Egyptian army forces free Ethiopians held in Libya source in Libyia another cast doubt - Sisi | Reuters

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Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi speaks during a news conference with Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos (not pictured) after their summit at the presidential palace in Cairo, April 23, 2015.Egyptian army forces free Ethiopians held in Libya - Sisi | Reuters: "Egyptian army forces free Ethiopians held in Libya - Sisi
CAIRO | BY MAHMOUD MOURAD

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi speaks during a news conference with Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos (not pictured) after their summit at the presidential palace in Cairo, April 23, 2015.
REUTERS/AMR ABDALLAH DALSH
A group of Ethiopians who had been kidnapped in Libya arrived at Cairo airport on Thursday after Egyptian army forces rescued them, state media quoted Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi as saying.

But one Ethiopian in the group, and a Libyan source, appeared to cast doubt on that version of events, saying the men had only been held up by Libyan immigration.

State TV broadcast live footage of Sisi greeting about 30 Ethiopians who had arrived on an Egyptian government plane.

"Sisi announced during a seminar the success of the armed forces in returning the Ethiopian brothers who had been kidnapped in Libya," state news agency MENA reported.

The state broadcast gave no details of their identity, the manner of their release or circumstances of detention.

Security sources told Reuters that Egyptian intelligence services had provided Libyan authorities with information that helped them free the Ethiopians who had been held by armed groups in the cities of Derna and Misrata.

One of the Ethiopians said they had been held by Libyan immigration authorities.

"The Libyan government came and took us to the anti-illegal immigration body and then the Egyptian government took us from there," he told reporters at the airport. That account was confirmed by a Libyan official.

A statement from the Egyptian presidency's office said Sisi had greeted 27 Ethiopian citizens who represented "the first batch of returning Ethiopian brothers from Libya".

Sisi has repeatedly called for international efforts to combat Islamist militants in Libya, which has descended into chaos since veteran autocrat Muammar Gaddafi was toppled in 2011 during the "Arab Spring" uprisings.

The former army chief has portrayed himself as a champion of moderate Islam in a battle against what he calls the global existential threat from groups such as Islamic State, which seized large parts of Syria and neighbouring Iraq.

Last month, a video purportedly made by Islamic State appeared to show militants shooting and beheading about 30 Ethiopians in Libya.

Militants professing loyalty to Islamic State have claimed several high-profile attacks on foreigners in Libya this year, including the beheading of 21 Egyptian Christians in February.

The killing of the Egyptians prompted Sisi to order air strikes on Islamic State targets in OPEC oil-producer Libya.

Libya's mayhem has complicated Sisi's efforts to combat hardline Islamist groups at home, including pro-Islamic State militants based in the Sinai.

"What happens in Libya is a concern for all of us, and we are saying to the world that Libya should return a safe and stable country for its people and even to its visitors," Sisi told reporters at the airport.

(Additional reporting by Omar Fahmy and Ulf Laessing; Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Andrew Heavens)"



'via Blog this'

Ethiopians held in Libya have arrived in Addis Ababa

Ethiopian Israelis Still Wander in the Desert | Al Jazeera America

OPINION

JACK GUEZ / AFP / GETTY IMAGES

                           

Recent clashes reveal pain of discrimination despite Jewish heritage

May 8, 2015 2:00AM ET

by Steven Kaplan

Anyone viewing the recent clashes between Ethiopian-Israeli demonstrators and local policemen in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv could not help being reminded of similar scenes taking place barely a week earlier in Baltimore. Such a clear visual link between events in two such disparate places cannot but be viewed as further testimony to the power of satellite news and globalized media. We should, however, proceed cautiously in comparing the two situation or reactions of the parties involved.

Israel’s Ethiopian population is of fairly recent origin. Beginning in 1977, small groups began to make their way to Israel through Sudan or other countries. (At the time, Israel had no diplomatic relations with Ethiopia’s Marxist military regime.) Dramatic airlifts from Sudan (1984 and ’85) and on the eve of the fall of the Marxist government (1991) brought thousands into the country. After 1991, tens of thousands more arrived. Many of these immigrants spent years in transition camps in Ethiopia while Israeli politicians debated whether descendants and relatives of those brought into the country as Jews also had the right to make aliyah (literally “to ascend”) to Israel.

Today the Ethiopian population stands at about 135,000, over a third of whom were born in Israel or arrived in the country as small children. Despite plenty of good intentions (and we all know where those lead), their integration (what is called in Israel absorption) has not been easy.

While the immediate catalyst for the latest eruption of rage was the beating of an Ethiopian soldier caught on video, there are clearly deeper structural issues at stake. Although there have been clear improvements in school performance, high school completion, employment and almost every other quantifiable measure, Ethiopians still lag behind most of the country in educational achievement and income. Moreover, while the percentage of Ethiopians who serve in the military is higher than for the general population (and in Israel this is considered a badge of success), the percentage who complete their service is comparatively low. Despite official rulings in their favor, large parts of the powerful rabbinic establishment still question the Jewishness of the Ethiopians. Almost every school year begins with “crises” as one school or another refuses to accept its planned number of Ethiopian students.

Although it is often said that Israel is the first country to bring in people of African descent not to enslave them but to grant them equal rights as citizens, the truth is much more complex. Ethiopians were brought to Israel not merely to have equal rights but to be part of the dominant Jewish majority. Perhaps the most persistent testimony to this is that virtually any statistic available from government and nongovernment sources regarding the Ethiopians compares them not with the population as a whole but to other Jews.

For purposes of comparison, the 20 percent of the population that is Arab is invisible, and the success or failure of the Ethiopians is measured against only their Jewish counterparts. Thus while the campaigns on behalf of the Ethiopians are often voiced in terms of universal human rights, they often have a much narrower focus: equality with other Israeli Jews.

In a 2012 poll, more 50 percent of Israelis surveyed agreed with the statement that African migrants are a ‘cancer on the body of the nation.’

According to polls, Israelis overwhelmingly acknowledge that Ethiopians are discriminated against. This is commendable and in sharp contrast to the United States, where denial about racial discrimination is still common. At least in part, the Israeli anti-racist consensus is convenient because it limits itself to Jewish Ethiopian-Israelis.

Thus one can be anti-racist on the one hand and on the other ignore or take part in the ongoing pernicious discrimination against Arab citizens of Israel (leaving the territories out of the equation for the moment) or African migrants. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who infamously warned of “droves” of Arab voters going to the polls during the recent election, was quick to chime in condemning the latest mistreatment of Ethiopians. “We must stand together as one against the phenomenon of racism, to denounce it and eliminate it,” he said.

Similarly, the Orthodox Sephardi party Shas has been among the most welcoming to the Ethiopians, while depicting African migrants as infiltrators who pose “no less a threat than a nuclear Iran,” as onetime party leader Eli Yishai put it. In a 2012 poll, more than 50 percent of Israelis surveyed agreed with the statement that African migrants are a “cancer on the body of the nation.” The same poll indicated that fully a third condoned violence against the migrants. Small wonder that at least some of the anti-Ethiopian violence in Israel appears to begin when police mistook Ethiopians for the “wrong” kind of African — Sudanese or Eritreans.

That said, there is no arguing that the situation of Ethiopians in Israel is difficult. Many suffer from daily slights and discrimination. Moreover, they are underrepresented in the country’s universities and key industries and overrepresented in its jails and prisons. Many are stuck in Israel’s periphery in small towns, which have poor schools and limited employment opportunities.

If past incidents are any indication, the latest uproar will quickly pass after the requisite handwringing and public statements. The policemen involved have already been either fired or suspended, and the political leaders have voiced their condemnation. The Israeli Ministry of Education immediately put forward age-appropriate lesson plans on racism and violence.

Doubtless money will be found for cultural awareness programs, for recruitment of Ethiopian officers and for research, which will be call for more programs, more recruitment and more research. The beating of the soldier will be added to the cumulative song (think “There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly”) of injustices done to Ethiopian Israelis, all of which will be dutifully recited the next time their mistreatment becomes public.

Meanwhile, the Ethiopians will remain in the anomalous situation of both having entered the Promised Land and continuing to wander in the desert. Forty years may not be long enough this time.

Steven Kaplan is a professor emeritus at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He has written several books an

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with Ethiopian Israeli s...

Police fire stun grenades at Tel Aviv rally by Ethiopian Israelis | Daily Mail Online

Police fire stun grenades at Tel Aviv rally by Ethiopian Israelis | Daily Mail Online:



'via Blog this'Police fired stun grenades to disperse a rally by Ethiopian Israelis demonstrating in central Tel Aviv on Sunday against alleged police brutality and widespread discrimination.

Some of the demonstrators hurled stones, bottles and chairs from nearby restaurants after attempting to storm the Tel Aviv municipality building.

Mounted police used riot stun grenades and water cannon as well as pepper spray to disperse the crowd and clear nearby streets, but an AFP correspondent said the protesters kept returning.

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Israeli security forces scuffle with demonstraters during a protest called by members of the Ethiopian community against alleged police brutality and institutionalised discrimination in the city of Tel Aviv, on May 3, 2015 ©Jack Guez (AFP)

Police said 46 officers as well as at least seven demonstrators were wounded in the clashes, and 26 protestors were arrested.

Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch said dispersing the "riot" was difficult since it had no clear leadership.

"There is nobody to talk to," he told reporters.

Sunday's protest came three days after a stormy demonstration in Jerusalem sparked by footage showing two policemen beating a uniformed Israeli soldier of Ethiopian origin.

Scores of other Israelis also joined Sunday's rally, chanting and holding up signs reading: "A violent policeman must be put in prison" and "We demand equal rights".

As they marched through Tel Aviv, some held their arms up in the air with their wrists crossed as if handcuffed.

Demonstrators earlier blocked the Ayalon expressway during rush-hour, causing huge traffic jams on one of Israel's central highways before police forcefully evacuated them.

-National 'soul-searching'-

"Being black, I have to protest today," 34-year-old Eddie Maconen told AFP before the clashes outside the municipality.

"I never experienced police violence against me personally, but it is aimed at my community which I have to support," he said.

Maconen, who came to the country aged three, said the protesters wanted violent policemen to be put on trial before deeper issues of social inequality were tackled.

"First the police need to be dealt with, then we'll get to all the other (official) bodies that screw over Ethiopians," he said.

Police estimated 3,000 people took part in the demonstration, while media reports cited organisers as putting the number at 10,000.

Zion Cohen, an Israeli participant, told AFP the Ethiopians were "a hundred percent right" to protest.

"It's a racist country and we don't accept them," he said.

As the rally began, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a statement saying that on Monday he would meet Damas Pakada, the soldier who was beaten, as well as other representatives of the Ethiopian community.

"All claims will be looked into but there is no place for violence and such disturbances," Netanyahu said.

Economy Minister Naftali Bennett met with protesters at the scene of the clashes and said Israeli society faced "serious soul-searching."

"While the law must be kept, we must all seek the real solutions for the problems that have surfaced in such a painful way," his office quoted him as saying.

Police pledged a crackdown on those members of the force who have used violence against the Ethiopian community after the video footage went public.

More than 135,000 Ethiopian Jews live in Israel, having immigrated in two waves in 1984 and 1991.

But they have struggled to integrate into Israeli society, despite massive government aid.

While Ethiopian Jews have high rates of employment, their average income is lower than that of other Israelis, and they are under-represented in academia and public office.

Officials said that approximately 20 of the minors held in juvenile prisons were of Ethiopian descent.

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Israelis take part in a demonstration in Tel Aviv called by members of the Ethiopian community against alleged police brutality and institutionalised discrimination, on May 3, 2015 ©Jack Guez (AFP)

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Israelis from the Ethiopian community take part in a demonstration in Tel Aviv on May 3, 2015 against alleged police brutality and institutionalised discrimination ©Jack Guez (AFP)

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An Israeli woman from the Ethiopian community argues with Israeli security forces in the coastal city of Tel Aviv, on May 3, 2015, during a protest called by members of the Ethiopian community against alleged police brutality and discrimination ©Jack Guez (AFP)

Israel must eliminate racism - PM Netanyahu - BBC News

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Media captionThe BBC's Kevin Connolly reports on the aftermath of the protests

Israel's prime minister has said racism in the country must be eliminated, after protests by Ethiopian Israelis against alleged discrimination.

Benjamin Netanyahu spoke after meeting Ethiopian Israeli community leaders and an Ethiopian Israeli soldier, whose beating by police has fuelled tensions.

A protest by Ethiopian Israelis on Sunday ended in clashes with police.

Israel's president said the community's grievances "revealed an open and raw wound" at the heart of Israeli society.

"We must look directly at this open wound," Reuven Rivlin added. "We have erred. We did not look, and we did not listen enough."

At least 46 police and seven demonstrators were hurt in the clashes which followed the protest in Tel Aviv on Sunday night, officials said. Dozens of protesters were arrested, police said.

Call for unity

On Monday, Mr Netanyahu met Israeli soldier Damas Fekade, who was beaten by two police officers in a suburb of Tel Aviv last week.

Mr Netanyahu met soldier Damas Fekade, who was beaten by two Israeli policemen

The prime minister praised Mr Fekade and told him he had been shocked by thevideo of the beating.

Afterwards, Mr Netanyahu met Ethiopian Israeli leaders in an effort to reassure the community.

"We must stand together as one against the phenomenon of racism, to denounce it and eliminate it," he said.

One of the policemen involved in Mr Fekade's beating has been dismissed and the other suspended from the force, Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told the BBC.

An investigation into the incident is under way.

Tear gas

The protests on Sunday started peacefully but became more violent as night fell.

Dozens of police and protesters were injured in the clashes

Some protesters threw stones, bottles and chairs at police and tried to enter the Tel Aviv municipality building.

Police fired tear gas and stun grenades and officers on horseback charged the crowd to try to disperse it.

Analysis: Kevin Connolly, BBC News, Jerusalem

President Reuven Rivlin was quick to respond to the weekend's disturbances with calming words - the country hadn't listened to its Ethiopian minority, he said.

It is listening today at least.

The police used considerable force to disperse the rioting crowds in Tel Aviv but the government is seeking to send a simultaneous signal that it recognises the strength of the Ethiopian minority's grievance about racism and discrimination in jobs and education.

It is an awkward twist in what began as a triumphant story for Israel which began with one of Zionism's most exotic initiatives - a series of airlifts dating back to the 1980s which brought to Israel members of a religious minority with Jewish roots.

As black migrants from a country with a poorly-developed educational system, though, they have struggled to integrate into Israeli society and they have been left feeling that their treatment has never quite matched the imagination and generosity of the impulse which brought them here.

Ethiopian Jews living in Israel have long complained of discrimination, and similar protests in 2012 followed reports that some Israeli landlords were refusing to rent out their properties to Ethiopian Jews.

Ethiopian Jews' income is considerably lower than the general population, and they are much more likely to face limited educational opportunities and to end up in prison, according to The Ethiopian National Project, a non-governmental organisation which assists Ethiopian Jews in Israel.

Tens of thousands of Ethiopian Jews were airlifted to Israel in secret operations in the 1980s and 1990s to escape famine and civil war. There are now around 135,000 Ethiopian Jews living in Israel.

Ethiopian Israelis: 'A community crying out' - CNN.com

Ethiopian Israelis: 'A community crying out'

By Jethro Mullen, CNN

Updated 1411 GMT (2111 HKT) May 4, 2015

Protests erupt in Israel over viral video 02:38

Story highlights

•  Soldier ID'd as Cpl. Demas Fikadey, 21; he has lived in Israel seven years
• Ethiopian Israelis have struggled to integrate after their arrivals in recent decades
• They feel they are being racially profiled by police, an Israeli professor says

(CNN)The clashes between Ethiopian-Israeli protesters and police over the weekend have drawn international attention to one of the most disadvantaged groups in Israel.

Though the demonstrations were set off by the police beating of a uniformed Israeli soldier, captured on video, experts say the issues between the Ethiopian-Israeli community and the government are not new ones.

"The protesters, in Jerusalem and in Tel Aviv, revealed an open and raw wound at the heart of Israeli society," Israeli President Reuven Rivlin said. "The pain of a community crying out over a sense of discrimination, racism, and of being unanswered."

But who are the Ethiopian Israelis, and what are their grievances?

Most arrived in recent decades

Many Ethiopian Jews came to Israel in two large waves of migration in the 1980s and early 1990s after the chief rabbinate of Israel recognized them as Jews in 1975. Their ancestors had lived in Ethiopia for thousands of years.

Some of the Israeli efforts to bring Jews from Ethiopia involved high stakes, such as the clandestine Operation Moses in 1984. The arrivals continued until 2013 when Israel ended the program of mass repatriations from Ethiopia.

They have struggled to integrate

After the sudden transition -- often from rural villages in Ethiopia to developed Israeli towns -- a lot of Ethiopian Israelis have found it difficult to integrate into society. "Many Ethiopian Israelis knew how to read and write before they arrived, but there were others who had never seen a mirror, never owned a pair of shoes, never ridden in an elevator, etc.," says Tebeka, a group that provides legal assistance to Ethiopian Israelis.

Language often proved a barrier in their new home. "Many of them are from rural Ethiopia, they speak Amharic and dialect," said Joshua Landis, director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma. "The vast majority were very slow to learn Hebrew because they were older. The younger generation does, but even 50% of the younger generation don't graduate from high school."

Economically, they're at a disadvantage

Today, Ethiopian Israelis make up a small, underprivileged portion of society. They're estimated to number around 135,000, roughly 1.5% to 2% of the overall population. They have the highest poverty rate of any Jewish segment of Israeli society, according to the Ethiopian National Project.

"They're poor; it's very hard getting jobs," Landis said. "They feel like they're discriminated against in marriage -- many rabbis have refused to marry them unless they go through a symbolic conversion." According to government statistics, 88% of Ethiopian Israelis are married to other Ethiopian Israelis, highlighting their low level of intermarriage.

Relations with police are strained

Ethiopian Israelis are particularly upset about their treatment by police. Many of them feel that they are being racially profiled and that police act with a heavier hand with them than with other groups, according to Guy Ben-Porat, an associate professor at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.

"Ethiopians believe they're being singled out more than other people," said Ben-Porat, who is studying relations between minority groups and police. "Non-Ethiopians don't feel the same way, except Arab citizens."

Young Ethiopian Israelis are reported to have far higher incarceration rates than the rest of the population.

Their anger has boiled over

The resentment over the police, particularly among young male Ethiopian Israelis, has been around for years. The current anger was set off of by a video that went viral showing Cpl. Demas Fikadey, a uniformed Israel Defense Forces soldier of Ethiopian descent, being assaulted by police.

Fikadey, 21, has been in Israel seven years and told CNN the military recently honored him for his social work in the community.

The anti-police demonstrations in Israel have been compared to those in the United States over police treatment of African-Americans. "Both cases are about racial profiling -- people feeling they're being targeted by police because of their skin color," Ben-Porat said.

The issues also run deeper. "Their frustrations are not just about the police but also the education system, the economic system -- they have lots of grudges," he said. "Police violence is just the trigger; the feelings are about much wider issues."

Tackling the issues could take generations

After the clashes between protesters and police Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced he would meet with leaders in the Ethiopian community as well as the soldier who was assaulted in the video.

Landis, the Center for Middle East Studies director, said that's a positive sign, but just the start on a long road. "It's going to require a dialogue that goes on for years and generations, as we've found in the United States," he said. "There can't just be a civil rights movement of a few years and it goes away. This is an ongoing problem, and it's very deep-seated. It's socially ingrained."

The Israeli President appeared to agree in his comments about the situation. "We must look directly at this open wound," he said. "We have erred. We did not look, and we did not listen enough."

CNN's Oren Liebermann contributed to this report.