Black Lives Matter in Israel Too

10 July 2019

The Ethiopian Israeli community took to the streets in mass protests last week after Solomon Teka, an unarmed 18 year-old, was shot and killed by a police officer in Kiryat Haim near Haifa. This was the second such incident this year after 24 year-old Yehuda Biadga was shot dead by police in January.

NIF grantee the Association of Ethiopian Jews board member Efrat Yardei wrote in Haaretz “Young Ethiopian Israelis are going out to demonstrate across the country with one simple, human demand: our blood is equally red! How many more young Ethiopian Israelis need to die from police violence for the Israeli public to wake up? To understand that Teka’s skin color is the reason why it was so easy for a police officer to shoot him?”

NIF grantee Fidel: Association for Integration and Success of Ethiopian-Israelis Executive Director Michal Avera Samuel said, “I call on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Internal Security Minister Gilad Erdan to put this subject top of the agenda and root out the problem so that Ethiopian-Israeli parents can feel safe to raise their children.”

NIF has long supported the Ethiopian-Israeli community’s struggle for rights and recognition. Through grants and public advocacy, NIF demands equal opportunities in education and employment and an end to institutional racism including by the police.

Photo Credit: Flash90