Last week, nearly 5,000 Israelis came out to rally against racism and discrimination against Jews of Ethiopian descent.
The rally came in the wake of reports that a group of landlords and homeowners in the southern Israeli town of Kiryat Malachi agreed not to rent or sell their homes to Ethiopian Jews. Kiryat Malachi is home to many immigrants from Ethiopia and the former Soviet Union, as are several other southern towns and the city of Beersheva.
In my 11 years here, this is the first time that I have heard of such a deal struck to prevent Ethiopian Israelis from living in a particular community. That is not to say that incidents of racism have not occurred, and they have - against Ethiopian Jews, Jews from the former Soviet Union, and migrant workers.
Israelis acted quickly. A rally in the town was
followed by the larger protest in Jerusalem. It has since been followed with calls in the Knesset to make such discrimination punishable with fines and prison terms.
Prior to these incidents, the Knesset agreed to include Ethiopian Israelis in a program for affirmative action in the civil service system, leading to an increase of hundreds in hires from that community. The prime minister's office allocated 860 million shekels (almost $227 million) beginning in 2008 over five years for an integration program for Ethiopian Israelis, emphasizing on mortgage assistance. The Ethiopian Sigd holiday was declared a national holiday.
It really rubbed me the wrong way when I read in The Jerusalem Post that Ethiopian Israelis are now turning to American Jews to pressure the Israeli government to do more for the Ethiopian community.
"We know that we are here because of generous donations from the Jews in the Diaspora, and we will never forget their assistance - but first we want them to know that the funds they have donated are not reaching the Ethiopian community, and we want to ask them for their help in making a real change," Gadi Yevarkan, director of the Center for Social Equality for the Ethiopian Jews, told The Jerusalem Post.
Resettling Ethiopian Jews cannot be cheap. They come with few skills, from a backward way of life, and with no proficiency in Hebrew. Integration takes time. But to accuse Israel of misusing funds earmarked for the Ethiopian community seems to be misdirected frustration and anger.
How many countries would airlift thousands of starving Africans and resettle them in their country, continuing to bring more than 1,000 each year, knowing the difficulties?
The system is not perfect, but for as many sad stories as there are out there, there are success stories, from the 20-something first-grade teacher at my children's elementary school to a member of Knesset.
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