Photo: Jillian Kestler-DAmours/IPS A week ago, Tel Aviv's African migrant community came under a sustained mob attack, including vandalism, looting and firebombing. These events, and their aftermath, provide further evidence of the inherently racist nature of political Zionism.
A week ago, on the night of Wednesday 23rd May, South Tel Aviv erupted, becoming the epicentre of an attack by an angry, violent mob against members of the city's African migrant population, deliberately targeted because of no other reason than their ethnicity.
African-owned businesses and homes were destroyed and looted. There were no fatalities but many were injured. Social media was alive with images and information regarding the attacks, pointing out the absolute apathy, even complicity, of the authorities.
This attack on the African minority in Tel Aviv is not an isolated event. Wednesday night's violence was the culmination of a series of racist attacks, including the firebombing of homes and a kindergarten in south Tel Aviv neighbourhoods. In fact, these attacks illustrate the prevalent high level of racial tension within the city and in Israel as a whole.
One cannot fully understand the events of Wednesday without an understanding of the various contexts at play, historical, political and ideological. Steven Salaita writes in The Electronic Intifada that Zionism is 'an ideology that can accommodate liberal and humanistic discourses, (but) cannot be practised without a concomitant abrogation of the rights of those who are not Jewish.'
Zionism, in other words, dictates racial and religious supremacy. Israel, a state built on ethnically cleansed land, thus operates under the veil of a democracy in which the Jewish population is the exclusive beneficiary of the democratic process.
However, Israel's Jewish population is itself stratified within an ethnic hierarchy, where the prosperous Ashkenazi (white Jews of European descent) dominate the economy, media and politics. In comparison, the Mizrahi and Sephardi (Jews of Middle Eastern and North African descent) suffer socio-economic hardship.
Ethnic and religious minorities are uniformly oppressed, from Palestinian Muslims and Christians to African migrants. The disparity is well-documented. Human Rights Watch states that in Israel's segregated school system 'Palestinian Arab children get an education inferior to that of Jewish children, and their relatively poor performance in school reflects this.'
Discrimination continues into higher education, employment, healthcare and housing. If we consider the core principle of Zionism, the construction of a Jewish homeland in order to preserve Jewish identity and ensure Jewish security, this oppression is inevitable. However, it is the treatment of black Jews that reveals most about the racism ingrained in Israeli society.
Hanan Chehata writes, in the Race and Class journal, that 'the Falasha, Ethiopian Jews ... brought to Israel in mass transfer operations, have found themselves relegated to an underclass.' Chehata argues that black Jews are not only racially discriminated against but are also used to bolster the populations of illegal settlements.
In 2010, the Israel lobby group FLAME (Facts and Logic About the Middle East) ran an advertisement in Jewish American newspapers in an attempt to refute claims that Israel is an apartheid state. The advertisement argued that 'Israel has brought in about 70,000 black Ethiopian Jews, who despite their backwardness have become fully integrated citizens of Israel.' The advertisement perpetuates the image of the uncivilised savage; we might expect to find such language in nineteenth century European colonial texts.
Jonathan Cook wrote an extensive piece for The National, an English language newspaper, published daily in Abu Dhabi, that examines Israel's treatment of Ethiopians. Cook writes that 'Health officials in Israel are subjecting many female Ethiopian immigrants to a controversial long-term birth control drug.' He further states that '57 per cent of Depo Provera users in Israel are Ethiopian, even though the community accounts for less than two per cent of the total population.'
The drug has a wide range of damaging side effects and was used by the South African apartheid government to limit the fertility of black women. Yali Hashash, a researcher at Haifa University said similar practices were used against Mizrahi and Sephardi Jews in the 1950s and 1960s because 'Israel's leading gynaecologists regarded Arab Jews as 'primitive' and incapable of acting 'responsibly'.' The evidence is difficult to refute and presents a compelling conclusion: the preservation of Jewish identity in the eyes of the state appears only to encompass white Europeans.
Although oppression takes on many guises, the language of oppression is universal. From the top down, prominent Israeli parliamentarians have fanned the flames of racial hatred and undoubtedly incited violence. In a cabinet meeting last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described African migrants in Israel as 'illegal infiltrators flooding the country ... threatening our existence as a Jewish and democratic state ... our national security and our national identity.'
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This is a very missleading article. African community did not come under mob attacks in TelAviv. The unwelcome African criminals that crossed the border illegaly and entered our country illegaly came under attack by a pissed off isreali citizens. They came to our counrty, comitting all kinds of crimes, rape, thiet, you name it. Most of the a Sudanise muslims (an enemy state of israel). we dont want them here, we will send them back
racists always say the same things about their victims: they are criminals, taking away our jobs, rape our women etc. it is still a racist state. from the 1940s israel was heavily populated by white folks when the israeli govt spent millions of dollars to import white followers of judaism and zionists from eastern europe.
no matter how you spin it (okolegok and other supporters of israel state terrorism), most of the people brought from europe were and still are racist . . .
This is a very sad development and unfortunately, the evil of inciting speeches and violent attacks on Africans come from leaders and people who supposed to be elites in the society. They manipulate the poor masses to cover up their weak economic and political agenda. After such games, the effects are always racial attacks, killing of innocent Africans and destruction of businesses and properties belonging to African migrants residing there, and even students from Africa are not being spared. These are targeted instigations and the Israeli government is not the first in the world to use the scheme, as we have seen this disguise before in other places. It is quite unfortunate that a people which the whole world fought to protect against the German Nazis are now descending on poor Africans. Well, we are all watching, history will have everything on record and surely Africa is also on her way. I also hope that all African leaders are taking notes of all these attitudes of our "friendly nations" and will speak out at the United Nations platforms. There is one thing in life that is indubitable, "No condition is permanent" and for sure, God is watching you all.
It is unfortunate, when you read stories like this in the 21st century. There are probably no more peaceful people/immigrants on this planet, with the exception of may be monks, than Sub-Saharan African Immigrants. For the most part they generally work, take care of their families, and educate their children, so the next generation fairs better. Israel, pretends to be a peace loving nation but they are the biggest hatred state. Israel only cares about Israel. I get so pissed off that I pay such high taxes in the US only to turn around and support this racist nation with military aid. Unfortunately, this is not the only the incident. There are so many examples of how Israel treats immigrants, particularly black immigrants from Africa. Not too long ago, Ethiopians were being turned away by health centers to donate blood because they stigmatized them as having HIV. REALLY? I thought part of blood donation required an HIV test? What a bunch of morons hiding behind a veil of racism. I am really sick of how this nation pretends to be peace lovers. I wish my African brothers realized that the next frontier is Africa. Please go home and concentrate developing structures to help develop your nations emerge from all the oppressive acts of colonialism and continued rape of your resources by outside actors including Israel. Thank God, African economies continue to grow at a rate of 5-10% over the past several years. Hang in there, you will one day be proud of your development that there will be no need to look for better opportunities in racist nations. See China and India, not too long ago, there were called "third world countries", today, they have the leverage to stand up to such bullies and racist nations like Israel.