Ethiopian Jews still face racism in Israel

[firedupdem]

TEL AVIV - The ancient hymns brought tears to the eyes of Solomon Ayeli, as well as memories of his native Ethiopia which he left two decades ago for Israel -- a country he loves but where he often feels rejected.

"There should be no differences between black Jews and white Jews," said Ayeli, 29, who was among 15,000 people who this week celebrated the Ethiopian-Jewish Sigd -- prostration -- festival in Jerusalem.

"We want to be fully fledged Israelis," he said, as priests intoned prayers in Ethiopia's ancient scriptural language Geez. "We want to fully belong to Israeli society which often rejects us."

snip

A recent study showed that 53 percent of employers preferred not to hire Ethiopians, who nevertheless still fared better than Arabs with an 83 percent rejection rate.

Israel has often come under international criticism for ‘racism’ and mistreatment of its non-Jewish Arab minority, who are the original inhabitants of the land and today make up one fifth of its total population.

The study also found that 70 percent of employers tended not to promote Ethiopians.

Israel's Association for Civil Rights says employment rates within the Ethiopian community were 10 percent lower than for the rest of the population last year.

Official figures show that 2008 high school completion was only 36 percent among students of Ethiopian origin as compared with 55 percent for other Israelis.

In September, ultra-Orthodox schools in Petah Tikva, near Tel Aviv, caused a public uproar when they initially refused to accept children of Ethiopian descent, although they eventually accepted some of the applicants.

But there are some success stories.

http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=35796

[Number23]

1. Great article. Fascinating stuff. Thanks for posting!

Totally off topic, but you would think that considering Ethiopian people are the most beautiful people on this whole damned planet, that folks would be jumping at the chance to integrate them into their society.

Ah well, some folks just see brown skin and hear "Africa" and shut themselves down...

[firedupdem]

2. It's exactly that...brown skin...and being an "other"

A recent study showed that 53 percent of employers preferred not to hire Ethiopians, who nevertheless still fared better than Arabs with an 83 percent rejection rate

Off topic....I read in the chicago newspapers about an Arab woman whose scarf was ripped from her head in a grocery store the other day. She did call police and the woman who did it was arrested. I'll see if I can find the article.

here it is:

A suburban Chicago woman has been charged with a hate crime for allegedly yanking the head scarf of a Muslim woman in Tinley Park two days after the shootings at Fort Hood, Texas.

Valerie Kenney, 54, a bank teller from Tinley Park, appeared at the Bridgeview Courthouse today and was released on $5,000 bail. If convicted of the felony, Kenney faces up to 3 years in prison and a $25,000 fine. She is due back in court Dec. 3.

"I think (a charge of hate crime) sends the appropriate message that these kinds of race-based lash-outs are unacceptable," said Ahmed Rehab, executive director of the Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. "Every time something like (the Fort Hood shootings) happens, the Muslim community prepares for a backlash."

Amal Abusumayah, 28, told police she was shopping at a Tinley Park grocery store Nov. 7 when a middle-age woman passed her in the aisle and made a loud reference to the killings at Fort Hood.

"She said, 'The man that did that shooting in Texas was from the Middle East,' in a really loud and angry voice," Abusumayah told the Tribune last week. Minutes later, while Abusumayah was paying for her groceries at a self-checkout, the woman approached her from behind and tugged hard on her blue and beige head scarf, she said.

"I turned around and looked at her, and she walked out of the store," she said. "My scarf didn't come off because it was on very tight, but my head was tugged back."

Abusumayah, who was born in the United States and raised in Berwyn by Palestinian immigrants, followed the woman into the lot and called police, who arrested Kenney within minutes.

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/11/woman-accused-of-hate-crime-against-muslim.html

[Karenina]

3. Oh GOODY! There you both are!!! I got a hot, sweet potato here:

http://www.linktv.org/programs/the-glow-of-white-women

Pay particular attention round about 16:45. :spray::rofl:

We'll get to the Ethiopians in due time. :evilgrin:

[Number23]

4. I'll give you FIVE WHOLE DOLLARS if you post this in GD.

Five WHOLE dollars.

I'm only about 4 minutes in and I'm riveted. He won me over with his introduction where he stated "white people have spent all of this time obsessing over black people's sexuality, measuring black men's dicks, and talking endlessly about black people's sex drives. I wanted to do the same to them."

Love it. :)

[Karenina]

7. BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

:rofl::rofl::rofl:

I'm still working up the courage to discuss the topic of the OP! :hide:

[Karenina]

8. I DID go here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=229x12070

In all my years here it has been virtual reality IMPOSSIBLE to engage dominant community women in any substantive discussion. I have my own :tinfoilhat: theories on that! :rofl:

[firedupdem]

5. Wow!!

18 minutes in and I can't wait to get back to it!

[Number23]

6. Okay, I'm 40 minutes in and I'm still waiting for the in-depth discussion on

the neuroses of white women! Still waiting for him to "study them like lab rats" as he said in the intro. :)

I'm still really enjoying this. This is a simply fantastic movie and should be required viewing for everyone who casually compares everything discriminatory to "apartheid" as I've seen here more than once.

[Karenina]

9. it is an excellent autobiographical documentary

on so many levels. The connexions this man has developed are AMAZING! Frankly, I think he will be forever "in love" with Miss L. I found her quite compelling.

[Karenina]

10. And back to the dynamics of being black AND Jewish...

:hide: