The Be'er Sheva Magistrate's Court has ordered the Arad municipality and the Education Ministry to pay NIS 280,000 in compensation to five Ethiopian immigrant families whose children were removed from kindergartens during the school year. The authorities had argued that the ratio of immigrant to non-immigrant pupils was too high.
In his ruling last week, Judge Gad Gideon criticized the municipality's "arbitrary decision" to remove the children from the kindergartens "and its refusal to allow them back for many months." The judge also criticized the Education Ministry for "not doing enough to foil the [municipality's] decision." Advertisement
The court said the Arad municipality will pay two-thirds of the fine. Sources said yesterday that the Education Ministry was considering challenging the verdict.
"I am very happy we won the trial, after we were told there were too many Ethiopians in kindergartens," said Adana Almayahu, one of the fathers who took legal action. "We were treated like foreign workers. It was very humiliating."
The suit was handled for the families by the nongovernmental organization Tebeka - Advocacy for Equality and Justice for Ethiopian Israelis.
The five children had emigrated with their families from Ethiopia in 2003-2004 and were settled in Arad. In September 2004 three of them were sent to pre-kindergarten and two to kindergarten, in institutions controlled by the religious state system.
A month later the municipality decided to remove 23 immigrant children, including those whose families had sued, from the kindergartens and send them to regular state kindergartens, against their parents' wishes.
The city argued that "adding children who do not speak Hebrew means withdrawing the veteran children from the collective and moving them to Shas-controlled education systems," Arad Mayor Motti Brill told the court at the time, referring to the ultra-Orthodox party.
However, not only did the immigrant parents request that their children go to religious schools, they were obligated to do so because they were undergoing a process of being "restored to Judaism," which meant that the families had committed to send their children to religious schools.
Due to their removal from the kindergartens, the children were essentially left out of school for five to seven months.
In his ruling, Judge Gideon wrote that the Arad municipality "was negligent in its actions, and in its actions it discriminated against the plaintiffs because of their origins, even if this was done inadvertently. Consequently, it ought to pay compensation."
The judge wrote that "the point is that it is the parents' right to decide whether their children will be educated in a public school or a public religious school, a right that is enshrined in law. And regulations cannot be altered because of systemic, economic or other considerations of the authorities.
"The municipality did not evade its responsibility for damages to the plaintiffs and admitted its negligence" from the onset, the judge wrote.
Officials from the Education Ministry argued that the parents were also to blame because "they opted to fight the municipality instead of accepting the alternative of sending their children to public school."
The judge rejected this argument and said that "it would have been to the benefit of the defendants not to have raised this."
The court also rejected the Education Ministry's claims that it had done everything possible.
"The fact that the plaintiffs were left at home, against the law, and the fact that every day that passed added to their suffering should have led the Education Ministry to undertake effective and practical enforcement actions," the court said.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Falash Mura aliya to be resolved within a year
Interior Minister Eli Yishai pledged Monday to bring the aliya of the Falash Mura to its final phase within a year, and said that after Pessah ministry representatives would head to Ethiopia to check the eligibility of some 8700 descendants of Ethiopian Jews waiting to immigrate.
Yishai was speaking at a joint session of the Knesset State Comptroller’s Committee and the Committee for Aliya, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs, which was called to monitor the immigration progress of the Falash Mura community.
“This is an issue that is very close to my heart and I have been involved in it for many, many years,” Yishai told those gathered, including Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin (Likud), Knesset Members Shlomo Molla (Kadima), Uri Ariel (National Union) and Avraham Michaeli (Shas), State Comptroller Micha Lindenstraus, Jewish Agency for Israel Executive Chairman Natan Sharansky and former Supreme Court judge Meir Shamgar, who heads the Public Council for Ethiopian Jews.
“Within one year I hope that this issue will be resolved,” added Yishai.
“The Interior Ministry together with the Jewish Agency for Israel will go back and finish this work as soon as possible.”
Sharansky said that he supported the continuation of eligibility checks for the 8700 people in question and informed the committee that 75 new immigrants were scheduled to arrive in Israel on Tuesday night.
Even with the upbeat news, many of those at Monday’s meeting, including members of the Ethiopian community who still have relatives living in Gondar, voiced cynicism at Yishai’s promises. One young Ethiopian woman made an emotional plea to Yishai, begging him to bring the rest of her family to Israel.
“I am a very frustrated man,” expressed Molla, who visited Ethiopia in December heading a special delegation of senior Israeli officials to assess the situation in Gondar’s transit camps. “The State Comptroller issued a report [in September 2008] about how difficult the situation is there and even with that, nothing has changed. It seems there is a clear policy not to bring more Jews from Ethiopia, and no one is willing to explain why.”
After his trip to Ethiopia, Molla also reported that conditions for those in Gondar waiting to be checked for aliya is very poor, and in some cases even life-threatening.
MK Ariel also expressed concern over the situation, saying, “If we do not allow one group of Jews in the world to come to Israel then we are putting all Jews everywhere in danger.”
He added that the ultimate decision to wind up the Falash Mura story was “in the hands of the prime minister.”
“There will be no final decision on the matter unless the prime minister himself decides to wrap it up,” stated Ariel.
Indeed, for the past two months Yishai has attempted to bring a resolution on the Falash Mura matter before the government, but it keeps being postponed or taken off the agenda.
Chairman of the State Comptroller’s Committee MK Yoel Hasson (Kadima) called on Prime Minister’s Office representative Udi Praver to explain the position of the prime minister, who has repeatedly refused to comment.
Praver said that the Prime Minister’s Office supported bringing an initial 3000 people, most of who have already been checked for eligibility, but admitted that there was still a dispute surrounding the rights of the additional people, roughly 5000, to move here.
“He is against granting them eligibility automatically,” said Praver.
Despite the dissent from the Prime Minister’s Office, Joseph Feit, former president of the North American Coalition on Ethiopian Jewry (NACOEJ), which provides aid and resources to those waiting in Gondar and which has been actively lobbying the government on this issue, told The Jerusalem Post that he was encouraged by Monday’s meeting.
“I am delighted to see the overwhelming support for continuing the inspections of all 8700 people currently waiting in Gondar to immigrate and to bring those who are linked maternally to the Beta Yisrael Jews [from Ethiopia] as soon as possible,” he said.
Hasson was also positive about the assurances made by Yishai, but warned that he also expected to see clear progress within the next two months.
“If this is not solved within that time I will be forced to consider a parliamentary enquiry into this issue,” he said, pointing out several hurdles that could be considered by some as racist.
“I do not want to hear that this aliya is contingent on budget issues,” warned Hasson. “I have never heard of there being a financial condition placed on bringing Jews to Israel. The government needs to bring them if they are eligible and that’s it.”
Falash Mura are Ethiopian Jews whose ancestors were forcibly converted to Christianity more than a century ago. Under a 2003 government decision and following recognition of their Jewish heritage by Israel’s Chief Rabbinate, the Falash Mura are entitled to immigrate under the Law of Entry according to specific criteria. Many of those who have applied to come to Israel have close family members already living here.
Yishai was speaking at a joint session of the Knesset State Comptroller’s Committee and the Committee for Aliya, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs, which was called to monitor the immigration progress of the Falash Mura community.
“This is an issue that is very close to my heart and I have been involved in it for many, many years,” Yishai told those gathered, including Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin (Likud), Knesset Members Shlomo Molla (Kadima), Uri Ariel (National Union) and Avraham Michaeli (Shas), State Comptroller Micha Lindenstraus, Jewish Agency for Israel Executive Chairman Natan Sharansky and former Supreme Court judge Meir Shamgar, who heads the Public Council for Ethiopian Jews.
“Within one year I hope that this issue will be resolved,” added Yishai.
“The Interior Ministry together with the Jewish Agency for Israel will go back and finish this work as soon as possible.”
Sharansky said that he supported the continuation of eligibility checks for the 8700 people in question and informed the committee that 75 new immigrants were scheduled to arrive in Israel on Tuesday night.
Even with the upbeat news, many of those at Monday’s meeting, including members of the Ethiopian community who still have relatives living in Gondar, voiced cynicism at Yishai’s promises. One young Ethiopian woman made an emotional plea to Yishai, begging him to bring the rest of her family to Israel.
“I am a very frustrated man,” expressed Molla, who visited Ethiopia in December heading a special delegation of senior Israeli officials to assess the situation in Gondar’s transit camps. “The State Comptroller issued a report [in September 2008] about how difficult the situation is there and even with that, nothing has changed. It seems there is a clear policy not to bring more Jews from Ethiopia, and no one is willing to explain why.”
After his trip to Ethiopia, Molla also reported that conditions for those in Gondar waiting to be checked for aliya is very poor, and in some cases even life-threatening.
MK Ariel also expressed concern over the situation, saying, “If we do not allow one group of Jews in the world to come to Israel then we are putting all Jews everywhere in danger.”
He added that the ultimate decision to wind up the Falash Mura story was “in the hands of the prime minister.”
“There will be no final decision on the matter unless the prime minister himself decides to wrap it up,” stated Ariel.
Indeed, for the past two months Yishai has attempted to bring a resolution on the Falash Mura matter before the government, but it keeps being postponed or taken off the agenda.
Chairman of the State Comptroller’s Committee MK Yoel Hasson (Kadima) called on Prime Minister’s Office representative Udi Praver to explain the position of the prime minister, who has repeatedly refused to comment.
Praver said that the Prime Minister’s Office supported bringing an initial 3000 people, most of who have already been checked for eligibility, but admitted that there was still a dispute surrounding the rights of the additional people, roughly 5000, to move here.
“He is against granting them eligibility automatically,” said Praver.
Despite the dissent from the Prime Minister’s Office, Joseph Feit, former president of the North American Coalition on Ethiopian Jewry (NACOEJ), which provides aid and resources to those waiting in Gondar and which has been actively lobbying the government on this issue, told The Jerusalem Post that he was encouraged by Monday’s meeting.
“I am delighted to see the overwhelming support for continuing the inspections of all 8700 people currently waiting in Gondar to immigrate and to bring those who are linked maternally to the Beta Yisrael Jews [from Ethiopia] as soon as possible,” he said.
Hasson was also positive about the assurances made by Yishai, but warned that he also expected to see clear progress within the next two months.
“If this is not solved within that time I will be forced to consider a parliamentary enquiry into this issue,” he said, pointing out several hurdles that could be considered by some as racist.
“I do not want to hear that this aliya is contingent on budget issues,” warned Hasson. “I have never heard of there being a financial condition placed on bringing Jews to Israel. The government needs to bring them if they are eligible and that’s it.”
Falash Mura are Ethiopian Jews whose ancestors were forcibly converted to Christianity more than a century ago. Under a 2003 government decision and following recognition of their Jewish heritage by Israel’s Chief Rabbinate, the Falash Mura are entitled to immigrate under the Law of Entry according to specific criteria. Many of those who have applied to come to Israel have close family members already living here.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Israel accused of dooming Ethiopian baby boom
TEL AVIV (Somalilandpress) — A feminist movement has accused the Israeli government of adopting a racist policy towards the country’s Ethiopian Jews.
Activists believe black women are deliberately being given a controversial contraceptive drug to bring about a drop in the population – a claim the government denies.
Thousands of Ethiopians have immigrated to Israel since the 1980s, but their Jewish heritage has been questioned, while their social status continues to suffer.
For nearly four years, Racheli Mangoli has been running a youth center in one of Israel’s poorer communities. Forty-five Ethiopian families live here, but throughout that entire time, only one Ethiopian baby has been born in this neighborhood, and that has alarmed Racheli.
She says: “I smelt something not good. I know about the discrimination here – when I am going with the children, I feel this even when I am going to the supermarket. One women said to me ‘I don¹t know how you can stand next to people like this. When they give me money – I am going and washing my hands.’”
After some investigation, Racheli discovered that many Ethiopian women, keen to avoid getting pregnant while setting up life in a new country, had been placed on a controversial contraceptive, Depo-Provera, a drug few Israeli women have heard of, let alone use.
One woman was first put on it four years ago, and underwent repeated injections every three months. She says it has left her with such terrible pains in her hands and back that she can no longer work. She insists she was never told about its side effects or offered an alternative. Like many Ethiopians in Israel, she’s afraid she will be deported if she questions the authorities.
Dr Factor is reluctant to give the contraceptive to his patients. He says it is known to delay fertility for months after women come off it. In some cases it can cause permanent infertility.
"At least 10 per cent develop substantial side-effects – side-effects like irregular bleeding, the period may disappear, they may have heavy periods. And it is impossible to reverse these side-effects, and until it has worked itself out of the system you can’t reverse these. So it’s possible although the contraception works for 3 months at a time, the side-effects may last for two years – three years – four years – five years,” he says.
In 2004, the American Food and Drug Administration warned against the dangers of the drug, but the World Health Organization refused to restrict its use.
Hedva Eyal has tried unsuccessfully to draw attention to the fact that Ethiopian Israelis are given the drug without being warned of the risks. She claims it is her government’s policy and is nothing short of racism.
She told RT: “They don’t want poor or black children and Depo-Provera gave them the opportunity to have control. If she [a patient] keeps taking an injection every three months, she is not going to have children – you know it is a 100 per cent secure from children I think.”
Hedva says the policy is working – the number of black babies in Israel is decreasing, but there are no official statistics to back up her claim. For community workers and Ethiopian women here, statistics are unnecessary – they feel their reality speaks for itself.
The Health Ministry admits it issues the drug, but says it was never its policy only to administer it to Ethiopian women and reduce the number of black babies in the country.
In their defense, Jewish agencies involved in immigration say they offered several types of contraceptives to the Ethiopian women, and that all of them participated voluntarily in family planning.
Dr. Yee-fat Bitton from the Israeli Anti-Discrimination Legal Center “Tmura”, says it’s not a matter point of view, but of the statistics.
“The statistics are, that 60 percent of the women receiving this contraceptive, this controversial one, are Ethiopian Jews,” Bitton told RT. “And you have to understand that Ethiopians in Israel… […] consist of up to only 1 per cent of the population, so the gap here is just impossible to reconcile in any logical manner that would somehow resist the claims of racism.”
Professor Zvi Bentwich, an immunologist and human rights activist from Tel-Aviv, doesn’t think there is any ground to suspect a certain negative official policy towards Ethiopian Jews.
“I’m not against looking and inquiring into the claim. If there is a claim, one should investigate,” Bentwich told RT. “But when asked about official attitudes, official policy, official medical policy, I am very reluctant that that is indeed a policy of racism on that part.”
Activists believe black women are deliberately being given a controversial contraceptive drug to bring about a drop in the population – a claim the government denies.
Thousands of Ethiopians have immigrated to Israel since the 1980s, but their Jewish heritage has been questioned, while their social status continues to suffer.
For nearly four years, Racheli Mangoli has been running a youth center in one of Israel’s poorer communities. Forty-five Ethiopian families live here, but throughout that entire time, only one Ethiopian baby has been born in this neighborhood, and that has alarmed Racheli.
She says: “I smelt something not good. I know about the discrimination here – when I am going with the children, I feel this even when I am going to the supermarket. One women said to me ‘I don¹t know how you can stand next to people like this. When they give me money – I am going and washing my hands.’”
After some investigation, Racheli discovered that many Ethiopian women, keen to avoid getting pregnant while setting up life in a new country, had been placed on a controversial contraceptive, Depo-Provera, a drug few Israeli women have heard of, let alone use.
One woman was first put on it four years ago, and underwent repeated injections every three months. She says it has left her with such terrible pains in her hands and back that she can no longer work. She insists she was never told about its side effects or offered an alternative. Like many Ethiopians in Israel, she’s afraid she will be deported if she questions the authorities.
Dr Factor is reluctant to give the contraceptive to his patients. He says it is known to delay fertility for months after women come off it. In some cases it can cause permanent infertility.
"At least 10 per cent develop substantial side-effects – side-effects like irregular bleeding, the period may disappear, they may have heavy periods. And it is impossible to reverse these side-effects, and until it has worked itself out of the system you can’t reverse these. So it’s possible although the contraception works for 3 months at a time, the side-effects may last for two years – three years – four years – five years,” he says.
In 2004, the American Food and Drug Administration warned against the dangers of the drug, but the World Health Organization refused to restrict its use.
Hedva Eyal has tried unsuccessfully to draw attention to the fact that Ethiopian Israelis are given the drug without being warned of the risks. She claims it is her government’s policy and is nothing short of racism.
She told RT: “They don’t want poor or black children and Depo-Provera gave them the opportunity to have control. If she [a patient] keeps taking an injection every three months, she is not going to have children – you know it is a 100 per cent secure from children I think.”
Hedva says the policy is working – the number of black babies in Israel is decreasing, but there are no official statistics to back up her claim. For community workers and Ethiopian women here, statistics are unnecessary – they feel their reality speaks for itself.
The Health Ministry admits it issues the drug, but says it was never its policy only to administer it to Ethiopian women and reduce the number of black babies in the country.
In their defense, Jewish agencies involved in immigration say they offered several types of contraceptives to the Ethiopian women, and that all of them participated voluntarily in family planning.
Dr. Yee-fat Bitton from the Israeli Anti-Discrimination Legal Center “Tmura”, says it’s not a matter point of view, but of the statistics.
“The statistics are, that 60 percent of the women receiving this contraceptive, this controversial one, are Ethiopian Jews,” Bitton told RT. “And you have to understand that Ethiopians in Israel… […] consist of up to only 1 per cent of the population, so the gap here is just impossible to reconcile in any logical manner that would somehow resist the claims of racism.”
Professor Zvi Bentwich, an immunologist and human rights activist from Tel-Aviv, doesn’t think there is any ground to suspect a certain negative official policy towards Ethiopian Jews.
“I’m not against looking and inquiring into the claim. If there is a claim, one should investigate,” Bentwich told RT. “But when asked about official attitudes, official policy, official medical policy, I am very reluctant that that is indeed a policy of racism on that part.”
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