Ethiopian irony
Tens of thousands of Ethiopian Jews immigrated to Israel over the past 20 years. Many of them came with no experience of the West and little education. It so happens that Netanya contains a large population of Ethiopians, living mostly in the Dora neighborhood, that is basically a slum. Today I started delivering food to this neighborhood with a private group called "Keren Olim" (Fund for Immigrants). The delivery is organized by a few people mostly from England. They have a bevy of drivers and young volunteers from the ORT school nearby the food distribution center shlapping the food parcels.
The irony is that while we were driving to deliver these packages (a box of dry goods, a chicken and 2 dozen eggs to each of eight families), I heard on the BBC about "discrimination" in Israel against the Ethiopians. The nature of the discrimination was that the Magen David Adom takes blood donations from Ethiopians, but does not use them in transfusions. That is because, since they come from Africa and are carriers of blood-borne diseases (including AIDS), the decision was taken that it is too risky to mix their blood into the general population. Although this seems discriminatory the reasons for it are quite rational - would even another Ethiopian want to be transfused with possibly contaminated blood? So I chuckled a bit, when we were going around delivering our food parcels. I hope I can say that noone goes hungry in Israel, although I am not sure this is true. Ethiopians are poor, have large families and low-paying jobs. Our Mayor was quoted as saying that noone in Netanya goes hungry, but nevertheless a lot of different private charities distribute food to the poor, including the "Forgotten People's Fund" and "This land is my land."
Dora is not as bad as slums in the US or Europe, there is very little crime here (that is mostly in upper class neighborhoods) and it is quite safe to walk around even at night (although not recommended). As it happens I grew up in a similar slum in the East End of London in a small apartment block, where there was no elevator, the lights were broken and the facilities primitive. So I don't find it entirely foreign. Also, every apartment we went into had a TV.
The most recent scandal in relation to the Ethiopians was the Falash Mura, a group of several thousand Ethiopians who had converted from Judaism to Christianity over the last hundred years or so, who want to be with the rest of the Ethiopian Jews in Israel and in some cases to convert back. Under the very rigorous limitations of the Ministry of Immigration and Absorption, the Falash Mura were first excluded from the "right of return," but after some years of legal action they have been accepted, although the rate of transfer was very slow. Last year Government money was set aside to double the rate of immigration to 300 per month, although this was not done for budgetary reasons. As of this week, after demonstrations and public outcry the latest news is that the Falash Mura are coming at the designated rate. It is sometimes disconcerting to see a black woman in Israel with a cross tatooed on her forehead!
The young man who helped me deliver the food was very dark-skinned, and at first I thought he was Ethiopian, but he was of Moriccan origin and born here. Israel is indeed a rainbow country.
The irony is that while we were driving to deliver these packages (a box of dry goods, a chicken and 2 dozen eggs to each of eight families), I heard on the BBC about "discrimination" in Israel against the Ethiopians. The nature of the discrimination was that the Magen David Adom takes blood donations from Ethiopians, but does not use them in transfusions. That is because, since they come from Africa and are carriers of blood-borne diseases (including AIDS), the decision was taken that it is too risky to mix their blood into the general population. Although this seems discriminatory the reasons for it are quite rational - would even another Ethiopian want to be transfused with possibly contaminated blood? So I chuckled a bit, when we were going around delivering our food parcels. I hope I can say that noone goes hungry in Israel, although I am not sure this is true. Ethiopians are poor, have large families and low-paying jobs. Our Mayor was quoted as saying that noone in Netanya goes hungry, but nevertheless a lot of different private charities distribute food to the poor, including the "Forgotten People's Fund" and "This land is my land."
Dora is not as bad as slums in the US or Europe, there is very little crime here (that is mostly in upper class neighborhoods) and it is quite safe to walk around even at night (although not recommended). As it happens I grew up in a similar slum in the East End of London in a small apartment block, where there was no elevator, the lights were broken and the facilities primitive. So I don't find it entirely foreign. Also, every apartment we went into had a TV.
The most recent scandal in relation to the Ethiopians was the Falash Mura, a group of several thousand Ethiopians who had converted from Judaism to Christianity over the last hundred years or so, who want to be with the rest of the Ethiopian Jews in Israel and in some cases to convert back. Under the very rigorous limitations of the Ministry of Immigration and Absorption, the Falash Mura were first excluded from the "right of return," but after some years of legal action they have been accepted, although the rate of transfer was very slow. Last year Government money was set aside to double the rate of immigration to 300 per month, although this was not done for budgetary reasons. As of this week, after demonstrations and public outcry the latest news is that the Falash Mura are coming at the designated rate. It is sometimes disconcerting to see a black woman in Israel with a cross tatooed on her forehead!
The young man who helped me deliver the food was very dark-skinned, and at first I thought he was Ethiopian, but he was of Moriccan origin and born here. Israel is indeed a rainbow country.
posted by Jack Cohen at 8:35 PM
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