The Israeli government and the Jewish Agency for Israel must immediately restart the stalled immigration process from Ethiopia and the organized Jewish community in the US must provide the funding for it, said Kadima MK Shlomo Molla, who headed a delegation of three MKs to Ethiopia last week and will present his findings to a special session of the Knesset on Tuesday.
Ethiopians demand that the Falash Mura be brought to Israel.
Photo: Ariel Jerozolimski [file]
"The humanitarian situation in Gondar [where those waiting to immigrate are based] is very difficult," Molla told The Jerusalem Post on Monday. "It is the responsibility of the State of Israel to recognize these people for aliya and it is up to the Jewish Agency to bring them here."
Molla, who will present his report to a joint session of the Knesset's State Control and Aliya, Immigration and Diaspora committees, said he also planned to send the report to the Jewish Federations of North America and would call on it to implement a special operation, similar to 2005's Operation Promise, to bring those still remaining in Ethiopia to Israel as soon as possible.
"The Jewish Agency needs to go in and help these people tomorrow," said Molla, adding that there are some 8,700 Falash Mura - Ethiopians whose Jewish ancestors were forcibly converted to Christianity - still waiting to emigrate.
Most of those are believed to fit the criteria for aliya laid out by previous Israeli governments and many have family members already living here.
Abra Mulla, an Ethiopian immigrant now based in Lod, said his sister and her family are still stuck in Gondar with little, if any, humanitarian aid or medical assistance.
"I have to send her money each month in order for her to survive," Mulla told the Post. "I have been trying to help her make aliya for more than five years but every time I go to the Interior Ministry, they tell me they cannot help me."
Mulla's story is shared by many in the 110,000-strong Ethiopian community in Israel, who have been separated from relatives due to the ongoing debate over this aliya, which some believe has become too costly.
A spokesman for JAFI said that Tuesday's Knesset session would likely determine if and when the organization returns to Ethiopia to facilitate aliya from there.
"The Jewish Agency assumes responsibility for such a process only when it receives specific directives from the government," he said, adding "all humanitarian aid is provided in the area by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee [JDC] and the North American Coalition on Ethiopian Jewry."
MK Molla, however, was critical of JAFI's failure to implement existing government policies, pointing out that a decision was made in September 2008 to continue the flow of aliya from Ethiopia.
"The government of Israel did make a decision to continue checking people," he said. "And at the end of the day, the body responsible for bringing these people to Israel is the Jewish Agency."
Molla's push for continuing aliya from Ethiopia comes just two weeks after the JDC reopened its medical facility in Gondar and following an informal announcement by Jewish Agency Executive Chairman Natan Sharansky that he was in favor of bringing in those who remain.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Thursday, November 19, 2009
The Ethiopian journey comes to an end
It’s been a long journey for Israel’s Ethiopian Jews, airlifted out of Ethiopia to Israel in 1984 and 1991, but this week, many must have felt their travels were really and truly over.
Thousands of Ethiopian Jews descended on Jerusalem on Monday to take part in the prayer of the Sigd on a hill overlooking the Mount of Olives.
Ethiopians Jews, who are thought to be descendants of one of the lost tribes of Israel, celebrate this holiday every year. Back in Ethiopia, they would climb a mountain called Amburver to pray and beg God to bring them to the Holy Land.
Now in Israel the 80,000 strong population continue to celebrate the holiday. This year, however, the whole of Israel celebrated with them. The holiday of Sigd has been declared a national holiday and mandatory educational programs will be initiated to teach children about the celebration.
It’s a significant step forward for a people who haven’t always found it easy to adapt to their new life, and who still face prejudice from some quarters. Keep an eye out on ISRAEL21c for our video on the holiday.
Thousands of Ethiopian Jews descended on Jerusalem on Monday to take part in the prayer of the Sigd on a hill overlooking the Mount of Olives.
Ethiopians Jews, who are thought to be descendants of one of the lost tribes of Israel, celebrate this holiday every year. Back in Ethiopia, they would climb a mountain called Amburver to pray and beg God to bring them to the Holy Land.
Now in Israel the 80,000 strong population continue to celebrate the holiday. This year, however, the whole of Israel celebrated with them. The holiday of Sigd has been declared a national holiday and mandatory educational programs will be initiated to teach children about the celebration.
It’s a significant step forward for a people who haven’t always found it easy to adapt to their new life, and who still face prejudice from some quarters. Keep an eye out on ISRAEL21c for our video on the holiday.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Survey: 90% of Ethiopian Israelis resist interracial marriage
Intermarriage between between Jews from different ethnic backgrounds has increased steadily over the past several decades, and people say that this is solving the socioeconomic gaps that existed between Ashkenazim and Sephardim in Israeli society.
However, Ethiopian Israelis seem to be exempt from the trend, so far. According to a Central Bureau of Statistics report published on, about 90 percent of Ethiopians - 93 percent of men and 85 percent of women - marry within their community.
The statistical portrait of Ethiopian Israelis was published to coincide with the community's Sigd holiday, which is celebrated every year on the 29th of Heshvan on the Hebrew calendar, which is today.
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At the end of 2008, there were 119,300 people of Ethiopian descent in Israel, including nearly 81,000 people born in Ethiopia and about 38,500 native Israelis (about 32 percent of the community) who had at least one parent who was born in Ethiopia.
The urban areas with the largest concentrations of Ethiopians include Netanya, where one in 10 residents is Ethiopian; and Kiryat Malakhi, where one in three residents, or 3,400 people, are Ethiopian.
The election of Barack Obama, whose father was black and whose mother was white, highlighted the subject of interracial marriage. Nonetheless, the rate of racial intermarriage in the United States is lower than it is in Israel.
According to a study published in the U.S. two years ago, 6 percent of black people who married, married a white person, as opposed to 10 percent in Israel.
The Center for Academic Studies found last year that most Israeli respondents were not comfortable with the prospect of one of their own children marrying an Ethiopian.
Fifty-seven percent said it would be entirely unacceptable for their daughters to marry an Ethiopian, and 39 percent said so regarding their sons.
Avi Masfin, the deputy director of the Israel Association for Ethiopian Jews, says the barriers to intermarriage come from both sides.
"I think from the standpoint of Israeli society generally and from the standpoint of those of Ethiopian origin, it will take time until there is readiness for intermarriage. Portions of the Ethiopian community itself are conservative and have concerns."
Masfin said the figures also reflect the community's relative isolation.
"People who have left that isolation, through the army, the university [or] mixed clubs, can see that even if there are differences in culture, they can be bridged," he said.
Masfin, who immigrated from Ethiopia in 1986, is married to a woman who is not Ethiopian, whom he met while the two were students at Bar-Ilan University.
However, Ethiopian Israelis seem to be exempt from the trend, so far. According to a Central Bureau of Statistics report published on, about 90 percent of Ethiopians - 93 percent of men and 85 percent of women - marry within their community.
The statistical portrait of Ethiopian Israelis was published to coincide with the community's Sigd holiday, which is celebrated every year on the 29th of Heshvan on the Hebrew calendar, which is today.
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At the end of 2008, there were 119,300 people of Ethiopian descent in Israel, including nearly 81,000 people born in Ethiopia and about 38,500 native Israelis (about 32 percent of the community) who had at least one parent who was born in Ethiopia.
The urban areas with the largest concentrations of Ethiopians include Netanya, where one in 10 residents is Ethiopian; and Kiryat Malakhi, where one in three residents, or 3,400 people, are Ethiopian.
The election of Barack Obama, whose father was black and whose mother was white, highlighted the subject of interracial marriage. Nonetheless, the rate of racial intermarriage in the United States is lower than it is in Israel.
According to a study published in the U.S. two years ago, 6 percent of black people who married, married a white person, as opposed to 10 percent in Israel.
The Center for Academic Studies found last year that most Israeli respondents were not comfortable with the prospect of one of their own children marrying an Ethiopian.
Fifty-seven percent said it would be entirely unacceptable for their daughters to marry an Ethiopian, and 39 percent said so regarding their sons.
Avi Masfin, the deputy director of the Israel Association for Ethiopian Jews, says the barriers to intermarriage come from both sides.
"I think from the standpoint of Israeli society generally and from the standpoint of those of Ethiopian origin, it will take time until there is readiness for intermarriage. Portions of the Ethiopian community itself are conservative and have concerns."
Masfin said the figures also reflect the community's relative isolation.
"People who have left that isolation, through the army, the university [or] mixed clubs, can see that even if there are differences in culture, they can be bridged," he said.
Masfin, who immigrated from Ethiopia in 1986, is married to a woman who is not Ethiopian, whom he met while the two were students at Bar-Ilan University.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
'What does it matter that we're black?' ask Ethiopian students
'What does it matter that we're black?' ask Ethiopian students
By Or Kashti
Balta Zalka stood outside the Da'at Mevinim private religious school in Petah Tikva, waiting for a government official to confirm that his two daughters would indeed study there this year, as the municipality had promised. He was disappointed.
"The secretary took down our details and promised to call. I don't know what happened. They told us to come to register, but they're not accepting us," Zalka said. Meanwhile, an Israeli-born mother and her young son walked out of the school. From their conversation, it was apparent the child was allowed to enroll.
Private religious schools in Petah Tikva said this year they would not accept the students assigned by the municipality, and would enroll only those they felt were a good fit.
The scenes were strikingly similar outside the city's three private religious schools: parents and children waiting outside, accompanied by municipal officials, simply waiting their turn.
At each school - Da'at Mevinim, Darkei Noam and Merhav - the principal failed to show up, each for a different reason. Only one or two secretaries came, even though the municipality announced last week that school officials would be there to greet the students.
School representatives responded, "Nobody coordinated the visit with us," adding that the buildings were still closed for summer vacation.
The Zalka family moved to Petah Tikva several weeks ago from Safed. The two daughters, 6-year-old Habatam and 7-year-old Ambata, are among 100 or so Ethiopian-Israeli students who don't know where they will be attending school next week.
"We thought the problems of 'blacks' in Petah Tikva had been solved, or we wouldn't have bought an apartment here," Zalka said. "I tell the kids not to think about there being 'whites and blacks,' but to be good students, and then they'll be viewed as 'normal,'" Zalka said.
One official described the families' crisscrossing between the private religious schools as "a humiliation parade."
"The heads of the [educational] institutions are under tremendous pressure. They are citing different excuses and trying to buy time, and in the meantime pressuring the Education Ministry," said one official. "Only an unambiguous position by the ministry can solve the crisis. This is war," he said.
Darkei Noam is a large, impressive building. In the entrance hangs a huge poster bearing the line from Proverbs that is the religious school network's motto: "Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace."
"What does it matter that we're black?" asked Beza Waldahi, who is trying to enroll his son at the school. Waldahi's family immigrated to Israel three years ago, and last month moved to Mevasseret Zion.
"The kids always ask what will happen, and why they don't have a school. I don't know what to tell them. In a few years they'll go to the army," he said. "We're like everyone else in Israel - this is our school, our city, our country."
By Or Kashti
Balta Zalka stood outside the Da'at Mevinim private religious school in Petah Tikva, waiting for a government official to confirm that his two daughters would indeed study there this year, as the municipality had promised. He was disappointed.
"The secretary took down our details and promised to call. I don't know what happened. They told us to come to register, but they're not accepting us," Zalka said. Meanwhile, an Israeli-born mother and her young son walked out of the school. From their conversation, it was apparent the child was allowed to enroll.
Private religious schools in Petah Tikva said this year they would not accept the students assigned by the municipality, and would enroll only those they felt were a good fit.
The scenes were strikingly similar outside the city's three private religious schools: parents and children waiting outside, accompanied by municipal officials, simply waiting their turn.
At each school - Da'at Mevinim, Darkei Noam and Merhav - the principal failed to show up, each for a different reason. Only one or two secretaries came, even though the municipality announced last week that school officials would be there to greet the students.
School representatives responded, "Nobody coordinated the visit with us," adding that the buildings were still closed for summer vacation.
The Zalka family moved to Petah Tikva several weeks ago from Safed. The two daughters, 6-year-old Habatam and 7-year-old Ambata, are among 100 or so Ethiopian-Israeli students who don't know where they will be attending school next week.
"We thought the problems of 'blacks' in Petah Tikva had been solved, or we wouldn't have bought an apartment here," Zalka said. "I tell the kids not to think about there being 'whites and blacks,' but to be good students, and then they'll be viewed as 'normal,'" Zalka said.
One official described the families' crisscrossing between the private religious schools as "a humiliation parade."
"The heads of the [educational] institutions are under tremendous pressure. They are citing different excuses and trying to buy time, and in the meantime pressuring the Education Ministry," said one official. "Only an unambiguous position by the ministry can solve the crisis. This is war," he said.
Darkei Noam is a large, impressive building. In the entrance hangs a huge poster bearing the line from Proverbs that is the religious school network's motto: "Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace."
"What does it matter that we're black?" asked Beza Waldahi, who is trying to enroll his son at the school. Waldahi's family immigrated to Israel three years ago, and last month moved to Mevasseret Zion.
"The kids always ask what will happen, and why they don't have a school. I don't know what to tell them. In a few years they'll go to the army," he said. "We're like everyone else in Israel - this is our school, our city, our country."
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Ethiopian woman being denied any formal status
A non-Jewish Ethiopian woman, who was brought to Israel by force as a child and raped by her captor for more than a year, is being denied any formal residency status even though she has lived here for more than 16 years, The Jerusalem Post has learned.
Aregash Gudina Terfassa, whose lawyers have petitioned the Tel Aviv District Court to accept her claim, first applied for permanent residency status in 2006, when the Interior Ministry announced it would recognize children of foreign workers either born here or who had spent the vast majority of their lives here.
Even though Terfassa fit most of the criteria - she had arrived before the age of 14, grew up here and speaks fluent Hebrew - her application was denied because she had never attended an Israeli school.
She has been living here without any formal status ever since.
"It's like being in jail," the 28-year-old told the Post Wednesday. "I was working as a cleaner two days a week but after being arrested twice [by immigration police] and spending a month in jail, I'm too afraid to go out to work or even leave my house."
"I would have loved to have had the opportunity to go to school," continued Terfassa, who, ironically, spent much of her teenage years cleaning an Israeli school, but never actually learning in one. "But I had no parents to help me with that and I did not have the chance."
Attorney Michael Decker from the Jerusalem-based Yehuda Raveh & Co. Law Offices, which is representing Terfassa, said the Interior Ministry's decision not to grant her permanent residency was unfair.
He pointed out to the Post that under the country's laws of compulsory education it is the responsibility of parents and/or the authorities to ensure that every child attends school. In the case of Terfassa, however, because she had no parents or official legal guardian, that criteria should not apply.
"She was cleaning schools while other kids got to study there, but never had the chance to study herself," said Decker, adding that a court hearing was supposed to take place on Sunday but that the Interior Ministry has asked for an additional extension to further analyze the situation.
The presiding judge has not yet ruled whether next week's hearing will be delayed.
"It's a unique case," commented a ministry spokeswoman. "The courts will now have to decide what should be done in this matter."
Asked about the Interior Ministry's approach to her case, Terfassa replied sadly: "All my life has been filled with hardships; it's all I know. I have no parents, no family, except for my [non-Jewish] husband now. I have been here for 16 years and still have achieved nothing."
Terfassa, who hails from rural Ethiopia, said that her parents died when she was a young child and that she was sent to live in a church. In 1993, the church's priest was posted to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church in Jerusalem and Terfassa accompanied him, entering the country initially on a tourist visa.
"He was like a father to me," said Terfassa of the man who first brought her here and later beat and raped her. "I was only a child then, I did not speak Hebrew and the officials in the church told me not to report it to the police."
Terfassa recalled, however, that the priest was later deported by the Israeli authorities.
At the age of 14, Terfassa, who was left barren by her ordeal, managed to escape the church and found refuge with another Ethiopian Christian family in Jerusalem and worked for them caring for the family's young children. She was later hired by a manpower agency and sent to work as a cleaner, which she has done ever since.
"I know that she would love to have a formal status so that she could at least improve her work situation," said Becker. "She has expressed to me that she would love to work in a store, folding clothes. She is just devastated that next week's hearing might be postponed."
Aregash Gudina Terfassa, whose lawyers have petitioned the Tel Aviv District Court to accept her claim, first applied for permanent residency status in 2006, when the Interior Ministry announced it would recognize children of foreign workers either born here or who had spent the vast majority of their lives here.
Even though Terfassa fit most of the criteria - she had arrived before the age of 14, grew up here and speaks fluent Hebrew - her application was denied because she had never attended an Israeli school.
She has been living here without any formal status ever since.
"It's like being in jail," the 28-year-old told the Post Wednesday. "I was working as a cleaner two days a week but after being arrested twice [by immigration police] and spending a month in jail, I'm too afraid to go out to work or even leave my house."
"I would have loved to have had the opportunity to go to school," continued Terfassa, who, ironically, spent much of her teenage years cleaning an Israeli school, but never actually learning in one. "But I had no parents to help me with that and I did not have the chance."
Attorney Michael Decker from the Jerusalem-based Yehuda Raveh & Co. Law Offices, which is representing Terfassa, said the Interior Ministry's decision not to grant her permanent residency was unfair.
He pointed out to the Post that under the country's laws of compulsory education it is the responsibility of parents and/or the authorities to ensure that every child attends school. In the case of Terfassa, however, because she had no parents or official legal guardian, that criteria should not apply.
"She was cleaning schools while other kids got to study there, but never had the chance to study herself," said Decker, adding that a court hearing was supposed to take place on Sunday but that the Interior Ministry has asked for an additional extension to further analyze the situation.
The presiding judge has not yet ruled whether next week's hearing will be delayed.
"It's a unique case," commented a ministry spokeswoman. "The courts will now have to decide what should be done in this matter."
Asked about the Interior Ministry's approach to her case, Terfassa replied sadly: "All my life has been filled with hardships; it's all I know. I have no parents, no family, except for my [non-Jewish] husband now. I have been here for 16 years and still have achieved nothing."
Terfassa, who hails from rural Ethiopia, said that her parents died when she was a young child and that she was sent to live in a church. In 1993, the church's priest was posted to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church in Jerusalem and Terfassa accompanied him, entering the country initially on a tourist visa.
"He was like a father to me," said Terfassa of the man who first brought her here and later beat and raped her. "I was only a child then, I did not speak Hebrew and the officials in the church told me not to report it to the police."
Terfassa recalled, however, that the priest was later deported by the Israeli authorities.
At the age of 14, Terfassa, who was left barren by her ordeal, managed to escape the church and found refuge with another Ethiopian Christian family in Jerusalem and worked for them caring for the family's young children. She was later hired by a manpower agency and sent to work as a cleaner, which she has done ever since.
"I know that she would love to have a formal status so that she could at least improve her work situation," said Becker. "She has expressed to me that she would love to work in a store, folding clothes. She is just devastated that next week's hearing might be postponed."
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Ethiopian students still left out of classrooms
An agreement was reached Wednesday evening to enroll another 36 children of Ethiopian origin in Petah Tikva's schools, after a second school day in which children and their parents waited for hours in the corridors of the city's education department to find out where their children would be studying.
Of this group of 36, 10 will go to state religious schools, 11 to three private religious Zionist schools, and 15 to ultra-Orthodox schools.
But some of the parents remained skeptical. "I'll believe everything's all right after my son has been in school for a week," said one mother, Mema Ordena.
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The confusion over the children's enrollment led to a few inappropriate incidents. The ultra-Orthodox private school Shuvu, for instance, demanded conversion certificates from at least five children of Ethiopian origin.
"I've been living here for 26 years," said one mother, Esther Dasata. "All my children were born in Israel. We're Jews in every sense of the word. Why all of a sudden are they asking me for a conversion certificate?
"Are they afraid our color will rub off on them?" she added. "I don't understand why my son can't go to school, why our poor children have to suffer this way. It makes me sick."
But after the Education Ministry intervened and informed Shuvu that its demand was unacceptable, Dasata was promised that her son, Yonatan, like the other children, would be enrolled there.
At 9 A.M. Wednesday, Pirmos Sama and her son Aschalo, 6, came to the municipality office. They had already been disappointed on Tuesday, when Aschalo sat for hours at the state religious school Morasha and was then sent back to city hall, so this time, he came without his bookbag.
"Why should we bring the bag if we don't have school?" Pirmos said. "They kept telling us, 'wait, you'll have an answer shortly,' but meanwhile, they don't want us at school."
Another mother, Tarpa Zimula, said she tried to get her daughter Sisainesh into school again Wednesday, but they were once again sent away. "The child's been crying for two days," she said. "I don't go to work."
In the city's education department, there was great confusion over the registration of the Ethiopian children. Several city officials said that in all their meetings with Education Ministry officials, which led to Monday evening's premature announcement that a solution had been found, they had been referring only to the new children - those that had arrived in town over the past few weeks. Children who had been living in Petah Tikva for years and gone to kindergarten in the city were not included in calculating the "quotas" that were distributed among the various schools on Monday. Thus 36 new children were suddenly "discovered."
Meanwhile, when the state religious schools were asked to enroll these additional children on the first two days of school, they insisted that under their agreement with Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar, they had to take only 34 kids.
Wednesday, the parents committee of the state religious schools traded accusations with the Petah Tikva municipality. "Mayor Itzhak Ohayon is knowingly lying to the public [about the number of students to be enrolled], just like he lied to the education minister and the Knesset Education Committee," a parents committee member said, adding that the schools had agreed to take in six students over and above what their agreements called for.
"The state religious schools have chosen to defend themselves by means of false accusations," the city responded.
At 6 P.M. Wednesday, only a few parents were still waiting at the city's education department. A clerk came out and began handing out the new assignments to schools. But there were no smiles.
Only Thursday will it become clear whether the crisis has indeed been solved - until the next group of immigrants arrives, in another two or three months, with about 60 more new immigrant children.
Of this group of 36, 10 will go to state religious schools, 11 to three private religious Zionist schools, and 15 to ultra-Orthodox schools.
But some of the parents remained skeptical. "I'll believe everything's all right after my son has been in school for a week," said one mother, Mema Ordena.
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The confusion over the children's enrollment led to a few inappropriate incidents. The ultra-Orthodox private school Shuvu, for instance, demanded conversion certificates from at least five children of Ethiopian origin.
"I've been living here for 26 years," said one mother, Esther Dasata. "All my children were born in Israel. We're Jews in every sense of the word. Why all of a sudden are they asking me for a conversion certificate?
"Are they afraid our color will rub off on them?" she added. "I don't understand why my son can't go to school, why our poor children have to suffer this way. It makes me sick."
But after the Education Ministry intervened and informed Shuvu that its demand was unacceptable, Dasata was promised that her son, Yonatan, like the other children, would be enrolled there.
At 9 A.M. Wednesday, Pirmos Sama and her son Aschalo, 6, came to the municipality office. They had already been disappointed on Tuesday, when Aschalo sat for hours at the state religious school Morasha and was then sent back to city hall, so this time, he came without his bookbag.
"Why should we bring the bag if we don't have school?" Pirmos said. "They kept telling us, 'wait, you'll have an answer shortly,' but meanwhile, they don't want us at school."
Another mother, Tarpa Zimula, said she tried to get her daughter Sisainesh into school again Wednesday, but they were once again sent away. "The child's been crying for two days," she said. "I don't go to work."
In the city's education department, there was great confusion over the registration of the Ethiopian children. Several city officials said that in all their meetings with Education Ministry officials, which led to Monday evening's premature announcement that a solution had been found, they had been referring only to the new children - those that had arrived in town over the past few weeks. Children who had been living in Petah Tikva for years and gone to kindergarten in the city were not included in calculating the "quotas" that were distributed among the various schools on Monday. Thus 36 new children were suddenly "discovered."
Meanwhile, when the state religious schools were asked to enroll these additional children on the first two days of school, they insisted that under their agreement with Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar, they had to take only 34 kids.
Wednesday, the parents committee of the state religious schools traded accusations with the Petah Tikva municipality. "Mayor Itzhak Ohayon is knowingly lying to the public [about the number of students to be enrolled], just like he lied to the education minister and the Knesset Education Committee," a parents committee member said, adding that the schools had agreed to take in six students over and above what their agreements called for.
"The state religious schools have chosen to defend themselves by means of false accusations," the city responded.
At 6 P.M. Wednesday, only a few parents were still waiting at the city's education department. A clerk came out and began handing out the new assignments to schools. But there were no smiles.
Only Thursday will it become clear whether the crisis has indeed been solved - until the next group of immigrants arrives, in another two or three months, with about 60 more new immigrant children.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Why Jews see racism in Israel
Petach Tikvah, Israel - On the eve of the Israeli school year's start on Tuesday, recent Ethiopian immigrant Ayenew Belay didn't know whether his 7-year-old son Avi would be starting first grade.
Government officials had asked several private religious schools, which are publicly subsidized, to accept about 100 children of Ethiopian Jews – some of whom would be well behind their peers in language, religious studies, and other areas. The schools informed their parents, including Mr. Belay, that the children could not be integrated into regular classes until they caught up, but offered separate "preparatory" classes.
"I bought my son a backpack. He's seen the school," said Belay at a demonstration Monday outside of the Petach Tikvah municipality building. "But they won't accept the boy.... It's because he's black."
While the Israeli Education Ministry struck an 11th-hour deal with three religious elementary schools to allow 30 students to be integrated, activists say the incident is likely to leave an enduring mark on the community's children. Many Ethiopian Jews see the schools' actions as symptomatic of persistent racial discrimination, a phenomenon that has diluted the powerful idealism that drew many to the Jewish state.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu characterized the refusal of admission as a "moral attack," using a word often used to describe terrorist strikes. President Shimon Peres said it was a national "disgrace."
Despite the Education Ministry's intervention, many Ethiopian students were reportedly turned away today, the first day of school, according to Israeli news outlets.
'This is leaving a scar on our kids'
At the Monday demonstration, hundreds of protesters blocked the entrance of the municipality building and nearby intersections.
Wearing a T-shirt that read "We want equality, we're all Jewish," protest leader Uri Kabadeh shouted through a megaphone in the community's native Amharric and Hebrew. "Down with racism, down with discrimination," the crowd chanted.
"This is leaving a scar on our kids," said Mr. Kabadeh. "It will prevent them from advancing [in society]."
Israeli police walking with arms linked to push back demonstrators evoked images of the US civil rights anti-segregation battles in the south in the 1950s. But most Ethiopians say this is a different situation.
Shlomo Molla, the sole Ethiopian member of Israel's 120-seat parliament, said ethnic tension is a fact of life in a society which has accepted immigrants from diverse backgrounds. He insisted the anti-Ethiopian discrimination in Petach Tikva, a Tel Aviv suburb, is local rather than chronic.
"There is no racism policy against Ethiopian Jews," he said. "The Israeli government and parliament are very welcoming to the Ethiopians. They have done a lot."
Ethiopian immigrants once celebrated
Some 111,000 Ethiopian Jewish immigrants and their children live in Israel today – a tiny fraction of the country's 7.2 million residents. Most Ethiopians came during the 1990s and 1980s in covert immigration operations that were celebrated in Israel and in the Jewish Diaspora as realization of the state's raison d'etre of taking in at-risk Jewish populations.
The public relations dividend was not ignored. Ethiopian faces were routinely splashed across Israeli brochures to play up the country's multiethnic character and damp accusations of racism.
But today, these communities are struggling socially and economically. About two-thirds of Ethiopian Jews receive support from state welfare agencies. And just over 10 percent recieve post-high school education compared to 40 percent of Israeli Jews, according to an Ethiopian advocacy group.
Explanations vary. Some point to the problems faced by the Ethiopian community in transitioning from an agrarian society back home to the technology dominated economy in Israel. Others see a pattern of ethnic discrimination reminiscent of earlier waves of Jewish immigration from Arab countries. Still others say hundreds of millions of dollars raised in the Jewish Diaspora to absorb the Ethiopians has been wasted in bureaucracy. But many say it comes down to skin color.
"We came here because we thought Israel was our country. We didn't expect this," said Demelash Belay, a 36-year-old English teacher who moved to Israel in 2006. "We heard in Ethiopia that Israel is a democratic country. We found discrimination. And because of it Ethiopians are suffering."
Since 2000, the Jewish state has accepted thousands of immigrants from the "Falash Mura," Ethiopian Christians who trace their ancestry to Jews. The Falash Mura, like some Ethiopians before them, have been pressed by the Israeli Rabbinate to undergo a lengthy process of conversion to confirm their Jewish authenticity.
Schools deny racist policies
The religious schools, which are partially funded by the municipality and the Education Ministry, have defiantly resisted efforts by the national government to intervene. Spokespersons for the schools and the municipality denied accusations of racism.
Tzachi Lieber, a spokesman for all three elementary schools, said they already have 30 Ethiopians enrolled and that the staff considers it an "honor" to have the immigrants enrolled there: "That proves it's not an issue of racism."
Still, Petach Tikvah municipal spokesperson Hezi Hakak conceded that there's de-facto segregation in the public school system. One school is nearly 100 percent Ethiopian. But some activists, such as Molla, remain patriotic and express optimism that Ethiopians will eventually take their place along side other immigrants in key decisionmaking roles in Israel.
But the official obstacle now facing Ethopian Jewish children was keenly felt by Daw Jambh, a young demonstrator who repeatedly confronted policeman Monday. "I just got out of the [Israeli] army, and I feel disgraced," she said. "I feel like getting out of here."
Community activists complain that Petach Tikvah is not the only municipality where Ethiopian students find themselves in segregated schools. And discrimination is not limited to the school system. A recent survey by Israel's Yediot Ahronot found that Ethiopian candidates were less likely to get invited for a job interview than other Jewish ethnicities.
"There are people who are ignorant. They lack knowledge. They know about us from a colonial aspect," says Daniel Admasso, director of the Israel Association for Ethiopian Jews. "They think that blacks are pitiful, and they live somewhere else.... The white Jewish culture has lots of stereotypes, and they have trouble with people who are different."
Government officials had asked several private religious schools, which are publicly subsidized, to accept about 100 children of Ethiopian Jews – some of whom would be well behind their peers in language, religious studies, and other areas. The schools informed their parents, including Mr. Belay, that the children could not be integrated into regular classes until they caught up, but offered separate "preparatory" classes.
"I bought my son a backpack. He's seen the school," said Belay at a demonstration Monday outside of the Petach Tikvah municipality building. "But they won't accept the boy.... It's because he's black."
While the Israeli Education Ministry struck an 11th-hour deal with three religious elementary schools to allow 30 students to be integrated, activists say the incident is likely to leave an enduring mark on the community's children. Many Ethiopian Jews see the schools' actions as symptomatic of persistent racial discrimination, a phenomenon that has diluted the powerful idealism that drew many to the Jewish state.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu characterized the refusal of admission as a "moral attack," using a word often used to describe terrorist strikes. President Shimon Peres said it was a national "disgrace."
Despite the Education Ministry's intervention, many Ethiopian students were reportedly turned away today, the first day of school, according to Israeli news outlets.
'This is leaving a scar on our kids'
At the Monday demonstration, hundreds of protesters blocked the entrance of the municipality building and nearby intersections.
Wearing a T-shirt that read "We want equality, we're all Jewish," protest leader Uri Kabadeh shouted through a megaphone in the community's native Amharric and Hebrew. "Down with racism, down with discrimination," the crowd chanted.
"This is leaving a scar on our kids," said Mr. Kabadeh. "It will prevent them from advancing [in society]."
Israeli police walking with arms linked to push back demonstrators evoked images of the US civil rights anti-segregation battles in the south in the 1950s. But most Ethiopians say this is a different situation.
Shlomo Molla, the sole Ethiopian member of Israel's 120-seat parliament, said ethnic tension is a fact of life in a society which has accepted immigrants from diverse backgrounds. He insisted the anti-Ethiopian discrimination in Petach Tikva, a Tel Aviv suburb, is local rather than chronic.
"There is no racism policy against Ethiopian Jews," he said. "The Israeli government and parliament are very welcoming to the Ethiopians. They have done a lot."
Ethiopian immigrants once celebrated
Some 111,000 Ethiopian Jewish immigrants and their children live in Israel today – a tiny fraction of the country's 7.2 million residents. Most Ethiopians came during the 1990s and 1980s in covert immigration operations that were celebrated in Israel and in the Jewish Diaspora as realization of the state's raison d'etre of taking in at-risk Jewish populations.
The public relations dividend was not ignored. Ethiopian faces were routinely splashed across Israeli brochures to play up the country's multiethnic character and damp accusations of racism.
But today, these communities are struggling socially and economically. About two-thirds of Ethiopian Jews receive support from state welfare agencies. And just over 10 percent recieve post-high school education compared to 40 percent of Israeli Jews, according to an Ethiopian advocacy group.
Explanations vary. Some point to the problems faced by the Ethiopian community in transitioning from an agrarian society back home to the technology dominated economy in Israel. Others see a pattern of ethnic discrimination reminiscent of earlier waves of Jewish immigration from Arab countries. Still others say hundreds of millions of dollars raised in the Jewish Diaspora to absorb the Ethiopians has been wasted in bureaucracy. But many say it comes down to skin color.
"We came here because we thought Israel was our country. We didn't expect this," said Demelash Belay, a 36-year-old English teacher who moved to Israel in 2006. "We heard in Ethiopia that Israel is a democratic country. We found discrimination. And because of it Ethiopians are suffering."
Since 2000, the Jewish state has accepted thousands of immigrants from the "Falash Mura," Ethiopian Christians who trace their ancestry to Jews. The Falash Mura, like some Ethiopians before them, have been pressed by the Israeli Rabbinate to undergo a lengthy process of conversion to confirm their Jewish authenticity.
Schools deny racist policies
The religious schools, which are partially funded by the municipality and the Education Ministry, have defiantly resisted efforts by the national government to intervene. Spokespersons for the schools and the municipality denied accusations of racism.
Tzachi Lieber, a spokesman for all three elementary schools, said they already have 30 Ethiopians enrolled and that the staff considers it an "honor" to have the immigrants enrolled there: "That proves it's not an issue of racism."
Still, Petach Tikvah municipal spokesperson Hezi Hakak conceded that there's de-facto segregation in the public school system. One school is nearly 100 percent Ethiopian. But some activists, such as Molla, remain patriotic and express optimism that Ethiopians will eventually take their place along side other immigrants in key decisionmaking roles in Israel.
But the official obstacle now facing Ethopian Jewish children was keenly felt by Daw Jambh, a young demonstrator who repeatedly confronted policeman Monday. "I just got out of the [Israeli] army, and I feel disgraced," she said. "I feel like getting out of here."
Community activists complain that Petach Tikvah is not the only municipality where Ethiopian students find themselves in segregated schools. And discrimination is not limited to the school system. A recent survey by Israel's Yediot Ahronot found that Ethiopian candidates were less likely to get invited for a job interview than other Jewish ethnicities.
"There are people who are ignorant. They lack knowledge. They know about us from a colonial aspect," says Daniel Admasso, director of the Israel Association for Ethiopian Jews. "They think that blacks are pitiful, and they live somewhere else.... The white Jewish culture has lots of stereotypes, and they have trouble with people who are different."
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Schools to accept Ethiopian students
JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Three private religious schools in Petach Tikvah will admit Ethiopian students.
The agreement, reached just hours before the start of the school year, was announced Monday night by the Education Ministry.
Some 30 Ethiopian students were to be accepted by the three schools on Tuesday, the first day of school, with another 18 to enter during the course of the school year.
Another 60 Ethiopian students who will move to the city in the coming months will enroll in "unofficially recognized" schools run by fervently Orthodox organizations. They will not be assigned to the state religious schools.
On Sunday, the Education Ministry had announced that it would cut off funding to the private religious schools -- up to 75 percent of their annual budgets -- if they refused to accept the students. The schools had claimed that the Ethiopian students require more time and funds than other children to raise them to academic standards.
The schools had agreed to accept children into regular first-grade classes but said the older students must attend special classes, which Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar called "a kind of small ghetto for pupils of a certain origin."
The agreement, reached just hours before the start of the school year, was announced Monday night by the Education Ministry.
Some 30 Ethiopian students were to be accepted by the three schools on Tuesday, the first day of school, with another 18 to enter during the course of the school year.
Another 60 Ethiopian students who will move to the city in the coming months will enroll in "unofficially recognized" schools run by fervently Orthodox organizations. They will not be assigned to the state religious schools.
On Sunday, the Education Ministry had announced that it would cut off funding to the private religious schools -- up to 75 percent of their annual budgets -- if they refused to accept the students. The schools had claimed that the Ethiopian students require more time and funds than other children to raise them to academic standards.
The schools had agreed to accept children into regular first-grade classes but said the older students must attend special classes, which Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar called "a kind of small ghetto for pupils of a certain origin."
Monday, August 31, 2009
'Ethiopian students are in ghetto'
Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar on Monday equated the segregation of Ethiopian students in Petah Tikva to "ghetto" conditions, saying the refusal of a number of the city's schools to accept Ethiopian students was an issue which represents "a battle for Israel's identity."
At the meeting, convened to discuss the crisis, Sa'ar aimed sharp criticism at the conduct of the Petah Tikva Municipality and the semi-private schools. "This concerns not only the three schools that have, for a long time, been deceiving the entire educational system. For years, racism has developed here undeterred," he said, noting that nobody had addressed the issue.
"We've come to the point where today there is a school, Ner Etzion, which only Ethiopian students attend," Sa'ar said. "This is how we are dealing with immigration to Israel in 2009 - a school which, in my eyes, is a type of ghetto. This is what we've come to."
Shas spiritual mentor Rabbi Ovadia Yosef threatened Monday to fire any school principal from Shas's school system who refused to receive Ethiopian students.
In parallel, Chief Sephardi Rabbi Shlomo Amar announced that it was forbidden to send Ethiopian students to the secular school system.
"If I was brought into this world only to help the Ethiopians that is enough for me", said Yosef on Monday morning during a meeting with Amar in his home in Jerusalem's Har Nof neighborhood, according to Amar's spokesman.
The spokesman said the chief rabbi ruled that it was forbidden to integrate the Ethiopians in secular state schools because many were Falashmura who were still in the process of converting to Judaism.
"If one of those children comes before a rabbinical court to convert and he or she does not know anything about Judaism it will be problematic", said Amar's spokesman.
Yosef, considered the greatest living Sephardi authority of Jewish law, was the first major-league rabbi to recognize certain groups among the Ethiopians as full-fledged Jews. Many have been integrated into Shas's Mayan Hachinuch Hatorani.
"Anyone who refuses to accept Ethiopians should get up and go home", Yosef said according to Amar's spokesman.
The spokesman said that in an agreement reached with the Petah Tikva municipality, Shas's schools would help absorb the Ethiopian students.
The meeting Monday morning was attended by Interior Minister Eli Yishai and Building and Housing Minister Ariel Atias.
The rabbis' comments came a day after the Education Ministry nixed a deal reached between the Petah Tikva municipality and the city's schools on the enrollment of some 100 students of Ethiopian origin. The Education Ministry had said that it would find a solution that would enable the immigrant children, who have been refused admission into three semi-private religious Petah Tikva schools, to begin the school year normally on Tuesday.
The ministry has also decided to pull the funding from the Lamerhav, Da'at Mevinim and Darkei Noam schools, the three semi-private institutions that refused to accept the students.
Two demonstrations will be held Monday to protest against the schools' refusal to enroll the Ethiopian children, a refusal that has been widely perceived as a case of racial discrimination and was harshly criticized by Israeli leaders.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu spoke out against the rejection of Ethiopian children in schools, calling it "a moral terror attack."
An Ethiopian oleh organization is planning a demonstration in Jerusalem, while a parents' organization will protest outside the Petah Tikva municipality building.
The Knesset Education Committee will hold a special hearing on the matter on Monday afternoon.
The city's parents' council has threatened to strike and disturb the opening the new school year on Tuesday.
At the meeting, convened to discuss the crisis, Sa'ar aimed sharp criticism at the conduct of the Petah Tikva Municipality and the semi-private schools. "This concerns not only the three schools that have, for a long time, been deceiving the entire educational system. For years, racism has developed here undeterred," he said, noting that nobody had addressed the issue.
"We've come to the point where today there is a school, Ner Etzion, which only Ethiopian students attend," Sa'ar said. "This is how we are dealing with immigration to Israel in 2009 - a school which, in my eyes, is a type of ghetto. This is what we've come to."
Shas spiritual mentor Rabbi Ovadia Yosef threatened Monday to fire any school principal from Shas's school system who refused to receive Ethiopian students.
In parallel, Chief Sephardi Rabbi Shlomo Amar announced that it was forbidden to send Ethiopian students to the secular school system.
"If I was brought into this world only to help the Ethiopians that is enough for me", said Yosef on Monday morning during a meeting with Amar in his home in Jerusalem's Har Nof neighborhood, according to Amar's spokesman.
The spokesman said the chief rabbi ruled that it was forbidden to integrate the Ethiopians in secular state schools because many were Falashmura who were still in the process of converting to Judaism.
"If one of those children comes before a rabbinical court to convert and he or she does not know anything about Judaism it will be problematic", said Amar's spokesman.
Yosef, considered the greatest living Sephardi authority of Jewish law, was the first major-league rabbi to recognize certain groups among the Ethiopians as full-fledged Jews. Many have been integrated into Shas's Mayan Hachinuch Hatorani.
"Anyone who refuses to accept Ethiopians should get up and go home", Yosef said according to Amar's spokesman.
The spokesman said that in an agreement reached with the Petah Tikva municipality, Shas's schools would help absorb the Ethiopian students.
The meeting Monday morning was attended by Interior Minister Eli Yishai and Building and Housing Minister Ariel Atias.
The rabbis' comments came a day after the Education Ministry nixed a deal reached between the Petah Tikva municipality and the city's schools on the enrollment of some 100 students of Ethiopian origin. The Education Ministry had said that it would find a solution that would enable the immigrant children, who have been refused admission into three semi-private religious Petah Tikva schools, to begin the school year normally on Tuesday.
The ministry has also decided to pull the funding from the Lamerhav, Da'at Mevinim and Darkei Noam schools, the three semi-private institutions that refused to accept the students.
Two demonstrations will be held Monday to protest against the schools' refusal to enroll the Ethiopian children, a refusal that has been widely perceived as a case of racial discrimination and was harshly criticized by Israeli leaders.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu spoke out against the rejection of Ethiopian children in schools, calling it "a moral terror attack."
An Ethiopian oleh organization is planning a demonstration in Jerusalem, while a parents' organization will protest outside the Petah Tikva municipality building.
The Knesset Education Committee will hold a special hearing on the matter on Monday afternoon.
The city's parents' council has threatened to strike and disturb the opening the new school year on Tuesday.
Committee meeting on Ethiopian students ends with no results
An Education Committee meeting on the integration of Ethiopian immigrant students into Petah Tikva schools concluded without agreement between the parties.
It was therefore decided that talks will continue in hopes of reaching an agreement, after several talks failed, including a proposed compromise between the municipality and the schools which refused to admit the children. (Yaheli Moran Zelikovich)
It was therefore decided that talks will continue in hopes of reaching an agreement, after several talks failed, including a proposed compromise between the municipality and the schools which refused to admit the children. (Yaheli Moran Zelikovich)
Rabbi Amar tells Sa'ar he cannot approve request on Ethiopian pupils
Sephardi Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar notified Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar on Monday morning that, according to Halacha, he cannot approve the ministry's request that some 100 students of Ethiopian origin will attend classes in secular schools and receive extra Judaism classes.
The education ministry said that it will find a solution that will enable the immigrant children, who have been refused admission into three semi-private religious Petah Tikva schools, to begin the school year normally.
The Knesset Education Committee will hold a special hearing on the matter on Monday afternoon.
The education ministry said that it will find a solution that will enable the immigrant children, who have been refused admission into three semi-private religious Petah Tikva schools, to begin the school year normally.
The Knesset Education Committee will hold a special hearing on the matter on Monday afternoon.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Ethiopian Israelis fight school discrimination
JTA) -- The Ethiopian-Israeli community is protesting discrimination by three Orthodox schools in Petach Tikvah.
The Israeli Association for Ethiopian Jews called Thursday for action against three private religious schools in the Tel Aviv suburb that have refused to admit several Ethiopian-Israeli children for the coming school year, the Jerusalem Post reported.
"To our great sorrow, the children of the Ethiopian olim are not allowed to enter the gates of some of the religious educational institutions in Petach Tikvah," the organization wrote in a letter addressed to the Chief Rabbinate. "We would ask the honorable chief rabbis: Are these children, whose parents underwent a stringent process of conversion for two or more years, not good enough to study in all the religious and haredi schools in Petach Tikvah?"
Israeli President Shimon Peres said the schools' decision to deny admission to children from the Ethiopian community was a "disgrace no Israeli can accept," according to Ha'aretz.
Government officials have been debating ways of cutting off funding for the schools -- which despite being private rely on support from the government -- unless they reverse their decision.
The three schools have responded by claiming children from the Ethiopian community require more time and funds than other children to bring them up to academic standards.
Moti Zaft, the acting mayor of Petach Tikvah, told Army Radio that he believes separate classes should be held for Ethiopian and non-Ethiopian children so that each can student can receive education that best serves their needs
The Israeli Association for Ethiopian Jews called Thursday for action against three private religious schools in the Tel Aviv suburb that have refused to admit several Ethiopian-Israeli children for the coming school year, the Jerusalem Post reported.
"To our great sorrow, the children of the Ethiopian olim are not allowed to enter the gates of some of the religious educational institutions in Petach Tikvah," the organization wrote in a letter addressed to the Chief Rabbinate. "We would ask the honorable chief rabbis: Are these children, whose parents underwent a stringent process of conversion for two or more years, not good enough to study in all the religious and haredi schools in Petach Tikvah?"
Israeli President Shimon Peres said the schools' decision to deny admission to children from the Ethiopian community was a "disgrace no Israeli can accept," according to Ha'aretz.
Government officials have been debating ways of cutting off funding for the schools -- which despite being private rely on support from the government -- unless they reverse their decision.
The three schools have responded by claiming children from the Ethiopian community require more time and funds than other children to bring them up to academic standards.
Moti Zaft, the acting mayor of Petach Tikvah, told Army Radio that he believes separate classes should be held for Ethiopian and non-Ethiopian children so that each can student can receive education that best serves their needs
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Refusal to enroll Ethiopian students a disgrace no Israeli can accept
President Shimon Peres on Thursday slammed the refusal by a number of schools in Petach Tikva to enroll Ethiopian immigrant children.
The decision not to enroll the students is "a disgrace no Israeli can accept", Peres said Thursday.
In response, the three Petach Tikva private issed a joint statement Thursday in which they vowed to allow Ethiopian immigrant children and students with disabilities to enroll for school, adding "it's up to the president to learn the facts of the matter."
Peres' statements Thursday came after it was reported that the Education Ministry is preparing to immediately pull all funding for private Orthodox schools that refuse to enroll Ethiopian immigrant children, according to various ministry sources.
The sources said the funding would stop unless the schools agreed by Sunday - two days before the school year begins - to enroll all the students assigned to them.
"We will not allow racist provocations, even if they are couched in all kinds of pretexts," Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar said Tuesday.
A ministry official said the parents whose children attend the three schools in question are relatively well-off, and would not be affected by "a fine of a few percentage points. Therefore, the decision taking shape is to stop all funding."
These three schools receive most of their money from the ministry and the municipality.
The acting mayor of Petah Tikva, who is in charge of the city's Orthodox education system, Moti Zaft, said the only solution was separate classes for the immigrants, because they lacked knowledge and learning skills. Social activities would be held jointly with other children, he said.
He said the city's schools had agreed to divide equally the Ethiopian student body, and that the private schools had accepted his plan.
Sa'ar responded that special immigrant classes were "a stain on the education system and on any school that uses them," in an interview with Army Radio.
Rabbi Shay Piron, executive director of Hakol Hinuch, the Movement for the Advancement of Education in Israel, said Wednesday, "The struggle against the three private schools in Petah Tikva needs a much wider focus, on 'recognized, unofficial education.' Unless we wipe out this phenomenon, which has only grown in recent years, public education will continue to be the less attractive choice for Israeli parents.
The decision not to enroll the students is "a disgrace no Israeli can accept", Peres said Thursday.
In response, the three Petach Tikva private issed a joint statement Thursday in which they vowed to allow Ethiopian immigrant children and students with disabilities to enroll for school, adding "it's up to the president to learn the facts of the matter."
Peres' statements Thursday came after it was reported that the Education Ministry is preparing to immediately pull all funding for private Orthodox schools that refuse to enroll Ethiopian immigrant children, according to various ministry sources.
The sources said the funding would stop unless the schools agreed by Sunday - two days before the school year begins - to enroll all the students assigned to them.
"We will not allow racist provocations, even if they are couched in all kinds of pretexts," Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar said Tuesday.
A ministry official said the parents whose children attend the three schools in question are relatively well-off, and would not be affected by "a fine of a few percentage points. Therefore, the decision taking shape is to stop all funding."
These three schools receive most of their money from the ministry and the municipality.
The acting mayor of Petah Tikva, who is in charge of the city's Orthodox education system, Moti Zaft, said the only solution was separate classes for the immigrants, because they lacked knowledge and learning skills. Social activities would be held jointly with other children, he said.
He said the city's schools had agreed to divide equally the Ethiopian student body, and that the private schools had accepted his plan.
Sa'ar responded that special immigrant classes were "a stain on the education system and on any school that uses them," in an interview with Army Radio.
Rabbi Shay Piron, executive director of Hakol Hinuch, the Movement for the Advancement of Education in Israel, said Wednesday, "The struggle against the three private schools in Petah Tikva needs a much wider focus, on 'recognized, unofficial education.' Unless we wipe out this phenomenon, which has only grown in recent years, public education will continue to be the less attractive choice for Israeli parents.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Ethiopian-Israeli students, ask – “What does it matter that we’re black?”
by DrEthiopia | At 8:45 A.M., Balta Zalka stood outside the Da’at Mevinim private religious school in Petah Tikva, waiting for a government official to confirm that his two daughters would indeed study there this year, as the municipality had promised. He was disappointed.
“The secretary took down our details and promised to call. I don’t know what happened. They told us to come to register, but they’re not accepting us,” Zalka said. Meanwhile, an Israeli-born mother and her young son walked out of the school. From their conversation, it was apparent the child was allowed to enroll.
Private religious schools in Petah Tikva said this year they would not accept the students assigned by the municipality, and would enroll only those they felt were a good fit.
The scenes were strikingly similar outside the city’s three private religious schools: parents and children waiting outside, accompanied by municipal officials, simply waiting their turn.
At each school – Da’at Mevinim, Darkei Noam and Merhav – the principal failed to show up, each for a different reason. Only one or two secretaries came, even though the municipality announced last week that school officials would be there to greet the students.
School representatives responded, “Nobody coordinated the visit with us,” adding that the buildings were still closed for summer vacation.
The Zalka family moved to Petah Tikva several weeks ago from Safed. The two daughters, 6-year-old Habatam and 7-year-old Ambata, are among 100 or so Ethiopian-Israeli students who don’t know where they will be attending school next week.
“We thought the problems of ‘blacks’ in Petah Tikva had been solved, or we wouldn’t have bought an apartment here,” Zalka said. “I tell the kids not to think about there being ‘whites and blacks,’ but to be good students, and then they’ll be viewed as ‘normal,’” Zalka said.
One official described the families’ crisscrossing between the private religious schools as “a humiliation parade.”
“The heads of the [educational] institutions are under tremendous pressure. They are citing different excuses and trying to buy time, and in the meantime pressuring the Education Ministry,” said one official. “Only an unambiguous position by the ministry can solve the crisis. This is war,” he said.
Darkei Noam is a large, impressive building. In the entrance hangs a huge poster bearing the line from Proverbs that is the religious school network’s motto: “Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.”
“What does it matter that we’re black?” asked Beza Waldahi, who is trying to enroll his son at the school. Waldahi’s family immigrated to Israel three years ago, and last month moved to Mevasseret Zion.
“The kids always ask what will happen, and why they don’t have a school. I don’t know what to tell them. In a few years they’ll go to the army,” he said. “We’re like everyone else in Israel – this is our school, our city, our country.
source : abeshabunnabet.com
“The secretary took down our details and promised to call. I don’t know what happened. They told us to come to register, but they’re not accepting us,” Zalka said. Meanwhile, an Israeli-born mother and her young son walked out of the school. From their conversation, it was apparent the child was allowed to enroll.
Private religious schools in Petah Tikva said this year they would not accept the students assigned by the municipality, and would enroll only those they felt were a good fit.
The scenes were strikingly similar outside the city’s three private religious schools: parents and children waiting outside, accompanied by municipal officials, simply waiting their turn.
At each school – Da’at Mevinim, Darkei Noam and Merhav – the principal failed to show up, each for a different reason. Only one or two secretaries came, even though the municipality announced last week that school officials would be there to greet the students.
School representatives responded, “Nobody coordinated the visit with us,” adding that the buildings were still closed for summer vacation.
The Zalka family moved to Petah Tikva several weeks ago from Safed. The two daughters, 6-year-old Habatam and 7-year-old Ambata, are among 100 or so Ethiopian-Israeli students who don’t know where they will be attending school next week.
“We thought the problems of ‘blacks’ in Petah Tikva had been solved, or we wouldn’t have bought an apartment here,” Zalka said. “I tell the kids not to think about there being ‘whites and blacks,’ but to be good students, and then they’ll be viewed as ‘normal,’” Zalka said.
One official described the families’ crisscrossing between the private religious schools as “a humiliation parade.”
“The heads of the [educational] institutions are under tremendous pressure. They are citing different excuses and trying to buy time, and in the meantime pressuring the Education Ministry,” said one official. “Only an unambiguous position by the ministry can solve the crisis. This is war,” he said.
Darkei Noam is a large, impressive building. In the entrance hangs a huge poster bearing the line from Proverbs that is the religious school network’s motto: “Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.”
“What does it matter that we’re black?” asked Beza Waldahi, who is trying to enroll his son at the school. Waldahi’s family immigrated to Israel three years ago, and last month moved to Mevasseret Zion.
“The kids always ask what will happen, and why they don’t have a school. I don’t know what to tell them. In a few years they’ll go to the army,” he said. “We’re like everyone else in Israel – this is our school, our city, our country.
source : abeshabunnabet.com
Friday, August 21, 2009
Education Ministry: Petah Tikva schools must accept Ethiopian kids
The Education Ministry will not back down on its demand that all schools in Petah Tikva accept children of immigrants from Ethiopia, said the ministry's director-general, Shimshon Shoshani. He threatened the schools with sanctions if they do not come around.
Shoshani was referring to around 100 children who, 10 days before the opening of the school year, have not been accepted at Petah Tikva schools. Private religious schools in the city, which use a curriculum similar to the state religious system, say they refuse to accept the students assigned to them by the municipality unless they can first determine if the children suit the schools' character.
"We will not back down on our demands from the racist schools in Petah Tikva," Shoshani said at a conference for local authorities' education departments on the new school year.
Shoshani added that his office was in the process of making changes that would limit the number of new schools to open. The schools in question are formally recognized, though they are not part of the education system itself. The changes would affect the religious and ultra-Orthodox sector as well as so-called democratic schools.
Private schools such as the ones in Petah Tikva receive government and municipal funding. "The acceptance of children of Ethiopian descent is a key issue on the core level," Shoshani said. He added that he has met with the principals of the schools in question and conveyed the ministry's stance. The schools could be hit with sanctions if they refuse to comply.
The parents in Petah Tikva's parents' committee are threatening to keep their kids from school at the beginning of the new school year if immigrants are not evenly distributed among the city's schools.
The chairman of the city's forum of state-religious schools, Nir Orbach, said that "the city has taken significant steps," though a solution was not yet at hand.
Shoshani was referring to around 100 children who, 10 days before the opening of the school year, have not been accepted at Petah Tikva schools. Private religious schools in the city, which use a curriculum similar to the state religious system, say they refuse to accept the students assigned to them by the municipality unless they can first determine if the children suit the schools' character.
"We will not back down on our demands from the racist schools in Petah Tikva," Shoshani said at a conference for local authorities' education departments on the new school year.
Shoshani added that his office was in the process of making changes that would limit the number of new schools to open. The schools in question are formally recognized, though they are not part of the education system itself. The changes would affect the religious and ultra-Orthodox sector as well as so-called democratic schools.
Private schools such as the ones in Petah Tikva receive government and municipal funding. "The acceptance of children of Ethiopian descent is a key issue on the core level," Shoshani said. He added that he has met with the principals of the schools in question and conveyed the ministry's stance. The schools could be hit with sanctions if they refuse to comply.
The parents in Petah Tikva's parents' committee are threatening to keep their kids from school at the beginning of the new school year if immigrants are not evenly distributed among the city's schools.
The chairman of the city's forum of state-religious schools, Nir Orbach, said that "the city has taken significant steps," though a solution was not yet at hand.
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