Hapo ndio imetoka tena hakuna cha upelelezi wala mtu kuchukuliwa hatua za kinidham.
Mkuu,
mfano mwengine huu..
Discrimination Against Ethiopian Jews Goes On
by Batia Eyob
Special To The Jewish Week
Last week it was reported in the Israeli media that, in the city of Petach Tikvah, four young Ethiopian Israeli girls had been segregated from other students and put into separate classes. This incident was not widely reported in the U.S., but it received extensive media coverage in Israel. Many who read the news expressed shock that such blatant discrimination could occur in Israel.
What is shocking, though, is not that this incident occurred, but that people in Israel and abroad are unaware of the extent to which discrimination against Ethiopian Israelis continues.
The aliyah of the Ethiopian Jews to Israel was never simple or easy. We were refused aliyah until 1973 because we were not recognized as Jews. Upon arrival in Israel we were forced to undergo a humiliating symbolic conversion. And there have been all too many incidents of prejudice:
Twice over a period of 10 years, blood donated by members of the Ethiopian community to Magen David Adom was secretly thrown out for fear it was contaminated with infectious diseases;
A school principal in Ashdod decided on his own to teach the Ethiopian children in segregated classrooms;
A couple of years later the same principal was accused of abusing Ethiopian children in a different school and was acquitted by the court;
The mayor of the city of Or Yehuda refused to accept Ethiopian children because he said they are "weak and will bring the education level down";
A bus driver in Jerusalem refused to let an Ethiopian woman commute from her home to work each day on his bus;
Another bus driver driving into Hebrew University refused to let an Ethiopian security guard check his bus.
While the incidents mentioned above were noted in the media, day-to-day discrimination experienced by many Ethiopian Israelis goes unreported. Worse yet, this discrimination exists at all levels of Israeli society.
What happened in Petach Tikvah is wrong and outrageous, but unfortunately, it is not shocking. What is shocking is day-to-day discrimination against Ethiopian Israelis that goes on almost unnoticed in our wonderful democratic country that is founded on the words "The State of Israel ... will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex."
What is shocking is that Israel, which should be especially sensitive to bias and prejudice, acts as if discrimination is a problem that will eventually remedy itself.
We need to remind ourselves that Israel is supposed to be a light unto the nations and not merely a reflection of them. Israel should not be following the legacy of the numerous countries that have dealt badly with issues of racial discrimination. Israel should seize the opportunity presented by the latest "shocking" incident of discrimination against Ethiopian Israelis to accept the challenge of fighting discrimination and injustice.
I know that the challenges facing both Ethiopian Israelis and Israel as a society are great. An Ethiopian's background, customs, traditions, culture, mannerisms and knowledge differ in many ways from those of other Israelis. But contrary to what many people believe, the driving force behind our emigration to Israel was not the poor conditions and lack of food in Ethiopia. The driving force was our yearning to be in the Promised Land and our desire to see Jerusalem, our spiritual home for centuries. Israel cannot allow the problems that inevitably accompany a large immigration to grow and devolve into racism.
As a policy Israel does not condone discrimination against Ethiopian Israelis. But that is not enough. The government needs to make clear - by passing and enforcing new laws, by enforcing those already on the books and, most importantly, by the statements and actions of its own officials - that discrimination against Ethiopian Israelis will not be tolerated.
Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel once said, "How many disasters do we have to go through in order to realize that all of humanity has a stake in the liberty of one person? Whenever one person is offended, we all hurt. What begins as inequality of some inevitably ends as inequality of all." Let us not stand still and wait for the next shocking incident.
Batia Eyob, coordinator for the local Israel advocacy group, Israel at Heart, is former executive director of the Israel Association for Ethiopian Jews. 
