Tel-Chai Nation

Ehud Olmert continues to anger many ends of the Israeli spectrum, including the black Ethiopian community:

Some 200 Ethiopian Israelis demonstrated in Jerusalem on Monday to protest discrimination by government agencies. Clashes with police left eleven people injured, including four police officers.

The protestors, led by religious leaders from the Ethiopian community, marched from the Jerusalem Convention Center to the government compound and began a sit-in on the road at the entrance to Jerusalem.

The demonstration turned ugly when police cavalry came to disperse the crowd. One mounted police officer used his horse to trample a protestor. A driver who was unable to bypass the demonstration turned and drove straight into the crowd, injuring another person. The cavalry officer was not identified and the driver was not arrested, according to the Haaretz news service.

Eyewitnesses at the demonstration said neither the police officers on foot nor those mounted on horses displayed any identification, similar to the force which carried out the destruction of the Amona outpost north of Jerusalem in February. The witnesses also said the officers spat at the protestors and pushed young women in the chest to remove them from the street.

Well well well. This, IMO, qualifies as racism against blacks. I think that both Olmert and the police have a lot to answer for here.

Then, we have a case of Amir Peretz going and harrassing people living in Yesha again:

Eviction notices were issued Monday to residents in the budding community of Yitzhar South. They were not told how much time would elapse until security forces came to expel them.

On television news tonight, it's not known if or when this could happen. However, anyone who wants to prevent more violence would be advised to speak up about it.

Labels: racism