Approximately 1,000 Ethiopian Israelis protested in Tel Aviv against police brutality and racism.
The May 18 protest saw demonstrators march up the city’s central Rothschild Boulevard, stopping at major public squares and blocking intersections. The protest ended at the central Rabin Square.
Demonstrators led chants protesting police brutality and racism against Ethiopians. Earlier this month, a video spread of a policeman beating an Ethiopian Israeli soldier in uniform. The video sparked a demonstration two weeks ago that ended in a melee at Rabin Square, with arrests and dozens of police and protesters injured. At that protest, police threw stun grenades and used a water cannon to disperse the crowd.
No such conflict happened at this week’s protest.
Also on May 18, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the appointment of a special ministerial committee to address the integration of Ethiopian Israelis into broader society.
“There is no room for racism and discrimination in our society. None,” Netanyahu said.
Earlier in the day, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin said that Israel had erred in its treatment of Ethiopian immigrants.
Speaking at a state ceremony in Jerusalem in memory of the 4,000 Ethiopian Jews who died as they walked from their birthplace through Sudan toward Jerusalem, Rivlin referred to the recent anti-racism protests by the Ethiopian Israeli community, saying, “In recent weeks we have all seen and heard the cries and pain of … a wounded community who voiced their heartfelt cries of feelings of discrimination, racism, insult and lack of response.”
Rivlin acknowledged that Israel had “erred … in integrating and treating the Ethiopian community,” and said the country was obliged to do better. — jta