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Ethiopians in Israel protest racism in Haifa

Ethiopians in Israel rally against police brutality and institutionalized discrimination in the city of Haifa, May 12, 2015. (© AFP)

Hundreds of Ethiopian Jews in Israel have taken to the streets in the city of Haifa to voice their anger against the regime’s racism and police brutality.

Some 400 protesters marched in the city on Tuesday under the slogan “Black or white, we are all human beings.”

The protesters carried posters reading “being black is not a crime” and demanded that the Israeli regime must respect Ethiopians in the occupied Palestinian lands. They also called for the police forces who abuse them to be imprisoned.

One of the protest organizers said Tel Aviv “should provide answers to the question of how it’s possible that members of the community continue to suffer from discrimination and crime in the neighborhoods they live in.”

Haifa resident Avishai Adaneh, 32, condemned the regime’s racism and institutionalized discrimination against Ethiopian descents.

“I’ve been suffering from police racism for 30 years and every place in the Israeli establishment. We just want equality. We are all human beings,” said Adaneh.

Protest organizer Guy Shamir said the aim of the march was to draw attention to “the trauma of last week,” when a rally against racism and police brutality in Tel Aviv on May 3 turned violent.

A man from the Ethiopian community bleeds after clashes with Israeli security forces in Tel Aviv on May 3, 2015, during a protest against police brutality and racism. (© AFP)

 

During the protest in Tel Aviv, security forces fired pepper spray and stun grenades at protesters during the demonstration staged by Ethiopian Jews. Some 65 people, including police, were injured in the clashes.

The Haifa rally was the latest of a number of protests held after a new video emerged, showing an Ethiopian being beaten by police in a racist attack.

Ethiopians have long complained about unfair treatment and police violence by Israeli authorities. Thousands of Jews of Ethiopian origin, who are living in the occupied Palestinian territories, are treated as third-class citizens.

CAH/HJL/HMV


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