October Newsletter
Ethiopian Immigrants to Attend Or Yehuda Schools
Ethiopian immigrants face the most economic and social problems of all Israel's Jewish communities. Often Ethiopians find doors closed to them on the basis of their colour. New Israel Fund, its grantees and SHATIL work on behalf of the Ethiopian immigrant community for equal opportunities in education and advocacy, through empowerment and training programs focused on the school system.
Last week saw a major victory by New Israel Fund grantee Tebeka – Centre for Legal Aid & Advocacy for Ethiopian Jews in Israel in Or Yehuda near Tel Aviv. Mayor Yitzhak Bokovza reversed his refusal to register 42 Ethiopian Israeli immigrant children in the city's schools after Tebeka appealed to the Supreme Court against the action. "The law clearly states that a local authority must allow a child to attend the school nearest their home," said Yitzhak Dessie, Executive Director of Tebeka.
This success has sent a clear message throughout the country that discrimination against Ethiopian immigrants is unacceptable and has raised awareness about the plight of the community. Tebeka supports legal assistance and empowerment activities to advance the rights and entitlements of citizens of Ethiopian origin.
Mayor Yitzhak Bokovza agreed to register 42 Ethiopian children in the city school system.
Integrating Russian-Speaking Immigrants Through the School System
About 11% of Israeli children are new immigrants, mainly from the former Soviet Union. According to figures released last week by New Israel Fund grantee Israeli Association for Immigrant Children (IAIC), some 36% of new immigrant youth aged 14-18 are school drop-outs while 46% do not complete high school, compared with only 6% of the general population. The problem is compounded by the fact that 83,000 immigrant children, most of whom speak Russian, are not considered Jewish and are further alienated from Israeli society than other immigrants.
IAIC operates a range of activities in schools and community centres throughout the country to help immigrant students better understand their Israeli identity and assist teachers, social workers, psychologists and other educational professionals in understanding the difficulties facing the students. IAIC also operates a hotline for information and counselling for students, parents and professionals. During the past year, 3,000 new immigrant families took advantage of this service.
New Israel Fund Grantees Fight For Equal Standards in Education Funding for Israel’s Arab Children
About 25% of Israeli schoolchildren – 430,000 – are members of the country's Arab minority. The country's Arab schools face routine budgetary discrimination; at the same time, Jewish schools often refuse to enrol the children of Arab Israeli parents who want a better education for them.
According to New Israel Fund grantee Follow-Up Committee for Arab Education, the Israeli government spends an average of $192 per year on each Arab student compared to $1,100 per Jewish student. This translates into a dropout rate of 12% among Arab Israeli high school students compared with only 6% in the Jewish sector. The Follow-Up Committee says that there is a 5,000-classroom shortage in the Arab sector; according to New Israel Fund grantee The Council for Regional Unrecognised Negev Arab Villages, 900 of those classrooms are needed in the unrecognised Bedouin villages of the Negev.
Supreme Court Upholds Petition to Dismantle Section of the Fence
A Feature About New Israel Fund’s Successful Strategy of Easing the Humanitarian Hardships Caused by the Fence
Last week a nine-judge panel of Israel's Supreme Court ordered the state to dismantle 13 kilometres of the Security Fence already built near the Jewish West Bank settlement of Alfei Menashe, 20 miles northeast of Tel Aviv. This section of the Fence immediately south of the West Bank city of Qalqilya has created an enclave encompassing five Palestinian villages that are cut off from the rest of the West Bank.
"Based on the factual infrastructure presented to us, the existing route of the separation fence raises questions," read the Supreme Court's ruling. "We were completely unconvinced that there is a decisive military-security reason for placing the route of the fence where it currently runs."
"New Israel Fund's strategy concerning the Fence has not been to make political proclamations, but rather to focus on the harm done to the daily lives and the violation of the basic human rights of the Palestinians living near the Fence," explained Dorit Karlin, Associate Director of New Israel Fund Israel with special responsibility for the Separation Fence Programme. "The Supreme Court has indicated that on these very issues they feel compelled to intervene."
New Israel Fund was one of the first Israeli organisations to appreciate the humanitarian hardships caused by the Fence. Mobilising swiftly, New Israel Fund coordinated a campaign to change the route of the Fence and gave emergency grants to organisations involved in the struggle.
Two New Israel Fund grantees that also received special grants from the Separation Fence Programme were directly involved in this latest Supreme Court petition. Our flagship grantee, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) was one of the petitioners along with residents of the affected Palestinian villages. Bimkom: Planners for Planning Rights, a group of architects and urban planners committed to promoting social justice, prepared an expert opinion, which documented the effect of the Fence on the daily lives of the Palestinian villagers from an urban planning point of view. Bimkom also brought government documents to prove that the route of the Fence in this region was motivated by future plans for the expansion of the West Bank settlement of Alfei Menashe, rather than Israel's security.
Major New Israel Fund Pressure Compels Israel Airports Authority To Take Steps to Alleviate Humiliating Security Procedures
Following major pressure from New Israel Fund, the Israel Airports Authority (IAA) has proposed opening a pre-flight check-in facility in Nazareth to ease the intensive security checks for Israeli Arab passengers. The facility would allow travellers to undergo security checks the day before their flight thus avoiding the pressures created when passengers need to board their flights on time. The IAA has also set up a committee to examine ways of making security procedures for Arab passengers at Ben Gurion International Airport itself more efficient and less humiliating.
Over the past year New Israel Fund grantees have protested about the treatment of Israeli Arab passengers by security officials on flights to and from Israel. Bakr Awdi, Executive Director of New Israel Fund grantee Centre Against Racism and Defamation, which investigates complaints of racism, said that airport checks comprise the single largest category of complaints investigated by his organisation.
New Israel Fund made complaints when a number of their Arab-Israeli staff reported great difficulty in getting through security on their trips aboard – mainly to the UK and US. In response to this New Israel Fund Israel Executive Director Eliezer Ya’ari wrote an open letter to El Al's Chairman and CEO as well as the Transport Minister, Knesset Speaker and the media. In the letter he recounted how New Israel Fund staff had had items in their baggage broken, film in their cameras exposed and were forced to submit to extended interrogations and intrusive body checks.
He offered to draw from New Israel Fund's multi-cultural know-how to organize a training session for the airline's security staff. "With all due respect and understanding for the need for security on flights," Ya’ari wrote, "We do not feel that they justify such treatment.”
Alan Bolchover, Chief Executive of New Israel Fund in the UK said “The opening of an early check-in terminal in Nazareth and the examination of security procedures at Ben Gurion Airport are steps in the right direction. We will closely monitor developments.
Breaking News: IRAC Petitions Supreme Court to Recognise and Fund Reform and Conservative Rabbis
Veteran New Israel Fund grantee Israel Religious Action Centre (IRAC) of the Movement for Progressive Judaism in Israel (Reform) has petitioned the Supreme Court to compel the State to recognise Reform and Conservative rabbis.
Message from Alan Bolchover, New Israel Fund UK Chief Executive
Over the summer, we all saw with the plight of the settlers being forced to evacuate. Despite many of our own personal political views, one has to be sympathetic to the obvious hurt involved when people are forced to leave their homes and communities.
But now that it’s over we should be filled with hope. The Government demonstrated an ability to plan and carry out the process in a most commendable manner. Those who fought the disengagement were given ample opportunity to protest. Most importantly they did not resort to violence. Similarly the police and army achieved their difficult mission without a shot being fired in anger.
This leaves us with much to look forward to in the year ahead. However the disengagement did highlight the fault line that exists between mainly Religious and Secular Jews. Relations between Arab and Jewish citizens also worsened with the murder of four Arab-Israelis by a Jew, rightly condemned by Prime Minister Sharon as an act of terror.
So this Rosh Hashanah I believe our work is set out as never before. As the security situation appears to improve, our goal is to help ease these tensions and improve relations within Israel. To do this we need your help.
We ask you to share our vision of a dynamic and tolerant society; where Judaism includes rather than excludes its own people; where all Israeli citizens are treated the same regardless of race or religion and each person can marry the person they love.
We will work towards an Israel where each person can be buried with dignity and where all citizens can buy a home wherever he or she wishes to live.
It is that simple. New Year is about looking ahead and seeing how we can better ourselves.
Together we can make a difference and build the Israel we all dream of.
Thank you for your continued support and wishing you a Happy New Year
