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Netanyahu, Rivlin pledge to tackle racism following Ethiopian protests
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin both said yesterday that more must be done to battle racism and discrimination, following a protest by the Ethiopian-Israeli community, which turned violent, against police brutality and institutional racism against it.
The protest in Tel Aviv on Sunday evening followed a heated demonstration in Jerusalem days earlier, which had been sparked by footage showing an Ethiopian soldier, Damas Pakada, being assaulted by policemen in an apparent unprovoked attack. There are around 131,000 Israelis of Ethiopian descent. The historic Jewish community, which lived a largely agrarian existence in Ethiopia, was mostly brought to Israel on secret flights in the mid-1980s and early 1990s and has since faced enormous integration challenges. Although the government has invested huge resources in their absorption, many Ethiopian-Israelis, especially younger generations believe that discrimination from official bodies, in the workplace and among societal attitudes are holding them back.
Sunday’s protest in Tel Aviv, attended by thousands, initially blocked some of the city’s main arteries. Once it reached Rabin Square, the protest turned violent as clashes erupted between police and demonstrators. 65 people were injured and police made 43 arrests, deploying water cannons and stun grenades in scenes rarely scene on the streets of Israeli cities.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Netanyahu met with Pakada and Ethiopian-Israeli community leaders. He said, “It is our duty to fight racism and discrimination in any way possible,” and called Pakada an “exemplary soldier.” Netanyahu admitted a “deep problem” and pledged “The police will do what must be done to fix itself but we must also fix Israeli society because we love you. We love the Ethiopian community and all Israelis are in this together.”
President Reuven Rivlin expressed similar sentiments. He said, “We must look directly at this open wound. We have erred. We didn’t look, and we didn’t listen enough.” Rivlin added that Israel must tackle “the pain of a community crying out over a sense of discrimination, racism, and of being unanswered.”