Health Ministry: Israel Immigration Police 'Ambushing' Africans

[Purveyor]

The Health Ministry has blasted the immigration police for its "inhumane and unworthy" policy of "ambush[ing]" African asylum-seekers near the ministry's new clinic in Tel Aviv's central bus station, which it set up for foreigners needing urgent care but lacking health insurance.

The ministry said it contacted the police and the Interior Ministry's Population, Immigration and Border Authority to ask that it avoid detaining foreign workers near the clinic. "For the immigration police to ambush [migrants] coming to receive medical treatment or exploit the clinic to catch illegal residents is an inhumane and unworthy activity," the ministry said, stressing that the ongoing patrols could deter people from seeking badly needed health care.

The furor arose this week after four African asylum-seekers were arrested near the clinic, which opened last week. The population authority said it had not been informed about the new clinic, whose location in the bus station in south Tel Aviv is surrounded by tens of thousands of asylum-seekers and foreign workers. The population authority maintained that asking inspectors to cease enforcement activities in the central bus station area was "not realistic."

The clinic was opened on the recommendation of a Health Ministry committee that was formed following a public storm last summer when Ichilov Hospital tried to separate migrants and Israelis in its clinics and wards.

MORE...

http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/health-ministry-israel-immigration-police-ambushing-africans.premium-1.492991#

[oberliner]

1. It's amazing how many African asylum-seekers choose Israel as their destination

Considering this article and others, it really says something that they would be willing to risk their lives to try to get to Israel (rather than say, Egypt, which they would have to pass along the way in most cases).

[Scootaloo]

2. Progressive icon, Michael Ben-Ari seeks to gently persuade them otherwise, though

[oberliner]

5. Michael Ben-Ari is a far RW hate-monger

Nothing progressive about him.

[Scootaloo]

7. No, no. I've been assured, every Israeli is always progressive

And it's racist to think otherwise, you know

[oberliner]

8. That is crazy

Israel has a very sizable far-right. Percentage-wise, it's comparable to what we have in the US.

[Scootaloo]

9. No no, all Israelis are more progressive than everyone, anywhere.

I know it's true 'cause Zionists never lie!

(I'm of course being facetious.)

[oberliner]

13. No one here says things like this

Last edited Tue Jan 15, 2013, 08:04 AM - Edit history (1)

Facetious or not, you are doing a disservice to any kind of serious discussion but ascribing views to people that aren't held by them (certainly not by me).

[Scootaloo]

20. I have to admit...

I can't tell the difference between...

A regressive saying Arab lives are worth less than Jewish lives
and
A progressive saying Arab lives are worth less than Jewish lives.
or...
A regressive expressing total support for continued theft of Palestinian land and resources
and
A progressive expressing total support for continued theft of Palestinian land and resources
or...
A regressive having no problem with civilian deaths, no matter how high
and
A progressive having no problem with civilian deaths, no matter how high.

For that matter, I have difficulty distinguishing between...

A regressive who believes human rights are completely optional
and
A progressive who believes human rights are completely optional.
or
a regressive who denies documented ethnic cleansings
and
a progressive who denies documented ethnic cleansings.

or, come to think of it...

a regressive who virulently hates "the left"
and
a progressive who virulently hates "the left"

For that matter, there doesn't seem to be a lot of difference between...

a regressive who disregards nonviolent protest of his "cause," and insists it should be met with violent suppression
and
a progressive disregards nonviolent protest of his "cause," and insists it should be met with violent suppression
or
A regressive who supports violent "protest" for his cause
and
a progressive who supports violent "protest" for his cause.
Or
A regressive who uses slander and libel to shut down his critics in contravention of freedom of speech
and
a progressive who uses slander and libel to shut down his critics in contravention of freedom of speech.

I also have a lot of difficulty telling heads from tails when it comes to

Regressives who link and cite Horowitz, Gatestone Institute, CAMERA, and various anti-Arab lobbies and lobbyists involved in Islamophobic films and publications
and
Progressives who link and cite Horowitz, Gatestone Institute, CAMERA, and various anti-Arab lobbies and lobbyists involved in Islamophobic films and publications
or...
regressives who think attacking and imprisoning asylum seekers to preserve a state's ethnic purity is totally worth advocating
and
progressives who think attacking and imprisoning asylum seekers to preserve a state's ethnic purity is totally worth advocating

...I'm sure the differences between all of these are deep and vast and profound, and I'm simply dysfunctional when it comes to telling these otherwise completely identical people apart! But understand my difficulty, when I can look up HaBayit HaYehudi's platform, or the rhetoric coming from Otzma LeYisrael, and hten come to the I/P forum and read the exact same stuff from good, progressive DU'ers!

Since of course all of you are unquestionably progressives (After all, DU is a progressive site, islamophobia and anti-Arabism are against the ToS, etc) then you must forgive me for figuring that Miri Regev and Aryeh Eldad who sound so much like all of you, must also be progressives.

Maybe someday the scales will lift from my eyes Oberliner, and I can see what's so amazingly different from your utter and complete indifference to Palestinian death and suffering as a stalwart progressive, and Netanyahu's utter and complete indifference to Palestinian death and suffering as a stalwart Regressive. But, until that day comes, I just can't tell, and since you of course are a staunch unquestionable progressive, so too must Bibi be.

[oberliner]

21. Absolutely disgusting and untrue

Utter and complete indifference to Palestinian death and suffering?

That is an absolutely disgusting and completely false accusation.

I have no idea where you get any of this nonsense from and I would ask you to retract and apologize.

[Scootaloo]

24. No, and chew me

Remember back like... a month and some odd weeks ago? There was a 'thing' going on in Gaza?

You were outraged, just livid that there was not enough shirt-rending and wailing over the death of three Israelis to a rocket from Gaza on DU. But you had - and kept - absolute, utter, complete silence on the deaths of fifty-three times as many Palestinians in Gaza, Oberliner. Maybe you were crying silent tears to yourself. Very quietly. Away from the keyboard. But if you could take time through that weeping to demand that DU'ers gin up an appropriate level of angst and trauma for those three Israeli unfortunates, couldn't you have done so for the Palestinians? Instead, you crusaded to get all relevant LBN threads tucked away here on I/P.

Save your disgust for the people who think denial of ethnic cleansing is a good idea, or who maintain that attacking an elderly woman with a dog is acceptable and defensible. Because so far? You've given them nothing but silent endorsement.

[Solindsey]

3. So amazing.

And when they get there they'll also know how unwelcome they are: Israel's special brand of racism isn't exclusive to just Palestinians.

[oberliner]

4. And yet they still fight to remain

I cannot even imagine how unwelcome they must feel elsewhere.

[Solindsey]

6. Yay! Go racism!

Yes, it must be super shitty living "elsewhere" as oppose to just regular shitty living in Israel. Such distinction! It's amazing that you're in awe of such pathetic circumstances. Are your standards really that low?

[Purveyor]

11. +1 Of course they are, indeed! eom

[oberliner]

16. How strange that you would chime in with this

I thought we had exchanged enough rational discussion for you to understand where I am coming from (and I you).

[oberliner]

14. Go racism?

What on earth are you talking about?

I am asking why people would be willing to take such risks and hostility (including dealing with racism) in order to come to Israel when they could go to other locations (and, in fact, must pass through another country to get to Israel).

I'm not sure why that would not seem to be a reasonable question to ask.

[Solindsey]

22. They chose the lesser of two evils. And we're supposed to be impressed by that?

Who cares if they're willing to swap living under an oppressive dictatorship and instead opt for living under persecution distinguished by their skin colour and ethnicity.

Why is this even important? For these people, both choices suck. They'll be persecuted either way, it's just a matter of degree in severity. Is that really something you want to describe as "amazing"?

[shira]

18. What? Your own? Do you have no standards for 3rd world Arab countries?

They're responsible adults running those regimes, aren't they?

I'll bet the millions suffering under those dictatorships wish that caring folks like you held their leaders to some standard.

[Solindsey]

23. Your question is so stupid. I'm sure you know that.

And completely irrelevant to my point. My standards are much higher than someone who would overlook the hostile and racist actions of Israel so they can find some way to take a shot at other arab countries. Especially in a Topic like this that is discussing the poor treatment of black asylum seekers in Israel. Not a single word of denunciation against what Israel is accused of doing in this article. No, this is just another opportunity to whitewash a serious discussion with some asinine point that leaves Israel looking less shitty that the article suggested. Failed.

[pelsar]

12. it was economics....

as i understand it, by someone i know who works with them: The prices to europe for smuggling rose, plus the process became more difficult.

Israel was a cheaper and faster and relativly safer route to a western country (although they had to trust the bediouns not to rape and steal from them, avoid the egyptian patrols, who killed them and hope they wouldnt be used as bait by the hamas and friends when the IDF approached them.....)

[oberliner]

15. Why not stay in Egypt?

Is it not safer there?

[Solindsey]

25. Obviously it is not safer.

You know that. Clearly. So why waste time asking such a mundane question?

That fact doesn't belittle the point of this article. Israel's hostile and RACIST treatment of these people is wrong and should NOT continue to happen in a supposed free and democratic state. Is that so difficult to admit and/or say plainly without all these diversionary tactics? i.e. Deflecting and shifting the issue onto other countries with less stellar records? Like I said, your standards are low.

[oberliner]

26. Why would that be obvious?

Are there any stories of African refugees being mistreated and harassed in Egypt the way that they are in Israel?

Is there racism to a similar (or worse) degree there?

[pelsar]

27. actually your writing is more ignorence than anything else

for the most part they are not treated bad, they have smaller communties in S Tel Aviv where the different govt and volunteer agencies support them and attempt to solve the problem.

it has nothing to do with the color of their skin, its a matter of people with no job skills, no language skills, etc who are here illegally with no support.

its not a matter of standards, those who see everything through the eyes of "racism' simply prefer the simplistic answers that suit their ideology best....and thats always pretty low information standard by design

[Solindsey]

28. "Ignorence" ... oh really?

For the most part? How do you know that? From what we've seen in public displays and article such as the one this topic has been made about... if this was happening to Jews in another country... you don't think there would be people screaming xenophobia, racism, antisemitism from the top of their lungs?! Or is your special brand of "ignorence" raising its head and making it all confusing for you?

I've heard they live in South Tel Aviv. You know how?

Danny Danon, a member of Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party, wrote in a Facebook status later the same evening: "Israel is at war. An enemy state of infiltrators was established in Israel, and its capital is south Tel Aviv."

...

Thousands of protesters joined politicians to protest against the arrival of an estimated 60,000 asylum seekers in Israel in recent years. But after inflammatory speeches the demonstration broke out into violence.

Witnesses reported seeing men and women being beaten and shops and properties being attacked. Police said nine people were arrested.

The protesters were addressed by politicians including Miri Regev and Danny Danon of the ruling Likud Party. According to the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz, Regev described the asylum seekers as a "cancer in our body," and promised to do everything "in order to bring them back to where they belong".

Danny Danon, who heads a lobby group which seeks to deal with the issue of illegal immigration, said the only solution to the problem would be to "begin talking about expulsion".

"We must expel the infiltrators from Israel. We should not be afraid to say the words 'expulsion now'," he was reported as saying.

- Gaurdian

The protesters claim the Africans are responsible for a rise in crime, bearing signs saying "This is not Africa" and "Stop talking, start expelling". "Blacks out!" shouted demonstrators in the crowd, while others yelled "Send the Sudanese back to Sudan", as other protesters derided the "bleeding-heart leftists" working to help them. The mob set cans of rubbish on fire, smashed the windows of shops owned by Eritrean migrants and beat up Africans walking through the streets.

TJ, a 29-year-old migrant from Nigeria, watched the violent chaos from his rooftop having been chased and pelted with rocks when he attempted to leave his house.

'TJ' says he is among the few who has left his home following the violence: "Black people have been too afraid to leave their homes to go to work today. Racism in Tel Aviv is not only getting worse it's getting out of hand and the police are no help. We are terrified."

- Telegraph UK


Expulsion. Something Jews know a lot about and yet these same nationalist Israelis see no problem in inflicting the same fate on other peoples. Disgusting.

[pelsar]

29. yes ignorance....

For the most part? How do you know that?

because i'm in S. Tel Aviv about once a week day and night and i do see the hundreds of african immigrants in the streets, by the old bus station hanging around etc.

and yes crime has in fact gone up in those areas....and there are problems over there that coincide with their arrival and their non integration with in the society.

and it is a problem for the asylum seekers as well as for the residents....
____

your quotes really dont mean much...one of the advantages of a free society that has not be brainwashed to say only what is acceptable (PC) is that our politicians/citizens get to say what they really mean and not hide it. I personally see it as an advantage, so that we know what they really believe.

its calmed down now, the massive influx has stopped, that particlular spasim has caused changes and are now being met with the usual govt confusion

find some new articles if you dont mind, .......may 2012 is a tad old....the israeli govt unlike others does in fact react to the demands of it citizens

[Scurrilous]

10. K & R

[oberliner]

17. What a wise and thoughtful post

Very insightful!

[Violet_Crumble]

19. RW governments are really nasty and sneaky when it comes to asylum seekers...

I hope that sort of thing isn't something that I'll ever see defended at DU...