Why Jews see racism in Israel
Government officials had asked several private religious schools,
which are publicly subsidized, to accept about 100 children of
Ethiopian Jews – some of whom would be well behind their peers in
language, religious studies, and other areas. The schools informed
their parents, including Mr. Belay, that the children could not be
integrated into regular classes until they caught up, but offered
separate "preparatory" classes.
"I bought my son a backpack. He's seen the school," said Belay at a
demonstration Monday outside of the Petach Tikvah municipality
building. "But they won't accept the boy.... It's because he's black."
While the Israeli Education Ministry struck an 11th-hour deal with
three religious elementary schools to allow 30 students to be
integrated, activists say the incident is likely to leave an enduring mark
on the community's children. Many Ethiopian Jews see the schools'
actions as symptomatic of persistent racial discrimination, a
phenomenon that has diluted the powerful idealism that drew many to
the Jewish state.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu characterized the refusal of
admission as a "moral attack," using a word often used to describe
terrorist strikes. President Shimon Peres said it was a national
"disgrace."
Despite the Education Ministry's intervention, many Ethiopian students
were reportedly turned away today, the first day of school, according
to Israeli news outlets.
'This is leaving a scar on our kids'
At the Monday demonstration, hundreds of protesters blocked the
entrance of the municipality building and nearby intersections.
Wearing a T-shirt that read "We want equality, we're all Jewish,"
protest leader Uri Kabadeh shouted through a megaphone in the
community's native Amharric and Hebrew. "Down with racism, down
with discrimination," the crowd chanted.
"This is leaving a scar on our kids," said Mr. Kabadeh. "It will prevent
them from advancing [in society]."
Israeli police walking with arms linked to push back demonstrators
evoked images of the US civil rights anti-segregation battles in the
south in the 1950s. But most Ethiopians say this is a different situation.
Shlomo Molla, the sole Ethiopian member of Israel's 120-seat
parliament, said ethnic tension is a fact of life in a society which has
accepted immigrants from diverse backgrounds. He insisted the anti-
Ethiopian discrimination in Petach Tikva, a Tel Aviv suburb, is local
rather than chronic.
"There is no racism policy against Ethiopian Jews," he said. "The
Israeli government and parliament are very welcoming to the
Ethiopians. They have done a lot."
Ethiopian immigrants once celebrated
Some 111,000 Ethiopian Jewish immigrants and their children live in
Israel today – a tiny fraction of the country's 7.2 million residents.
Most Ethiopians came during the 1990s and 1980s in covert
immigration operations that were celebrated in Israel and in the Jewish
Diaspora as realization of the state's raison d'etre of taking in at-risk
Jewish populations.
The public relations dividend was not ignored. Ethiopian faces were
routinely splashed across Israeli brochures to play up the country's
multiethnic character and damp accusations of racism.
But today, these communities are struggling socially and economically.
About two-thirds of Ethiopian Jews receive support from state welfare
agencies. And just over 10 percent recieve post-high school education
compared to 40 percent of Israeli Jews, according to an Ethiopian
advocacy group.
Explanations vary. Some point to the problems faced by the Ethiopian
community in transitioning from an agrarian society back home to the
technology dominated economy in Israel. Others see a pattern of
ethnic discrimination reminiscent of earlier waves of Jewish
immigration from Arab countries. Still others say hundreds of millions
of dollars raised in the Jewish Diaspora to absorb the Ethiopians has
been wasted in bureaucracy. But many say it comes down to skin
color.
"We came here because we thought Israel was our country. We didn't
expect this," said Demelash Belay, a 36-year-old English teacher who
moved to Israel in 2006. "We heard in Ethiopia that Israel is a
democratic country. We found discrimination. And because of it
Ethiopians are suffering."
Since 2000, the Jewish state has accepted thousands of immigrants
from the "Falash Mura," Ethiopian Christians who trace their ancestry
to Jews. The Falash Mura, like some Ethiopians before them, have
been pressed by the Israeli Rabbinate to undergo a lengthy process of
conversion to confirm their Jewish authenticity.
Schools deny racist policies
The religious schools, which are partially funded by the municipality
and the Education Ministry, have defiantly resisted efforts by the
national government to intervene. Spokespersons for the schools and
the municipality denied accusations of racism.
Tzachi Lieber, a spokesman for all three elementary schools, said they
already have 30 Ethiopians enrolled and that the staff considers it an
"honor" to have the immigrants enrolled there: "That proves it's not an
issue of racism."
Still, Petach Tikvah municipal spokesperson Hezi Hakak conceded that
there's de-facto segregation in the public school system. One school is
nearly 100 percent Ethiopian. But some activists, such as Molla,
remain patriotic and express optimism that Ethiopians will eventually
take their place along side other immigrants in key decisionmaking
roles in Israel.
But the official obstacle now facing Ethopian Jewish children was
keenly felt by Daw Jambh, a young demonstrator who repeatedly
confronted policeman Monday. "I just got out of the [Israeli] army,
and I feel disgraced," she said. "I feel like getting out of here."
Community activists complain that Petach Tikvah is not the only
municipality where Ethiopian students find themselves in segregated
schools. And discrimination is not limited to the school system. A
recent survey by Israel's Yediot Ahronot found that Ethiopian
candidates were less likely to get invited for a job interview than other
Jewish ethnicities.
"There are people who are ignorant. They lack knowledge. They know
about us from a colonial aspect," says Daniel Admasso, director of the
Israel Association for Ethiopian Jews. "They think that blacks are
pitiful, and they live somewhere else.... The white Jewish culture has
lots of stereotypes, and they have trouble with people who are
different."
Courtesy
- 2 September, 2009
(Joshua Mitnick)
Ethiopian immigrants say
the refusal of schools to
integrate their children is
part of a pattern of
discrimination that has
diluted the idealism that
drew them in the first
place.
- Petach Tikvah, Israel - On
the eve of the Israeli school
year's start on Tuesday,
recent Ethiopian immigrant
Ayenew Belay didn't know
whether his 7-year-old son
Avi would be starting first
grade.
Government officials had asked several private religious schools,
which are publicly subsidized, to accept about 100 children of
Ethiopian Jews – some of whom would be well behind their peers in
language, religious studies, and other areas. The schools informed
their parents, including Mr. Belay, that the children could not be
integrated into regular classes until they caught up, but offered
separate "preparatory" classes.
"I bought my son a backpack. He's seen the school," said Belay at a
demonstration Monday outside of the Petach Tikvah municipality
building. "But they won't accept the boy.... It's because he's black."
While the Israeli Education Ministry struck an 11th-hour deal with
three religious elementary schools to allow 30 students to be
integrated, activists say the incident is likely to leave an enduring mark
on the community's children. Many Ethiopian Jews see the schools'
actions as symptomatic of persistent racial discrimination, a
phenomenon that has diluted the powerful idealism that drew many to
the Jewish state.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu characterized the refusal of
admission as a "moral attack," using a word often used to describe
terrorist strikes. President Shimon Peres said it was a national
"disgrace."
Despite the Education Ministry's intervention, many Ethiopian students
were reportedly turned away today, the first day of school, according
to Israeli news outlets.
'This is leaving a scar on our kids'
At the Monday demonstration, hundreds of protesters blocked the
entrance of the municipality building and nearby intersections.
Wearing a T-shirt that read "We want equality, we're all Jewish,"
protest leader Uri Kabadeh shouted through a megaphone in the
community's native Amharric and Hebrew. "Down with racism, down
with discrimination," the crowd chanted.
"This is leaving a scar on our kids," said Mr. Kabadeh. "It will prevent
them from advancing [in society]."
Israeli police walking with arms linked to push back demonstrators
evoked images of the US civil rights anti-segregation battles in the
south in the 1950s. But most Ethiopians say this is a different situation.
Shlomo Molla, the sole Ethiopian member of Israel's 120-seat
parliament, said ethnic tension is a fact of life in a society which has
accepted immigrants from diverse backgrounds. He insisted the anti-
Ethiopian discrimination in Petach Tikva, a Tel Aviv suburb, is local
rather than chronic.
"There is no racism policy against Ethiopian Jews," he said. "The
Israeli government and parliament are very welcoming to the
Ethiopians. They have done a lot."
Ethiopian immigrants once celebrated
Some 111,000 Ethiopian Jewish immigrants and their children live in
Israel today – a tiny fraction of the country's 7.2 million residents.
Most Ethiopians came during the 1990s and 1980s in covert
immigration operations that were celebrated in Israel and in the Jewish
Diaspora as realization of the state's raison d'etre of taking in at-risk
Jewish populations.
The public relations dividend was not ignored. Ethiopian faces were
routinely splashed across Israeli brochures to play up the country's
multiethnic character and damp accusations of racism.
But today, these communities are struggling socially and economically.
About two-thirds of Ethiopian Jews receive support from state welfare
agencies. And just over 10 percent recieve post-high school education
compared to 40 percent of Israeli Jews, according to an Ethiopian
advocacy group.
Explanations vary. Some point to the problems faced by the Ethiopian
community in transitioning from an agrarian society back home to the
technology dominated economy in Israel. Others see a pattern of
ethnic discrimination reminiscent of earlier waves of Jewish
immigration from Arab countries. Still others say hundreds of millions
of dollars raised in the Jewish Diaspora to absorb the Ethiopians has
been wasted in bureaucracy. But many say it comes down to skin
color.
"We came here because we thought Israel was our country. We didn't
expect this," said Demelash Belay, a 36-year-old English teacher who
moved to Israel in 2006. "We heard in Ethiopia that Israel is a
democratic country. We found discrimination. And because of it
Ethiopians are suffering."
Since 2000, the Jewish state has accepted thousands of immigrants
from the "Falash Mura," Ethiopian Christians who trace their ancestry
to Jews. The Falash Mura, like some Ethiopians before them, have
been pressed by the Israeli Rabbinate to undergo a lengthy process of
conversion to confirm their Jewish authenticity.
Schools deny racist policies
The religious schools, which are partially funded by the municipality
and the Education Ministry, have defiantly resisted efforts by the
national government to intervene. Spokespersons for the schools and
the municipality denied accusations of racism.
Tzachi Lieber, a spokesman for all three elementary schools, said they
already have 30 Ethiopians enrolled and that the staff considers it an
"honor" to have the immigrants enrolled there: "That proves it's not an
issue of racism."
Still, Petach Tikvah municipal spokesperson Hezi Hakak conceded that
there's de-facto segregation in the public school system. One school is
nearly 100 percent Ethiopian. But some activists, such as Molla,
remain patriotic and express optimism that Ethiopians will eventually
take their place along side other immigrants in key decisionmaking
roles in Israel.
But the official obstacle now facing Ethopian Jewish children was
keenly felt by Daw Jambh, a young demonstrator who repeatedly
confronted policeman Monday. "I just got out of the [Israeli] army,
and I feel disgraced," she said. "I feel like getting out of here."
Community activists complain that Petach Tikvah is not the only
municipality where Ethiopian students find themselves in segregated
schools. And discrimination is not limited to the school system. A
recent survey by Israel's Yediot Ahronot found that Ethiopian
candidates were less likely to get invited for a job interview than other
Jewish ethnicities.
"There are people who are ignorant. They lack knowledge. They know
about us from a colonial aspect," says Daniel Admasso, director of the
Israel Association for Ethiopian Jews. "They think that blacks are
pitiful, and they live somewhere else.... The white Jewish culture has
lots of stereotypes, and they have trouble with people who are
different."
Courtesy
| Foreign Minister Liberman to visit Africa (Press Release) To Hell with Israel’s Racist and Bigoted Schools By Dr. Ethiopia Why Petah Tikva's Ethiopian kids are like Shalit By Yossi Sarid Dozens of Ethiopian kids miss first day of school in Petah Tikva By Or Kashti, "What does it matter that we're black?" Or Kashti |
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| Ethiopian children hold sign reading: "There is no hope for Ethiopians in Petah Tikva." Photo: Benny Voodoo |
| Promised Land so near yet so far for Ethiopia's Jews Oct.28, 2008 | Kuwait Times " Israel brought home 35,000 Ethiopian Jews under Operation Moses in 1984 and Operation Solomon in 1991. Today the total number of people relocated stands at 100,000. Two years ago, Israel promised that a final group would be relocated before the end of 2007. That deadline expired, leaving many in areas like Gonder and also around the Israeli embassy complex in Addis Ababa. The Falashmura say previous relocations split families, leaving one half living in Ethiopia and the other in the fabled Promised Land." More |
| A protester holds a placard outside the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem Monday, during a protest against three Jewish religious schools refusal to admit 100 Ethiopian Jewish students. The placard reads in Hebrew, "There is no racism in the Bible". Ronen Zvulun/ Reuters |
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