It was a surreal night, with Palestinians tweeting advice about how to deal with tear gas to the protesters in Ferguson. So many of the tactics reminded me of what was done in Gaza -- and now it's all so much clearer:

St. Louis County, MO (KSDK) - St. Louis County Police Chief Timothy Fitch will be part of a national delegation of law enforcement officials traveling to Israel next month to study counter-terrorism tactics. Over a weeklong visit, the delegation will learn how Israel's police, intelligence and security forces prevent terror attacks, and includes visits to Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Tiberias. Law enforcement will be briefed by members of the Israel National Police, the Israel Defense Forces, among others.

Well, there you go. No wonder it looked so familiar.

Watch the video. Cops deliberately fired tear gas at the Al Jazeera film crew, dismantled the equipment and then "explained" to the journalists how they were just trying to "protect" them. Right out of the IDF playbook.

So this would be a good time for American citizens to ask: Do we want those tactics here? Anti-democratic tactics that suppress the rights of journalists and the citizens the police are allegedly "protecting"?