Tuesday, August 19, 2008

The wrong sort of immigrants


Israel encourages immigration by Jews from Europe and the US, but those from Ethiopia are now less welcome

By Seth Freedman
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday August 19 2008

".....Less than two decades on, it is clear that Israel's relationship with its incoming Ethiopian brethren has soured somewhat. Human nature seemingly dictates that bad blood often exists between different ethnic groups, and Israel is no different. Despite being a largely homogenous country, in terms of religious background at least, the spectre of racism rears its ugly head between the various types of Jew making up the populace.

As one Ethiopian girl commented, when I interviewed her last summer, "There's racism everywhere [in Israel] - against Filipinos, and against Yemenis; although we seem to have replaced the Yemeni these days." Her words echoed those of the Ethiopian boys with whom I served in the army, many of whom complained of their lack of prospects in a country that simply "sees us as no better than the Arabs". ......"

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