Government MIA
Jerusalem: Thousands protest against racism
Marchers protesting discrimination against members of Ethiopian community, carrying signs reading 'Today it's me, tomorrow it's you'
Yoav Malka
Some 5,000 protesters marched from the Knesset compound to Jerusalem's Independence Park to protest racism against Ethiopians. They carried Israeli flags and signs reading "Today it's me, tomorrow it's you" and "Stop racism."
Some Knesset members such as Labor chairman Shelly Yachimovitch and Kadima Chairwoman Tzipi Livni came to support the protesters. This was met by claims from some of the protesters that the MKs were trying to ride the media wave.
The protest was also attended by leaders of the social protest Daphni Leef and Oren Pasternak. Leading the marchers is 26-year-old student Mulet Hararo, who started his own personal march from Kiryat Malakhi to Jerusalem on Monday.
"It was very heart warming to see people support me on my way to Jerusalem," Hararo said. "It gave me the strength to go on. My goal is to expose the Israeli society and the Israeli establishment to the phenomenon of racism."
Prior to the March, Livni told Ynet that "the Ethiopian immigrants made aliyah for Zionist purposes and lost many on the way to Israel. Now, instead of accepting them we encounter severe racism in the Israeli society and a failure on the government's part in dealing with the matter."
Yachimovitch claimed that the protest was a reaction to escalation in racism against members of the Ethiopian community. "These young people are taking matters into their own hands. This will bring a change in Israeli society," she said.
Shame on the government.
The cabinet including the Prime Minister, should have joined this protest.
Bibi, it would have been right, moral and the Jewish thing to do.
Show that racism has no part of Israel.
But no, the government was MIA,missing in action, missing in heart and soul.
