APN's daily news review from Israel

Thursday July 4, 2019

 

Quote of the day:

Haaretz

Yedioth Ahronoth

Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)

Israel Hayom

Top News Summary:
The Ethiopian-Israeli protests against police brutality waned, but the expansive coverage in the Hebrew newspapers of discrimination and racism towards the community continued, and unfounded accusations sprouted by some in the right-wing that the protests were fueled by the ‘New Israel Fund’ and ‘left-wing media.’ Also in the news, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu visited the Gaza Strip periphery and met with leaders of the Israeli communities from the whole south, but two leaders from the Gaza Strip periphery walked out on Netanyahu saying he wasn't dealing with the periphery's specific challenges and Netanyahu was left with just declaring a warning to Gazans that Israel wants to restore calm in the south, but it is “preparing for a military operation.” Also, three of the four main Hebrew newspapers interviewed outgoing State Comptroller Yosef Shapira, who initially probed the case for which Sara Netanyahu was convicted, as a result of which, Shapira said Netanyahu wasn't talking to him anymore. (See more in Interviews section below.)

During the condolence visit of the Coastal District Police Chief, at the family of Solomon Teka, the Ethiopian-Israeli shot dead by police, the family urged a halt to the protests. Meanwhile, the acting Police Commissioner and the Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan met with some of the senior representatives of the Ethiopian-Israeli community to create a dialogue and try to prevent violence at the protests. Erdan promised to establish a body in the police that will supervise the disciplinary treatment of racist incidents by police towards Ethiopian-Israelis.

Some excerpts from the Hebrew media about the Ethiopian-Israelis’ protests and the racism:

Elections Quickees:

 

Quick Hits:

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Features:
Should Palestinian children be able to call parents from prison? Israeli court will decide
Palestinian children in Israeli jails classified as ‘security prisoners’ are denied the right to speak to or see their families, sometimes for months on end. (Edo Konrad, +972mag)
‘Not MLK, but Malcolm X’: Is Israel Having Its Black Lives Matter Moment?
Both countries are experiencing police violence against black citizens, but experts say there is major difference between African-American and Ethiopian-Israeli communities. (Judy Maltz, Haaretz+)
 
Elections 2019 Commentary/Analysis:
Netanyahu’s High-cost Pandering to West Bank Settlers Doesn't Even Win Him Their Votes (David Makovsky, Basia Rosenbaum and David Patkin, Haaretz+) Netanyahu makes huge efforts to deliver for West Bank Jewish settlers, even when it endangers U.S. bipartisan support for Israel. But at the ballot box, our analysis shows, settlers don’t pay him back.
The sense of discrimination felt by Ethiopian immigrants will accompany the Likud party for generations (Efraim Ganor, Maariv) All of a sudden everyone understood that Ethiopian immigrants don’t accept everything thrown at them. As many Mizrachim still remember the discrimination by Mapai [today’s Labor party - OH], also today's rage will not be forgotten anytime soon.
A wise and dangerous man: Ehud Barak is trying to engineer reality (Shmuel Rosner, Maariv) It is customary to compare Ehud Barak's character to that of his former commander in the Sayeret Matkal commando unit, Netanyahu, but there is little resemblance. Netanyahu is a conservative - Barak is a revolutionary, Netanyahu is cautious and calculated - Barak is reckless.

Commentary/Analysis:
Israel Might Apologize to Ethiopians but Will Keep Shooting at Unarmed Gazans (Gideon Levy, Haaretz+) Israel’s ludicrous attempt to create islands of morality and equality in a sea of racism and violence has once again blown up in its face...Israel is deluding itself that it is possible to be periodically racist or periodically violent – supporting and even encouraging one type of racism and having reservations about another kind. It is allowed to shoot one kind of individual just because of his nationality, but is barred from shooting another only because of the color of his skin: Yawning over or even applauding in the face of the killing of Palestinian demonstrators, yet feeling a bit uneasy over the killing of Ethiopians of the same age. Israel has developed a map of correctness for itself showing that some racism and violence are permissible and some are not. The police will be informed about it in the next few days. There will be a new sheet of instructions: Stop the racism against Ethiopians. As for everything else: carry on. It will be explained that beating and humiliating Ethiopians must stop, but it is allowed to continue toward other blacks, asylum seekers and also toward Israeli Arabs. And of course mistreatment of Palestinians in the territories is mandatory. ll the values and beliefs have been enlisted for this campaign of self-justification: The worship of security, the Chosen People, the Holocaust, the “existential” threat and fear-mongering – to provide cover for the unbridgeable disparity between pretense and reality.
But once in a while the mask is ripped off this deceitful spectacle and the irksome truth is revealed. That is what has been happening over the past few days with the Ethiopian protests.No one thinks the protesters are wrong...They express sympathy of sorts: The institutional racism and state violence have exceeded what is acceptable..All the other victims of Israeli racism – the “infiltrators,” “illegals,” “terrorists” – are illegitimate. You can go on shooting hundreds of Gazan protesters, and every so often again at Israeli Arab protesters, but leave the Jews alone.
The traffic jam worth being stuck in (Asaf Gur, Yedioth/Ynet) Those who think they've suffered in the tailbacks caused by the demonstrations of Ethiopian youth against police brutality that took place across Israel should imagine spending a day in their shoes, where simply walking down the street can get you arrested.
No room for incitement (Erez Biton, Israel Hayom) The protests by members of the Ethiopian Israeli community could be a double-edged sword, causing resentment among those civilians negatively affected by the demonstrations.
The strategic failure on (Public Security Minister) Gilad Erdan's shift - (Einav Shiff, Yedioth) Three nightly news programs ago, they showed a country in flames, (right-wing TV presenter) Avri Gilad skipped across the screen trying to convince viewers to join the battle against BDS, the boycott movement on Israel. Even before the explosion of the Ethiopian-Israeli protest, the (BDS) campaign sponsored by the 'Ministry for Strategic Affairs' gave the impression of a Mel Brooks style parody about the tendency of government intiatives to shoot arrows in all directions - except for the correct direction. Now, the historic gap between the significant - the (Ethiopian-Israeli) protest - and the insignificant - painting BDS as if it were a nuclear superpower - seems like an appropriate title for the service of Minister of Public Security - and Strategic Affairs! - Gilad Erdan. It took Erdan not a little amount of time to deal with what millions of Israelis saw with their own eyes view the TV or their car windshield. And he, when he wants, knows how to respond quickly. Very quickly. For example, the stubborn ruling that Yaakub Abu-Alian, who was killed by police in at the farcical eviction of the [unrecognized Bedouin - OH] village of Umm al-Hiran, was a 'terrorist.' [Which was proven wrong. -OH] Or when he was quick to update Donald Trump that "It's possible that also today there was a terror attack in Tel-Aviv," despite the fact that 90 minutes earlier the police announced that it was a traffic accident. And there is more...One way or another, one can assume that the last few days are far from providing prestige and respect to the police, and certainly not to the political ranks that are responsible for it, that is, Minister Erdan. But, it's not so bad: We always have BDS.
Treating shooting death of Ethiopian Israeli as 'exception' is the wall defending institutionalized racism (Guy Ben-Porat, Haaretz+) The police’s reaction to another killing of an Ethiopian-Israeli teenager – “the incident is being investigated” – is predictable and wrong for many reasons. First comes a sweeping denial, second, when the violence is documented and reported in the media, the victims are blamed: “They” behaved violently, the police responded “proportionately” or were defending themselves. Third, when the evidence makes it impossible to deny or deflect the blame, the incident is described as “exceptional” or “local”: A policeman or a few policemen deviated from the rules and will be punished. The police’s internal investigations range from describing police violence as reasonable to describing it as exceptional, and from exonerating a policeman or a few policemen to conviction. It doesn’t touch on the elephant in the room – institutionalized racism.
Silent protests get you nowhere in Israel (Ortal Mogas, Yedioth/Ynet) We saw how the protests of the disabled community slipped from the public agenda the minute they stopped blocking main roads, how the quiet and well-behaved protests after the death of Yehuda Biadga got us nowhere; the young generation has learned that in order to make headlines - and a difference - they needed to be noisy, inflammatory, aggressive.
The Right needs to be in the streets (Dr. Eitan Orkibi, Israel Hayom) When the Right accuses protesters of being "incited" by the Left, it isn't only forgetting that it also hates being labeled a "mindless herd," it is also shirking its social responsibility.
Ethiopian Israelis Are Furious at 'White Media' Coverage of Protests, and for a Good Reason (Vered Lee, Haaretz+) The media has been working hand-in-hand with police, describing demonstrators as violent and taking a perspective in line with Israel's racist establishment.
“Are we violent? Does anyone even understand what it means to live in a society that does not accept you?” (Yuval Bagno, Maariv) This is an unprecedented protest in the history of the Ethiopian community. It is led by dozens of “leaders” through dozens of Telegram WhatsApp groups, rather than by an orderly headquarters. A real guerrilla protest. No unruly punks are behind it, but rather young people born in Israel, the salt of the earth. And they want so much that we see them as that, part of us. The main lesson that the Israeli police will have to understand this week is not about tactics for dispersing mass demonstrations, but much deeper. The lesson that Israeli society must derive lies first and foremost in admitting guilt - we are all racists. The rage is justified.
Traffic jams and the true price of racism (Nahum Barnea, Yedioth/Ynet) Israel's government which has often incited racists and even brought them into the fold may be taken to task by young Israelis who have no faith in its establishment and now say enough is enough.
Why Arab states reject the Palestinian cause (Ken Cohen, Israel Hayom) Arab leaders have moved on to deal with their real problems and opportunities today, most of which can be more easily addressed with an Israeli partner.
Jared Kushner's Plan for Palestine Is Even Crazier Than You Thought (Teresita Cruz-del Rosario and Victor Kattan, Haaretz+) Kushner's 'economic peace' plan repeatedly claims that occupied Palestine can model itself after Singapore, South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan. That's certainly ambitious – but also ignorant, absurd and even dangerous.
The Bahrain conference was no more than a PR stunt (Ran Edelist, Maariv) The "economic workshop" may have left a feeling of "progress.” but it was nothing more than an exercise designed to cover up collapsing government policy on the Syrian, Palestinian and Iranian fronts.
Palestinians' 'opportunity of the century' (Clifford D. May, Israel Hayom) Virtually everyone involved in the peace process has taken for granted that the primary goals of Palestinian leaders are peace, prosperity and self-determination. What if that’s wrong?
A Saudi’s advice for Kushner: How your peace plan can still avoid catastrophic failure (Malik Dahlan, Haaretz+) If President Trump's advisor wants to keep his Mideast plan alive, he’s got to harness popular Arab and Islamic support. That means changing course, away from economics – and dealing with Jerusalem first.
Why the PA failed to block Bahrain (Yoni Ben Menachem, Israel Hayom) Abbas is trying to stall for time to concentrate on a political effort against the US peace plan in November. The PA president is counting on time to work in his favor.
Europe, Don't Join in Trump's Grotesque Victory Dance With Israel's Settlers (Saeb Erekat, Haaretz+) Too many European states find countless excuses not to voice public support for clear EU positions on Israeli violations of Palestinian human rights. The latest test of their moral and legal backbone - or lack of it - is coming up at the United Nations.
 
(Nationalist-religious journalist) Shimon Riklin: "The media, leftist journalists and organizations are behind the demonstrations" - Since the demonstrations began, a number of right-wing activists claimed that the New Israel Fund was behind the demonstrations and responsible for inciting the youth of the Ethiopian-Israeli community, a claim for which there is no evidence or proof.The presenter of Channel 20 (religious nationalist media network) claimed that external factors inflamed the Ethiopian community. (More in Interviews below.) (Maariv)
Riklin attacked the government: "As if it agrees with the claim that the police are deliberately trying to kill.” According to Riklin, "What happened yesterday is not a protest like they are covering it in the media, but an unrestrained riot and a riot in which it was a miracle that people were not killed. So now we have to see who is involved in this disturbance. First of all the young generation of Ethiopian immigrants who are angry, and in many ways rightly, due to the discrimination against them. We need to probe what happened in the incident where a policeman shot a youth like previous incidents that took place. And they are the first participants. After which there is the media, which encouraged and incited the winds. After which there is the left-wing media. And after that, there are left-wing organizations like 'Stand Together' (and) activists of Breaking the Silence, who yesterday stood in these riots and participated.” (Maariv)
Interviewer Kaufman: “… Now you want to tell me that all of these right-wing voters [Ethiopian-Israelis], or the majority of them, are sponsored by [George] Soros and they are against the government and want to bring down Bibi.”
Riklin: “Not at all. It was real and holy and right - unequivocally. I'm just saying that the left-wing still determines the consciousness and the media here determines the consciousness.”
Kaufman: “…Who do you blame?”
Riklin: “I blame the media, the leftist organizations, the police and the government, who all cooperated with the anarchy [of the demonstrations - OH], which is unacceptable in a democratic state. If the ultra-Orthodox or settlers did that yesterday, they [police - OH] would have broken their hands."

 

Prepared for APN by Orly Halpern, independent freelance journalist based in Jerusalem.