2 may 2015
Demonstrators against government's decision to send African asylum seekers to third country draw counter-protest, days after large protest against treatment of Ethiopian Israelis.
Around 100 activists protested on Saturday night at Tel Aviv's Habima Square against the government's decision to send African asylum seekers to a third-party country.
The rally came on the heels of a 1,000-person-strong protest in Jerusalem on Thursday against "racism and violence towards Israel's Ethiopians", following two incidents of police brutality on minority youths. The protestors clashed with police, and another demonstration has been scheduled for Sunday in Tel Aviv.
On Saturday, a counter-protest attracted about 100 residents of south Tel Aviv to the square. These supporters of the government's plan held signs bearing slogans such as "Yes to deportation, as soon as possible".
Sharon Livneh, a human rights activist who protested against the plan, said she was there to decry further deterioration in the treatment of asylum seekers.
"The Immigration Authority basically announced that it would not only continue to make their lives miserable here, but are about to deport them," she said. She said she had received information about several asylum seekers who were returned to Sudan and killed by authorities.
"People whom some of us knew, after being taken to the Holot prison in very difficult conditions, decided to leave for a third country – so they tossed them there without rights or status. We urge the new government to come to its senses, to implement international standards and to show a little compassion. We were once refugees as well. We know what it means."
Sigal Avivi, another protestor, also said she heard reports about people she knew being killed after returning to Sudan and Eritrea. She explained that the state claims there is a third country that can guarantee safety for asylum seekers, and that on Friday refugees began to be held indefinitely at Saharonim Prison.
"We agree with the residents of south Tel Aviv," she said. "But our message is simple – it's not possible to send people to countries that endanger them. Israel is acting in contradiction to the Refugee Convention."
Shefi Paz of Tel Aviv's Shapira neighborhood argued by contrast that she and her neighbors were "fighting these organizations all the time because they seek to stop any attempt by the government to find a solution to the difficult reality in which we live. We demand to get them out of our neighborhoods. That is the only acceptable solution."
Another protestor opposed to the presence of the asylum seekers said she was demonstrating "against left wing organizations that support infiltrators. We have lost our security, our peace, and the character of our neighborhoods… We're tired of it – every day rape, drugs, and alcohol. They're not refugees, they're infiltrators.
"We say 'yes' to deportation. Let them check – those who are refugees can get rights, but those who aren't should return to their countries."
Around 100 activists protested on Saturday night at Tel Aviv's Habima Square against the government's decision to send African asylum seekers to a third-party country.
The rally came on the heels of a 1,000-person-strong protest in Jerusalem on Thursday against "racism and violence towards Israel's Ethiopians", following two incidents of police brutality on minority youths. The protestors clashed with police, and another demonstration has been scheduled for Sunday in Tel Aviv.
On Saturday, a counter-protest attracted about 100 residents of south Tel Aviv to the square. These supporters of the government's plan held signs bearing slogans such as "Yes to deportation, as soon as possible".
Sharon Livneh, a human rights activist who protested against the plan, said she was there to decry further deterioration in the treatment of asylum seekers.
"The Immigration Authority basically announced that it would not only continue to make their lives miserable here, but are about to deport them," she said. She said she had received information about several asylum seekers who were returned to Sudan and killed by authorities.
"People whom some of us knew, after being taken to the Holot prison in very difficult conditions, decided to leave for a third country – so they tossed them there without rights or status. We urge the new government to come to its senses, to implement international standards and to show a little compassion. We were once refugees as well. We know what it means."
Sigal Avivi, another protestor, also said she heard reports about people she knew being killed after returning to Sudan and Eritrea. She explained that the state claims there is a third country that can guarantee safety for asylum seekers, and that on Friday refugees began to be held indefinitely at Saharonim Prison.
"We agree with the residents of south Tel Aviv," she said. "But our message is simple – it's not possible to send people to countries that endanger them. Israel is acting in contradiction to the Refugee Convention."
Shefi Paz of Tel Aviv's Shapira neighborhood argued by contrast that she and her neighbors were "fighting these organizations all the time because they seek to stop any attempt by the government to find a solution to the difficult reality in which we live. We demand to get them out of our neighborhoods. That is the only acceptable solution."
Another protestor opposed to the presence of the asylum seekers said she was demonstrating "against left wing organizations that support infiltrators. We have lost our security, our peace, and the character of our neighborhoods… We're tired of it – every day rape, drugs, and alcohol. They're not refugees, they're infiltrators.
"We say 'yes' to deportation. Let them check – those who are refugees can get rights, but those who aren't should return to their countries."
The Moroccan Association to support the nation's causes has organized 25 protest vigils throughout the county in protest against the former Israeli president Shimon Peres’s upcoming visit.
The Association strongly condemned the Moroccan government’s systematic normalization policy with the Israeli entity in total disregard to the Palestinian people’s daily suffering in light of the Israeli escalated war crimes.
The vigils have witnessed massive participation, where the protesters raised banners and chanted slogans rejecting the Moroccan authorities’ ongoing normalization with the Israeli occupation.
The Association strongly condemned the Moroccan government’s systematic normalization policy with the Israeli entity in total disregard to the Palestinian people’s daily suffering in light of the Israeli escalated war crimes.
The vigils have witnessed massive participation, where the protesters raised banners and chanted slogans rejecting the Moroccan authorities’ ongoing normalization with the Israeli occupation.
Fearing the violent clashes during Thursday's protest in Jerusalem did not serve to promote their cause, Israeli Ethiopian activists prepare to continue struggle in Tel Aviv on Sunday.
The Israeli Ethiopian community has been organizing another demonstration, scheduled for Sunday in Tel Aviv, saying the violent protesting in Jerusalem on Thursday night did not serve to promote their cause.
"It's not a good thing there was violence and injuries on both sides, but people need to understand we're facing a problem that needs to be addressed and resolved after dozens of years of inequality and racism," said a prominent activist from the Ethiopian community on Friday. Safinau Malako, who lives in an absorption center in Mevaseret Zion, said the current struggle of the Ethiopian community in Israel must lead to different results than in the past.
"We've had struggles that ended without results, and this time we have to continue and not stop until the society and politicians wake up. This situation cannot continue. We're Israelis just like everyone else. A large portion of Israeli Ethiopians were born here and they deserve their rights," he said.
After protests in Jerusalem got out of hand and led to clashing between demonstrators and police, Police chief Yohanan Danino instructed the team looking into claims made by Israeli Ethiopians of police brutality to work faster. Police officials said the team, which was formed on Thursday, will formulate its conclusions and recommend ways of action in the coming days. Danino praised the police forces who secured the Israeli Ethiopian community's protests in Jerusalem on Thursday, vowing he "would not let one extreme case or another hurt the entire organization."
He stressed following the violent protests on Thursday that the police would not allow further violations of law and order. Danino decided to fire the police volunteer who violently assaulted an IDF soldier of Ethiopian descent this week, pending a hearing. Forums of the Israeli Ethiopian community have been filled since Thursday with stories from protesters.
Some of the protesters told of Yasam policemen of Ethiopian descent who refused their commanders' request to go undercover during the protests, and of IDF soldiers of Ethiopian descent who came to protest in their uniform even though they were forbidden to do so by their commanders.
Sion Abuna, a 25-year-old Israeli Ethiopian student at the IDC in Herzliya, told Ynet: "People are very proud of what happened. Many in the community realized that together we have power and that only that way we could cause people to wake up. I've never been as proud as I was on Thursday, not even when I finished officers' course in the IDF and not even when I finished my army service."
Young activists in the Israeli Ethiopian community criticized older activists who are willing to cooperate with the authorities and the police in an attempt to prevent the next protest or tone it down. The older activists decided not to take part in the organization of the protest on Thursday out of concern the protest will become violent, the fears having since become reality.
Former Miss Israel Yityish "Titi" Aynaw, who is of Ethiopian descent, commented about the protest on her Facebook page, saying: "Unfortunately I was exposed to the injustice of the police backing the violent policemen who assaulted an innocent man. I'm sorry I could not participate in this just protest," she wrote.
"How long are we going to continue having this silly discrimination? Are you aware of the fact we're in the 2000s? How can a policeman (a loaded word) take the law into his own hands and beat up an innocent man, and behave as a beggar on horseback? I saw the video and I was shocked. I send the soldier get well wishes and take this opportunity to salute him. In conclusion, I'll just say that I, as an officer in the IDF, am proud of being Ethiopian and proud of our community that is fighting for justice!"
The Israeli Ethiopian community has been organizing another demonstration, scheduled for Sunday in Tel Aviv, saying the violent protesting in Jerusalem on Thursday night did not serve to promote their cause.
"It's not a good thing there was violence and injuries on both sides, but people need to understand we're facing a problem that needs to be addressed and resolved after dozens of years of inequality and racism," said a prominent activist from the Ethiopian community on Friday. Safinau Malako, who lives in an absorption center in Mevaseret Zion, said the current struggle of the Ethiopian community in Israel must lead to different results than in the past.
"We've had struggles that ended without results, and this time we have to continue and not stop until the society and politicians wake up. This situation cannot continue. We're Israelis just like everyone else. A large portion of Israeli Ethiopians were born here and they deserve their rights," he said.
After protests in Jerusalem got out of hand and led to clashing between demonstrators and police, Police chief Yohanan Danino instructed the team looking into claims made by Israeli Ethiopians of police brutality to work faster. Police officials said the team, which was formed on Thursday, will formulate its conclusions and recommend ways of action in the coming days. Danino praised the police forces who secured the Israeli Ethiopian community's protests in Jerusalem on Thursday, vowing he "would not let one extreme case or another hurt the entire organization."
He stressed following the violent protests on Thursday that the police would not allow further violations of law and order. Danino decided to fire the police volunteer who violently assaulted an IDF soldier of Ethiopian descent this week, pending a hearing. Forums of the Israeli Ethiopian community have been filled since Thursday with stories from protesters.
Some of the protesters told of Yasam policemen of Ethiopian descent who refused their commanders' request to go undercover during the protests, and of IDF soldiers of Ethiopian descent who came to protest in their uniform even though they were forbidden to do so by their commanders.
Sion Abuna, a 25-year-old Israeli Ethiopian student at the IDC in Herzliya, told Ynet: "People are very proud of what happened. Many in the community realized that together we have power and that only that way we could cause people to wake up. I've never been as proud as I was on Thursday, not even when I finished officers' course in the IDF and not even when I finished my army service."
Young activists in the Israeli Ethiopian community criticized older activists who are willing to cooperate with the authorities and the police in an attempt to prevent the next protest or tone it down. The older activists decided not to take part in the organization of the protest on Thursday out of concern the protest will become violent, the fears having since become reality.
Former Miss Israel Yityish "Titi" Aynaw, who is of Ethiopian descent, commented about the protest on her Facebook page, saying: "Unfortunately I was exposed to the injustice of the police backing the violent policemen who assaulted an innocent man. I'm sorry I could not participate in this just protest," she wrote.
"How long are we going to continue having this silly discrimination? Are you aware of the fact we're in the 2000s? How can a policeman (a loaded word) take the law into his own hands and beat up an innocent man, and behave as a beggar on horseback? I saw the video and I was shocked. I send the soldier get well wishes and take this opportunity to salute him. In conclusion, I'll just say that I, as an officer in the IDF, am proud of being Ethiopian and proud of our community that is fighting for justice!"
1 may 2015
A consortium of political and civil Moroccan organizations on Thursday voiced firm rebuff of an expected visit to the Kingdom by former Israeli president Shimon Perez.
The organizations called in a statement for a protest rally against Perez’s expected stopover in Morocco in line with the anti-occupation positions forever maintained by the people of Morocco.
“The pace of the ongoing normalization with such a colonizing entity has seen an uptick over recent years on all possible levels and scales,” the statement read.
“We were shocked by a piece of news heralding Perez’s upcoming visit to Morocco to attend the Clinton Global Initiative's First Middle East and Africa Conference set to kick off on May 5 in the central Moroccan city of Marrakesh,” it added.
“We strongly condemn all policies of normalization with the Israeli occupation . . . just as we do the notorious visit to be paid by the criminal Shimon Perez,” the statement proceeded.
The organizations called on the Moroccan government to backtrack on such the scheduled stopover which stands in sharp contrast to the pro-Palestine positions forever adopted by the Moroccan people.
The committee further pushed for the criminalization of all forms of normalization with the Israeli occupation, vowing to step up protest moves to that very end.
The organizations called in a statement for a protest rally against Perez’s expected stopover in Morocco in line with the anti-occupation positions forever maintained by the people of Morocco.
“The pace of the ongoing normalization with such a colonizing entity has seen an uptick over recent years on all possible levels and scales,” the statement read.
“We were shocked by a piece of news heralding Perez’s upcoming visit to Morocco to attend the Clinton Global Initiative's First Middle East and Africa Conference set to kick off on May 5 in the central Moroccan city of Marrakesh,” it added.
“We strongly condemn all policies of normalization with the Israeli occupation . . . just as we do the notorious visit to be paid by the criminal Shimon Perez,” the statement proceeded.
The organizations called on the Moroccan government to backtrack on such the scheduled stopover which stands in sharp contrast to the pro-Palestine positions forever adopted by the Moroccan people.
The committee further pushed for the criminalization of all forms of normalization with the Israeli occupation, vowing to step up protest moves to that very end.
Netanyahu signing coalition deal with United Torah Judaism leaders.
Coalition deal with United Torah Judaism to include some NIS 1 billion to Haredi education institutes and increased child benefits that will cost NIS 2.5 billion a year; Kahlon initiative to raise wages for soldiers will cost some NIS 1 billion.
Difficult negotiations with potential coalition partners forced Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to show more flexibility than he would have wanted to show, and agree to fund reforms demanded by the right-wing parties that could amount to NIS 8-9 billion a year.
According to the agreement with Kulanu party leader Moshe Kahlon, who is the future finance minister, the new state budget will be approved after Sukkot and will be brought to a vote as a bi-annual budget. Until then, Kahlon, will have to find quite a few sources of funding for commitments made by Netanyahu in the different coalition agreements.
United Torah Judaism decided not to fight over portfolios in the upcoming government and announced ahead of the talks it was willing to settle for a deputy minister position in the Health Ministry and for the chairmanship of the Knesset's Finance Committee. However, the party's budgetary demands were much bigger and were incorporated into the coalition agreement UTJ signed with the Likud.
According to political sources, at least NIS 1 billion have been allocated for Haredi education institutes as part of the coalition agreement with UTJ. In the last term, former finance minister Yair Lapid's Yesh Atid party set a condition to the funding, by which the budget would only be released if Haredi educational institutes offered core curriculum studies (English, math, science, modern Hebrew, ect.). This condition will be revoked in the upcoming term. The reinstating of the Nahari Law, which obligates local authorities to fund non-state (usually Haredi) schools, will cost some NIS 200 million a year.
Finance Ministry officials said it's possible some of this money could come from the existing Education Ministry's budget, money that would've gone to the state-religious education regardless. They added the possibility of adding NIS 1 billion to the education budget for Haredi schools was less likely.
According to the Finance Ministry officials, the above NIS 1 billion sum includes:
NIS 510 million for yeshivas;
NIS 40 million to promote ultra-Orthodox religious culture;
NIS 75 million in additional funding for Haredi schools that do not offer core curriculum studies;
NIS 30 million to fund a pay raise to kindergarten teachers in the Haredi sector;
NIS 100 million for Haredi summer camp programs;
NIS 120 million which are defined as "coalition funds"; and
NIS 150 million were allocated to a mysterious clause titled "management and incentivisation."
United Torah Judaism also demanded to reinstate a reform that provided children under the age of 18 with free dental care, which will cost some NIS 240 million. Child benefits, which were lowered last term, will be raised to their original sums and cost some NIS 2.5 billion a year. In 2015, child benefits will increase starting May 1, which means they will only cost NIS 1.5 billion.
As part of his coalition agreement with Sephardic Haredi party Shas, Netanyahu agreed to include a commitment to cancel VAT on basic foodstuff, which will lose the state NIS 1.2 billion in tax revenues. Economic and political sources, however, say the chances the 0% VAT on basic foodstuff initiative will be implemented are slim.
Shas has also demanded to allocate 5 percent of each construction project on state land to public housing, which will necessitate the construction of 700 public housing units a year, amounting to NIS 650 million.
Kulanu leader Kahlon's initiative to raise wages for conscript IDF soldiers will cost the state NIS 1-1.3 billion. The implementation of the Alaluf Committee to Fight Poverty's recommendations, another one of Kulanu's demands, is estimated to cost NIS 800 million a year. At present, however, it remains unclear which of the recommendations will be implemented.
Bayit Yehudi leader Naftali Bennett, who is expected to be appointed education minister, demanded funds to improve upon the entire education system, a move that would cost some NIS 1 billion. This demand, however, has yet to be agreed upon.
In addition to all of the different demands from the future coalition partners, if Netanyahu decides to raise the amount of ministers in the government to more than 18 ministers and four deputy ministers, such a move would cost over NIS 60 million a year, and does not take into account the funds each minister would require for his ministry.
Coalition deal with United Torah Judaism to include some NIS 1 billion to Haredi education institutes and increased child benefits that will cost NIS 2.5 billion a year; Kahlon initiative to raise wages for soldiers will cost some NIS 1 billion.
Difficult negotiations with potential coalition partners forced Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to show more flexibility than he would have wanted to show, and agree to fund reforms demanded by the right-wing parties that could amount to NIS 8-9 billion a year.
According to the agreement with Kulanu party leader Moshe Kahlon, who is the future finance minister, the new state budget will be approved after Sukkot and will be brought to a vote as a bi-annual budget. Until then, Kahlon, will have to find quite a few sources of funding for commitments made by Netanyahu in the different coalition agreements.
United Torah Judaism decided not to fight over portfolios in the upcoming government and announced ahead of the talks it was willing to settle for a deputy minister position in the Health Ministry and for the chairmanship of the Knesset's Finance Committee. However, the party's budgetary demands were much bigger and were incorporated into the coalition agreement UTJ signed with the Likud.
According to political sources, at least NIS 1 billion have been allocated for Haredi education institutes as part of the coalition agreement with UTJ. In the last term, former finance minister Yair Lapid's Yesh Atid party set a condition to the funding, by which the budget would only be released if Haredi educational institutes offered core curriculum studies (English, math, science, modern Hebrew, ect.). This condition will be revoked in the upcoming term. The reinstating of the Nahari Law, which obligates local authorities to fund non-state (usually Haredi) schools, will cost some NIS 200 million a year.
Finance Ministry officials said it's possible some of this money could come from the existing Education Ministry's budget, money that would've gone to the state-religious education regardless. They added the possibility of adding NIS 1 billion to the education budget for Haredi schools was less likely.
According to the Finance Ministry officials, the above NIS 1 billion sum includes:
NIS 510 million for yeshivas;
NIS 40 million to promote ultra-Orthodox religious culture;
NIS 75 million in additional funding for Haredi schools that do not offer core curriculum studies;
NIS 30 million to fund a pay raise to kindergarten teachers in the Haredi sector;
NIS 100 million for Haredi summer camp programs;
NIS 120 million which are defined as "coalition funds"; and
NIS 150 million were allocated to a mysterious clause titled "management and incentivisation."
United Torah Judaism also demanded to reinstate a reform that provided children under the age of 18 with free dental care, which will cost some NIS 240 million. Child benefits, which were lowered last term, will be raised to their original sums and cost some NIS 2.5 billion a year. In 2015, child benefits will increase starting May 1, which means they will only cost NIS 1.5 billion.
As part of his coalition agreement with Sephardic Haredi party Shas, Netanyahu agreed to include a commitment to cancel VAT on basic foodstuff, which will lose the state NIS 1.2 billion in tax revenues. Economic and political sources, however, say the chances the 0% VAT on basic foodstuff initiative will be implemented are slim.
Shas has also demanded to allocate 5 percent of each construction project on state land to public housing, which will necessitate the construction of 700 public housing units a year, amounting to NIS 650 million.
Kulanu leader Kahlon's initiative to raise wages for conscript IDF soldiers will cost the state NIS 1-1.3 billion. The implementation of the Alaluf Committee to Fight Poverty's recommendations, another one of Kulanu's demands, is estimated to cost NIS 800 million a year. At present, however, it remains unclear which of the recommendations will be implemented.
Bayit Yehudi leader Naftali Bennett, who is expected to be appointed education minister, demanded funds to improve upon the entire education system, a move that would cost some NIS 1 billion. This demand, however, has yet to be agreed upon.
In addition to all of the different demands from the future coalition partners, if Netanyahu decides to raise the amount of ministers in the government to more than 18 ministers and four deputy ministers, such a move would cost over NIS 60 million a year, and does not take into account the funds each minister would require for his ministry.
A video depicting a police officer brutally beating an Ethiopian-Israeli IDF soldier for no visible reason sparked outrage in the Ethiopian community; several describe similar instances - the only difference was there was no camera to document them by chance.
Recently documented incidents of violence against Israelis of Ethiopian decent are just "the tip of the iceberg," say Ethiopian activists, who described a long history of racism which manifests in police brutality and discrimination on a regular basis.
Some 1,000 Ethiopian Israelis protested across Jerusalem on Thursday evening in the wake of the publication of two incidents of police brutality against Israeli-Ethiopian youths. The protesters clashed with police and blocked roads as well as the light-rail train in the capital. Three policemen and 12 protesters were hurt in the violent clashes, where demonstrators threw rocks at police. Two protesters were arrested.
Yayo Abraham, 30, one of the prominent activists in the Ethiopian community, claims that "policemen stop us on the street without cause, and Interior Ministry inspectors identify us as Eritreans."
The two recent cases of violence against Israelis of Ethiopian descent were the "straw that broke the camel's back," Abraham says. Abraham, who marched from Kiryat Malachi to Jerusalem two years ago during the previous protest, says: "We're being discriminated against when applying for jobs or school. Police brutality is only a part of the problem. These issues have been going on for dozens of years."
"Until there is a society and a leadership here that want to fix things, nothing will change," Abraham says. "The protests were predictable and it won't stop here because there's a lot of rage, a lot of poverty and a lot of distress. Every one of the people who came here can tell you about instances of discrimination, racism or violence they experienced." Moshe Malako, 19 years old from Petah Tikvah, came to Israel at the age of 8 and has since faced a slew of racist experiences.
"One of the instances I remember well was a year ago when a bus driver refused to let me on the bus. There were free seats on the bus, and I couldn't understand why he wouldn't let me on," Malako says. "All of a sudden a Sabra white Israeli came with a bus pass and he was allowed on. I asked the driver why he wouldn't let me on and he just ignored me and wanted to keep driving. I didn't let him and insisted the door not be closed. He started yelling and in the end, only after other passengers got involved, he let me on the bus."
Malako, who will soon enlist in the IDF, went on to say that "It's clear to me that this incident, like others, only happened because of our skin color, which a lot of people in Israel don't like. People think Ethiopians are second-class citizens that can be walked all over. My friends and I came to protest today to say this is it. My dream is to be a combat soldier, but in conversations I had recently with friends who finished the army, questions were raised on whether this was the right way.
There are people who gave everything and were released without anything." On Thursday, Walla Bayach, a new immigrant from Ethiopia who lives in Be'er Sheva, said that Immigration Authority inspectors beat him harshly because they suspected he was an illegal immigrant. Earlier this week, a video was made public of an Ethiopian IDF soldier being beaten by a police officer without any visible reason.
Avi Yalo, 32, a social activist who coaches Ethiopian youth, says that harassment by police against Ethiopians is something that happens repeatedly. Yalo, a resident of Kiryat Ekron who made aliyah to Israel at age five, said: "Recently, I left the house with my car in order to meet up with friends. Police officers stopped me, delayed me for several minutes, and began asking me when I bought the car and if it was mine. It was because of my ethnic origin and it's obvious that these things happen all the time."
"The police are not the only source of discrimination and racism against us by the establishment. It is not coincidental, but rather the behavioral structure of society and the authorities in Israel. Police brutality is just a symptom and the case I described, just as many other situations that are even worse, do not happen to white Israelis. The black Jew in Israel has been discriminated against for decades in every aspect and every sphere," said Yalo.
Blay Megus, a 35-year-old from Lod, also attested to repeated and frequent harassment. "Ever since age 15, I have not been allowed in to clubs – it's always 'just for those invited' or 'the place is closed' and several other excuses. These are excuses that only blacks hear."
"Let's set a date, me and you, and try to enter a club, and we will see who they let in. We experience discrimination and humiliating treatment from Israeli society every day," added Megus.
Solomen Varko, 40 year-old and from Lod, echoed Megus' feelings. "I'm here because of the pain of my children, who experience discrimination every day from society. I served nine years in the IDF and I am still a second-class citizen when it comes to finding a job, managing a business or the country's investment. What happened to the soldier that was beaten happens every day, the difference is that there was a camera this time," said Varko.
Matan Admaka, also had something to say about the recent video which showed the brutal beating of the Ethiopian IDF soldier. "The point of the protest today is to get that policeman behind jail bars. The camera caught him 'by accident' – this is one of many such incidences. My friends and I have also experienced violence. We got hit by officers for no justified reason; nobody heard or knew of us."
Moshe, 21 years-old and from Beit Shemesh, also experienced an episode of police brutality. "It happened half a year ago - they took me into the police patrol vehicle because someone had driven my car. They found that there was no alcohol, but an argument emerged between me and the officers, and then they began punching me and used a taser.
"I was taken to Hadassah Medical Center, and after I was released from the hospital I went to complain at the Police Investigation Unit but my complaint was denied because they said I had attacked four police officers. My hand and legs were handcuffed, so how could I have attacked offiers?
One of the officers even said to me, 'So do you have money to file a complaint on me?' Unfortunately, these are things that only happen to black people. Whoever is not black has not experienced this. Period," said Moshe. During the protest Thursday, Rina Engedau, 50 years-old and a mother of five, called out on a speaker phone: "Stop violence and racism. Our children serve in the army and don't get jobs."
"I came from Sudan to Jerusalem by foot so that I could develop the nation, not so that police and the nation would harass our children. There are 30 years of racism here," she called out.
Engedau reiterated the calls of many others at the protest who described a dark reality for Ethiopian Israelis who face discrimination despite their contribution to the country.
"Enough. These children were born here. It's a new generation, let them live quietly, let them work – they were in Golani, they were combat soldiers," she said.
Recently documented incidents of violence against Israelis of Ethiopian decent are just "the tip of the iceberg," say Ethiopian activists, who described a long history of racism which manifests in police brutality and discrimination on a regular basis.
Some 1,000 Ethiopian Israelis protested across Jerusalem on Thursday evening in the wake of the publication of two incidents of police brutality against Israeli-Ethiopian youths. The protesters clashed with police and blocked roads as well as the light-rail train in the capital. Three policemen and 12 protesters were hurt in the violent clashes, where demonstrators threw rocks at police. Two protesters were arrested.
Yayo Abraham, 30, one of the prominent activists in the Ethiopian community, claims that "policemen stop us on the street without cause, and Interior Ministry inspectors identify us as Eritreans."
The two recent cases of violence against Israelis of Ethiopian descent were the "straw that broke the camel's back," Abraham says. Abraham, who marched from Kiryat Malachi to Jerusalem two years ago during the previous protest, says: "We're being discriminated against when applying for jobs or school. Police brutality is only a part of the problem. These issues have been going on for dozens of years."
"Until there is a society and a leadership here that want to fix things, nothing will change," Abraham says. "The protests were predictable and it won't stop here because there's a lot of rage, a lot of poverty and a lot of distress. Every one of the people who came here can tell you about instances of discrimination, racism or violence they experienced." Moshe Malako, 19 years old from Petah Tikvah, came to Israel at the age of 8 and has since faced a slew of racist experiences.
"One of the instances I remember well was a year ago when a bus driver refused to let me on the bus. There were free seats on the bus, and I couldn't understand why he wouldn't let me on," Malako says. "All of a sudden a Sabra white Israeli came with a bus pass and he was allowed on. I asked the driver why he wouldn't let me on and he just ignored me and wanted to keep driving. I didn't let him and insisted the door not be closed. He started yelling and in the end, only after other passengers got involved, he let me on the bus."
Malako, who will soon enlist in the IDF, went on to say that "It's clear to me that this incident, like others, only happened because of our skin color, which a lot of people in Israel don't like. People think Ethiopians are second-class citizens that can be walked all over. My friends and I came to protest today to say this is it. My dream is to be a combat soldier, but in conversations I had recently with friends who finished the army, questions were raised on whether this was the right way.
There are people who gave everything and were released without anything." On Thursday, Walla Bayach, a new immigrant from Ethiopia who lives in Be'er Sheva, said that Immigration Authority inspectors beat him harshly because they suspected he was an illegal immigrant. Earlier this week, a video was made public of an Ethiopian IDF soldier being beaten by a police officer without any visible reason.
Avi Yalo, 32, a social activist who coaches Ethiopian youth, says that harassment by police against Ethiopians is something that happens repeatedly. Yalo, a resident of Kiryat Ekron who made aliyah to Israel at age five, said: "Recently, I left the house with my car in order to meet up with friends. Police officers stopped me, delayed me for several minutes, and began asking me when I bought the car and if it was mine. It was because of my ethnic origin and it's obvious that these things happen all the time."
"The police are not the only source of discrimination and racism against us by the establishment. It is not coincidental, but rather the behavioral structure of society and the authorities in Israel. Police brutality is just a symptom and the case I described, just as many other situations that are even worse, do not happen to white Israelis. The black Jew in Israel has been discriminated against for decades in every aspect and every sphere," said Yalo.
Blay Megus, a 35-year-old from Lod, also attested to repeated and frequent harassment. "Ever since age 15, I have not been allowed in to clubs – it's always 'just for those invited' or 'the place is closed' and several other excuses. These are excuses that only blacks hear."
"Let's set a date, me and you, and try to enter a club, and we will see who they let in. We experience discrimination and humiliating treatment from Israeli society every day," added Megus.
Solomen Varko, 40 year-old and from Lod, echoed Megus' feelings. "I'm here because of the pain of my children, who experience discrimination every day from society. I served nine years in the IDF and I am still a second-class citizen when it comes to finding a job, managing a business or the country's investment. What happened to the soldier that was beaten happens every day, the difference is that there was a camera this time," said Varko.
Matan Admaka, also had something to say about the recent video which showed the brutal beating of the Ethiopian IDF soldier. "The point of the protest today is to get that policeman behind jail bars. The camera caught him 'by accident' – this is one of many such incidences. My friends and I have also experienced violence. We got hit by officers for no justified reason; nobody heard or knew of us."
Moshe, 21 years-old and from Beit Shemesh, also experienced an episode of police brutality. "It happened half a year ago - they took me into the police patrol vehicle because someone had driven my car. They found that there was no alcohol, but an argument emerged between me and the officers, and then they began punching me and used a taser.
"I was taken to Hadassah Medical Center, and after I was released from the hospital I went to complain at the Police Investigation Unit but my complaint was denied because they said I had attacked four police officers. My hand and legs were handcuffed, so how could I have attacked offiers?
One of the officers even said to me, 'So do you have money to file a complaint on me?' Unfortunately, these are things that only happen to black people. Whoever is not black has not experienced this. Period," said Moshe. During the protest Thursday, Rina Engedau, 50 years-old and a mother of five, called out on a speaker phone: "Stop violence and racism. Our children serve in the army and don't get jobs."
"I came from Sudan to Jerusalem by foot so that I could develop the nation, not so that police and the nation would harass our children. There are 30 years of racism here," she called out.
Engedau reiterated the calls of many others at the protest who described a dark reality for Ethiopian Israelis who face discrimination despite their contribution to the country.
"Enough. These children were born here. It's a new generation, let them live quietly, let them work – they were in Golani, they were combat soldiers," she said.
Instant messaging applications such as WhatsApp becoming growing threat both to battlefield secrecy and to privacy of women soldiers, military officials say.
Israel's armed forces see a growing threat in instant messaging applications – both to battlefield secrecy and to the privacy of women soldiers.
According to official military journal Bamahane, the number of troop indictments for sex crimes has almost doubled since 2012, with "infringement of privacy" counts, some involving the collection and sharing of compromising photographs, making up 35 percent of cases.
The journal cited, as one example, a soldier who photo-shopped the face of a female comrade onto an image of another woman’s nude body and pressed her into having sex with him by threatening to disseminate the image.
In another case, a non-commissioned officer was accused of surreptitiously photographing women in the shower.
WhatsApp, the instant messaging application owned by Facebook, has become particularly popular among Israeli conscripts in recent years.
The military's chief censor, Brigadier-General Sima Vaknin-Gil, said WhatsApp messaging about the Gaza war last July and August was the challenge to operational security that prompted the most discussion in meetings she held at the time with her staff. "Do I think WhatsApp is liable to be an acute problem in the future? Yes, unequivocally," Vaknin-Gil told Bamahane, predicting the power of social media would require a review of official secrecy standards in the country.
During the Gaza war, the military said it arrested several soldiers for publishing the names of casualties over the application before next-of-kin could be formally informed.
The Israeli military regards such breaches as a security risk as well as a humanitarian issue. The military has also disciplined troops for allegedly racist comments on Facebook, and in the case of a group of women soldiers, for posting photos of themselves in underwear and combat gear.
Vaknin-Gil said effectively monitoring social media activity in Israel for breaches of military law would be impossible. "First of all, it's not under my aegis," she said. "Secondly, you would have to expand the body called censorship dozens of times over in order to handle all of the existing WhatsApps groups."
The military's response appears to be mainly cautionary, for now, by playing up social media cases that lead to the stockade. "This is a very troublesome phenomenon, and soldiers don't understand how grave it is," the chief military prosecutor, Colonel Udi Ben-Eliezer, told Bamahane. "The telephone is easily available, and therefore the crime becomes very easy to do."
Israel's armed forces see a growing threat in instant messaging applications – both to battlefield secrecy and to the privacy of women soldiers.
According to official military journal Bamahane, the number of troop indictments for sex crimes has almost doubled since 2012, with "infringement of privacy" counts, some involving the collection and sharing of compromising photographs, making up 35 percent of cases.
The journal cited, as one example, a soldier who photo-shopped the face of a female comrade onto an image of another woman’s nude body and pressed her into having sex with him by threatening to disseminate the image.
In another case, a non-commissioned officer was accused of surreptitiously photographing women in the shower.
WhatsApp, the instant messaging application owned by Facebook, has become particularly popular among Israeli conscripts in recent years.
The military's chief censor, Brigadier-General Sima Vaknin-Gil, said WhatsApp messaging about the Gaza war last July and August was the challenge to operational security that prompted the most discussion in meetings she held at the time with her staff. "Do I think WhatsApp is liable to be an acute problem in the future? Yes, unequivocally," Vaknin-Gil told Bamahane, predicting the power of social media would require a review of official secrecy standards in the country.
During the Gaza war, the military said it arrested several soldiers for publishing the names of casualties over the application before next-of-kin could be formally informed.
The Israeli military regards such breaches as a security risk as well as a humanitarian issue. The military has also disciplined troops for allegedly racist comments on Facebook, and in the case of a group of women soldiers, for posting photos of themselves in underwear and combat gear.
Vaknin-Gil said effectively monitoring social media activity in Israel for breaches of military law would be impossible. "First of all, it's not under my aegis," she said. "Secondly, you would have to expand the body called censorship dozens of times over in order to handle all of the existing WhatsApps groups."
The military's response appears to be mainly cautionary, for now, by playing up social media cases that lead to the stockade. "This is a very troublesome phenomenon, and soldiers don't understand how grave it is," the chief military prosecutor, Colonel Udi Ben-Eliezer, told Bamahane. "The telephone is easily available, and therefore the crime becomes very easy to do."
