the backlash as a \u201cpressure campaign dressed in the language of accountability.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mousa Qasqas, a spokesperson for the Canada Palestine Cultural Association, raised\u00a0questions about policing practices in Israel and raised concerns about a lack of transparency regarding what Dreichel learned on the trip.<\/p>\n

He noted he has long collaborated with police as a rally organizer in Edmonton.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis has completely destroyed that trust \u2014 and I don\u2019t see a way back from this,\u201d Qasqas said, adding that he believes the only way back might be for both Driechel and Henderson to resign.<\/p>\n

The trip, organized and paid for by\u00a0the Major Cities Chiefs Association, was framed by Driechel as a professional development opportunity to exchange policing practices.<\/p>\n

But it has drawn criticism due to its timing during ongoing violence in Gaza that killed at least 75,000 Palestinians through the first 15 months of the conflict<\/a>, mostly women and children, according to research published last month by The Lancet Global Health medical journal.<\/p>\n

Israel’s war in Gaza began in October 2023, after an attack by Hamas militants killed more than 1,200 people, according to Israeli officials.<\/p>\n

Henderson reiterated that the commission is committed to reviewing its policy on international travel for police.<\/p>\n

\u201cI regret if this has created division and fear and worry in our community,\u201d he said. \u201cThat’s not what anybody wanted to see happen. That’s not what we want to see happening going forward in the future. So, the major objective now, \u2026 if bridges are being broken, [is] to rebuild those bridges.\u201d<\/p>\n

Henderson said while he doesn\u2019t\u00a0 think things have reached a certain point,\u00a0 \u201cif we feel that’s useful, I’m prepared to (resign).\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaker Nora Yaghi said her concerns relate to\u00a0 ensuring that her sons are safe.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMy oldest son is not yet 15 years old and he already measures over six feet tall,\u201d she said. \u201cHe has a beard and he has noticeably brown skin.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI have to talk to him on a regular basis about how to behave in interactions with the police because I want my child to come home safely.\u201d<\/p>\n

Judith Garber, a member of Independent Jewish Voices Edmonton, said she vehemently opposed Driechel\u2019s trip to Israel, questioning what lessons could be learned amid the war in Gaza and whether any Palestinians were consulted.<\/p>\n

She added that, as a Jew aware of antisemitism, her concern is about normalizing discriminatory policing against marginalized Edmontonians, not the trip\u2019s destination.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe chief didn’t say that the agenda included speaking with any Palestinians,\u201d Garber said. \u201cI’d be interested to know if it did.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AJudith Garber, a member of Independent Jewish Voices Edmonton, spoke at an Edmonton police commission meeting on March 19, 2026 about her concerns regarding the police chief\u2019s recent trip to Israel. (CBC News)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 5 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":548475,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194294],"tags":[49,48,23752],"class_list":{"0":"post-548474","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-edmonton","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-edmonton"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548474","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=548474"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548474\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/548475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=548474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=548474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=548474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}