TIME FOR COLIN POWELL TO PAY A VISIT TO HIS IDF BUDDIES!!
After all, they share the same values, don't they??
Ethiopian Jews & Racism
RECENTLY, ISRAELI RADIO REPORTED THAT AN ETHIOPIAN JEW SERVING IN THE ISRAELI ARMY WAS HURLED OUT OF A MILITARY CLINIC AND SUBJECTED TO RACIST ABUSE BY A SUPERIOR OFFICER. THE REPORT PROMPTED CONDEMNATION FROM ISRAELI POLITICIANS AND LEADERS OF THE ETHIOPIAN JEWS IN ISRAEL. THE EPISODE COMES AS THE FORMERLY RURAL ETHIOPIANS FEEL INCREASINGLY ALIENATED BY A MODERN SOCIETY THAT ONCE WELCOMED THEM AS LONG-LOST BROTHERS AND SISTERS.
NEARLY 60-THOUSAND ETHIOPIAN JEWS -- KNOWN AS THE
FALASHAS" BUT WHO PREFER TO BE CALLED "BETA ISRAELS" -- LIVE IN ISRAEL. ALMOST ALL OF THEM WERE BROUGHT FROM A REMOTE AREA IN NORTHERN ETHIOPIA IN AIRLIFTS DURING THE PAST TWO DECADES. THE OPERATIONS, CARRIED OUT BY THE ISRAELI GOVERNMENT, WERE GENERALLY HAILED AS GREAT HUMANITARIAN MOVES, RESCUING JEWS FROM A LAND TORN BY CIVIL WAR AND POVERTY.
BUT THE ETHIOPIANS HAVE BEEN COMPLAINING MORE AND MORE ABOUT
DISCRIMINATION AGAINST THEM BECAUSE OF THEIR COLOR. ADDISU
MASSALA IS THE FIRST ETHIOPIAN ELECTED TO ISRAEL'S PARLIAMENT. HE ARTICULATES THE LATEST COMPLAINT BY THE ETHIOPIANS.
I CANNOT SAY THE ISRAELI SOCIETY AND THE ISRAELI GOVERNMENT DISCRIMINATE AGAINST ETHIOPIAN JEWS. BUT THERE ARE SOME NATIVE ISRAELIS WHO CALL (TELL) ETHIOPIAN SOLDIERS "BLACKS, IN HEBREW KUSHI (NIGGER), AFRICAN, PRIMITIVE, THIS IS A JEWISH MILITARY, WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? GO TO AFRICA." BECAUSE OF THE SOCIAL PROBLEM AND RACISM, THE ETHIOPIAN YOUNG SOLDIERS ARE COMMITTING SUICIDES.
MR. ADDISU SAYS THREE ETHIOPIAN SOLDIERS IN THE ISRAELI ARMY
COMMITTED SUICIDE SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR. HE SAYS WHILE THE ETHIOPIANS MAKE UP LESS THAN HALF OF ONE PERCENT OF THE ARMY'S RECRUITS, THEY COMPRISE TEN PERCENT OF SUICIDES AMONG SOLDIERS.
ISRAELI MILITARY OFFICIALS SAY THEY REGRET THE SUICIDES, BUT
INSIST THAT THEY ARE MAINLY DUE TO FAMILY PROBLEMS OR OTHER
FACTORS OUTSIDE THE ARMY. THEY DENY THAT THE SUICIDES RESULTS
FROM RACISM IN THE ISRAELI DEFENSE FORCES (I-D-F). BRIGADIER
GENERAL ODED BEN-AMI IS THE CHIEF SPOKESMAN FOR THE ARMY.
THE COMMANDERS OF THE ISRAELI ARMY BELIEVE THE NEWCOMERS
FROM ETHIOPIA ARE ABSOLUTELY ONE PART OF THE ISRAELI
SOCIETY. I THINK THIS IS THE WORST WAY TO TALK TO EACH
OTHER. THIS IS THE WORST AND NASTIEST WAY TO TALK TO
ANYONE, ANY IMMIGRANT TO ISRAEL, ESPECIALLY TO OUR
BROTHERS FROM ETHIOPIA. THIS IS ABSOLUTELY AGAINST THE
POLICY OF THE I-D-F FORCES. RACISM WITHIN THE I-D-F IS
ONE THING WE WILL NEVER LET HAPPEN AMONG OURSELVES,
ABSOLUTELY.
DESPITE SUCH ASSURANCES, MR. ADDISU IS CALLING FOR THE DISMISSAL
OF THE ISRAELI OFFICER WHO EJECTED THE ETHIOPIAN SOLDIER FROM AN
ARMY INFIRMARY LAST MONTH. HE ALSO WANTS THE ISRAELI GOVERNMENT
TO ADDRESS THE ISSUE OF RACISM.
PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL MR. NETANYAHU MET WITH THE
YOUNG ETHIOPIAN SOLDIER, AND HE APOLOGIZED. BUT IT IS
NOT ENOUGH TO APOLOGIZE. WHAT THE ISRAELI GOVERNMENT
SHOULD DO AND WHAT WE DEMAND FROM THE GOVERNMENT IS TO
SPEAK ABOUT RACISM AND DISCRIMINATION, AND TO CREATE A
FERTILE CONDITION, A FERTILE ATMOSPHERE IN ORDER TO
ABSORB ETHIOPIAN YOUNGSTERS IN THE ARMY.
ARMY SPOKESMAN GENERAL BEN-ALI SAYS THE OFFICER WHO EJECTED THE
ETHIOPIAN SOLDIER FROM THE CLINIC HAS BEEN PUNISHED, AND THAT THE
ARMY IS DISCUSSING HIS FUTURE WITHIN THE ARMED FORCES. THE
GENERAL SAYS THE ARMY HAS A TWO-FOLD PROGRAM TO INCREASE
SENSITIVITY TO THE PROBLEM.
FIRST OF ALL WE ARE GOING TO DEEPEN THE EDUCATION AND
INFORMATION AMONG OUR OFFICERS AND SOLDIERS TO BE MUCH
MORE DELICATE, TO BE MUCH MORE EASY WITH THE ETHIOPIAN
SOLDIERS. SECONDLY, WE ARE GOING TO GIVE MUCH MORE
CARE TO THOSE AMONG THE SOLDIERS COMING FROM ETHIOPIA
WHO NEED HELP AND SUPPORT AND EVERYTHING THAT WE CAN
GIVE THEM IN ORDER TO EASE THEIR SERVICE.
THE CHARGES OF RACISM IN THE ARMY FOLLOWS COMPLAINTS
BY THE ETHIOPIANS THAT THEY ARE GIVEN INFERIOR HOUSING. THEY ARE
ELIGIBLE FOR GOVERNMENT GRANTS OF UP TO 120-THOUSAND DOLLARS FOR
HOME PURCHASES. ALTHOUGH THE GRANTS ARE SAID TO BE LARGER THAN
THOSE AVAILABLE TO OTHER IMMIGRANTS, LEADERS OF THE ETHIOPIAN
JEWS SAY SOME MUST STILL LIVE IN MOBILE HOMES FAR FROM JOB
CENTERS AND SCHOOLS.
THE ETHIOPIANS WERE CUT OFF FOR CENTURIES FROM THE REST OF THE
JEWISH DIASPORA. THOUGH THEY MAINTAINED JEWISH TRADITIONS, THEIR
JEWISHNESS WAS ONCE QUESTIONED BY SOME ORTHODOX ISRAELI RABBIS
WHO INSISTED THAT THE ETHIOPIANS SHOULD UNDERGO RITUAL BATHS TO
BE OFFICIALLY SANCTIONED AS JEWISH. THE ETHIOPIANS REGARDED THIS
AS DEMEANING AND LARGELY REFUSED TO DO SO.
THEIR SENSE OF ALIENATION REACHED A CLIMAX LAST YEAR WHEN THEY
STAGED A VIOLENT DEMONSTRATION TO PROTEST A SECRET GOVERNMENT
POLICY OF DISCARDING THEIR BLOOD DONATIONS FOR FEAR OF AIDS
CONTAMINATION. THE GOVERNMENT APOLOGIZED FOR THE BLOOD SCANDAL
AND APPOINTED A STATE COMMISSION TO INVESTIGATE THE MATTER.
NEVERTHELESS, ANALYSTS SAY THE SCANDAL COMBINED WITH THE LATEST
CHARGE OF RACISM COULD REINFORCE THE ETHIOPIANS FEELINGS OF BEING
DISCRIMINATED AGAINST IN A LAND THEY BELIEVE TO BE THEIR OWN.
03-Apr-97
Source: Voice of America
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