Ethiopian-Israelis Protest for 3rd Day After Fatal Police Shooting

[SummerMadness]

Ethiopian-Israelis Protest for 3rd Day After Fatal Police Shooting

Ethiopian-Israelis and their supporters took to the streets across the country on Wednesday for a third day of protests in an outpouring of rage after an off-duty police officer fatally shot a black youth, and the Israeli police turned out in force to try to keep the main roads open.

The mostly young demonstrators have blocked major roads and junctions, paralyzing traffic during the evening rush hour, with disturbances extending into the night, protesting what community activists describe as deeply ingrained racism and discrimination in Israeli society.

 

[Dave-W]

Indeed. It is tragic how they are treated in Israeli society.

It is supposed to be axiomatic that all Jews are treated as equals and family. Sadly not the case with the Ethiopian or the Indian Jews.

 

[Sparagmos]

Indeed. It is tragic how they are treated in Israeli society.

It is supposed to be axiomatic that all Jews are treated as equals and family. Sadly not the case with the Ethiopian or the Indian Jews.

What about non-Jews?

 

[Dave-W]

What about non-Jews?

That is an entirely different issue

 

[SummerMadness]

'Not MLK, but Malcolm X': Is Israel Having Its Black Lives Matter Moment?

An unarmed black teenager is shot dead by an off-duty cop, sparking nationwide protests. On the face of it, the similarities between events that brought thousands of Ethiopian Israelis onto the streets this week and the U.S. movement Black Lives Matter are striking.

On Sunday, 18-year-old Solomon Teka was shot by an off-duty policeman trying to break up a playground fight in a suburb of Haifa. The policeman said he fired because he felt under threat after stones were hurled at him. He insisted, however, that he shot at the ground.

Another key distinction is that Ethiopian Israelis have not succeeded — unlike their counterparts in Black Lives Matter — in forming alliances with other oppressed and marginalized groups. Their natural allies, notes Keynan, would be Arab Israelis, who also suffer disproportionately from police violence, and African asylum seekers.

“But we have to remember that, more than any other group in Israel, Ethiopian Jews have suffered because of the constant doubts cast upon their Jewishness,” he says. “This need to prove themselves as Jewish, it would seem, prevents them from forming partnerships and coalitions with non-Jewish groups.”

As always, reality is quite complex.

 

[Ana the Ist]

Indeed. It is tragic how they are treated in Israeli society.

How are they treated?

 

[Aryeh Jay]

How are they treated?

A little better than Palestinians and a little worse than Christians.