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Anti-Black Racism in Israel Soren Barnett and Sandra Donnay January 2021

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Anti-Black Racism in Israel Soren Barnett and Sandra Donnay January 2021 Anti-Black Racism in Israel Soren Barnett and Sandra Donnay January 2021 ● Ethiopian Israelis are incarcerated at a rate that is 760% higher than their proportion in Israeli society.3 ​ ● Forty percent of soldiers of Ethiopian origin have been imprisoned.3 ​ ● Forty-one percent of Ethiopian Israelis are considered poor compared to 15% of the overall Israeli population.9 ​ Anti-Black racism in Israel is primarily directed towards Ethiopian 7 Israelis, part of the Jewish Beta Israel community, who comprise about 155,300 people or about (1.7%) o​ f the Israeli ​ population, and non-Jewish asylum seekers from Eritrea and Sudan who constitute less than 1% of the population.1 ​ Experiences of anti-Black racism are well documented, in both research journals and the media, and consist of police 2 3 violence and racial profiling of males, ​ overrepresentation in military and civilian prison, ​ discrimination in employment ​ ​ 4 and housing, ​ and every day interpersonal discrimination. ​ Anti-Black racism also takes the form of historic and contemporary societal doubts about Ethiopian Jews’ Jewish 5 6 authenticity ​ and continual public vitriol from policy makers. ​ Eritrean and Sudanese asylum seekers face several ​ ​ 7 additional barriers, such as deportation, based on their religious and citizenship statuses. ​ Demonstrations against Israel's ​ anti-Blackness have proliferated in recent years.4 ​ 8 Israel, officially formed in 1948, under the United Nations Resolution 181, ​ has a population of almost 9.3 million people ​ as of December 31, 2020, composed of Jews (73.9%), Arabs (21.1%), and other ethnic/religious groups. Ethiopian Israelis have been a notable population in Israel since the late 1970’s, when a civil war in Ethiopia and the eventual recognition of the “Jewishness” of the Beta Israel community prompted increased migration to Israel, with several 9 Ethiopian Jews walking hundreds of miles to Sudan to be airlifted via military operations to Israel. ​ After a pause ​ 10 beginning in the mid-1990’s, the remaining members of Beta Israel are being brought to Israel. ​ Eritrean and Sudanese ​ asylum seekers have been arriving since around 2006, passing through Israel’s border with Egypt.7 ​ ____________ 1 Deane, Y. J. (2019, June 20). World Refugee Day: Israel’s contested refugee population. The Jerusalem Post. https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/World-Refugee-Day-Israels-contested-refugee-population-593116 2 Sokol, S. (2020, June 18). Israeli anti-racism czar says police profile Ethiopians, still have a ways to go. The Times of Israel. https://www.timesofisrael.com/head-of-national-anti-racism-unit-accuses-police-of-profiling-ethiopian-israelis/ Anti-Black Racism in Israel Soren Barnett and Sandra Donnay January 2021 3 Franzman, S. J. (2014, February 17). Locking Israel’s Ethiopian Problem Away Behind Bars. Academia.edu. https://www.academia.edu/6122409/Why_are_40_of_male_Ethiopian_soldiers_in_the_Israeli_army_sentenced_to_prison 4 Halbfinger, D. M and Kershner, I. (2019, July 13). After a Police Shooting, Ethiopian Israelis Seek a ‘Black Lives Matter’ Reckoning. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/13/world/middleeast/ethiopian-israeli-protests-racism.html 5 Sheen, D. (2017, January 5). No saviour: Airlifted Ethiopian Jews face racism in Israel. The New Arab. https://english.alaraby.co.uk/english/Comment/2017/1/5/No-saviour-Airlifted-Ethiopian-Jews-face-racism-in-Israel. ​ 6 Efraim, O. (2012, May 16). Minister Yishai is inciting racism. Ynetnews. https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4230116,00.html. ​ ​ ​ 7 Lidman, M. (2018, February 2). 10 key questions about Israel’s African asylum seeker controversy. The Times of Israel. https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-israels-new-plan-to-deport-africans-details-abound/ 8 United Nations Resolution 181. (2011, July 29). Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved on January 24, 2021 from https://www.britannica.com/topic/United-Nations-Resolution-181. ​ ​ ​ 9 Operation Moses: Israel’s Ethiopian community. (2017, November 29). Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Retrieved on January 17, 2021 from https://mfa.gov.il/MFA/AboutIsrael/People/Pages/Operation-Moses-Israel%E2%80%99s-Ethiopian-community.aspx; Shalom, S. (2013, October 8). Rabbi Ovadia Yosef and the ​ Ethiopian Jews. The Jerusalem Post. https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Op-Ed-Contributors/Rabbi-Ovadia-Yosef-and-the-Ethiopian-Jews-328178 ​ ​ 10 Jerusalem Post Staff. (2021, January 3). 300 Ethiopian Immigrants the first to make aliyah to Israel in 2021. The Jerusalem Post. https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/300-ethiopian-immigrants-the-first-to-make-aliyah-to-israel-in-2021-654086 .
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