African Refugees and Israel:

1

• African Refugees and Israel
• A personal and activist story
• by
• Yonatan Glaser
• Director
• BTzedek
• A new generation of leadership

2
Prologue Before
the Holocaust my family lived in Austria. Fearing
the rise of the Nazi Party, my grandfather
looked for his long-lost Uncle Borer in
Australia. Finding his address, Grandpa wrote
asking for help. The reply came, offering to
sponsor my grandparents and my then 8-year old
father to Australia. My grandfather hid the
papers, hoping the Nazi threat would pass.
One night, at risk to his own life, a non-Jewish
friend knocked at my grandfathers door.
Glaser, I have seen your name on the list of
people to be rounded up.", he said, Take
your family and get out by tomorrow". My
grandparents took their son and the papers
and fled for their lives. Arriving in
Australia, they discovered that the letter to
Uncle Borer had actually gone to The Borer and
White Ant Extermination Company. The owners had
not understood the letter and had it translated.
Owing us nothing, they nonetheless decided to
sponsor my family to Australia.
3
Two acts of moral bravery by the German friend
and by the Australian business owners - saved my
family. Fast forward my father grew up,
got married, my parents had me and my two
sisters. I grew up, went to college, decided to
move to Israel, got married. My wife and I now
live in Jerusalem with our three children.
4

• In the summer of 2007
• I read about asylum
• seekers from Darfur,
• Sudan and other African
• countries coming into
• Israel over the Egyptian
• border.

5

• These pictures were drawn by members of the
  community to show the reality they experienced in
  Darfur and elsewhere in Africa.

6
In 2006, some 350 Africans sought refuge in
Israel in 2007 through to mid 2008, that number
grew to over 8,000.
African asylum seekers meet Israeli soldiers at
the border, 2007
7
In the summer of 2007, my daughter and I took
food to a park where asylum seekers were
staying. We learned they were due to be taken to
jail the next day. My family decided to invite
a family into our home to save them that fate.
8
The following is a record of what transpired in
my life and the lives of some of these African
refugees since that time. It is also an
invitation to support the work of BTzedek to
create a more moral, coherent and sustainable set
of policies for Israeli society and the Jewish
people in relation to the refugees in Israel and
worldwide.
9
Without sponsorship, this family of 6 from Darfur
would have been sent to prison. We knew nothing
about them before we collected them from the
public park where they were staying.
10
The family staying with us had experienced
horrific events first hand. We got on very well
and enjoyed getting to know them. So did our
kids. Slowly, we learned of their incredibly
difficult past.
Immediate members of their family had been
murdered. One of the children had been shot the
father had been jailed and tortured.
11
The children had never been to school or seen a
doctor. In Cairo, they all the time stayed in the
tiny apartment they shared with 2 other families
to avoid being beaten on the streets.
12
Due to lack of sunlight, the children had Vitamin
D deficiency, which badly affected their health.
13
We exchanged life stories and recipes.
14
Friends came to visit. A new experience unfolded
for the family living without being at immediate
risk and without fear.
15
The press took an interest
16
A summer picnic in our garden. So normal in an
abnormal situation
17
The family that stayed with us are 6 of the 500
people from Darfur given temporary resident
status. At one level, they are now doing ok. They
live in a rented apartment in Tel Aviv and the
children go to school. The father has opened a
center for people from Africa. Here he is
18
He offers internet services and teaches English
and computer skills. He is active in the
community of Darfur refugees in Israel.
The faces of the students are covered due to
their concern about the possibility of reprisals
to their families back home
19
Yet Israels story of the African refugees does
not so far have a happy ending. Those coming
into Israel are jailed for lengthy periods. Once
freed, they are vulnerable and lack access to
basic services. Threats of sudden expulsion add
to their trauma at a time when we should be
helping to heal it. Israels lack of coherent
policy about the refugees status and rights puts
them in a twilight zone of uncertainty. This
destroys their dignity, morale and hope.
Israels lack of policy puts Israel itself at
risk, for we are very effectively creating
tomorrows social crisis.
20
The following photos are from an art project in
which teens documented how they feel about being
in Israel.
When my father died, we received no help and my
mother was sad because she had to look after us
all the time. I want to make my mother happy and
to make her think less about my father. Akor,
17 years old
21
My name is Amal and I will tell you about my
life. I left my country because of the
government. Everyone who came here from Southern
Sudan has the same problem. People who came from
Egypt got very tired of the Egyptians who are
very bad (to us) on the street, in the hospitals
and in lots of places. In Egypt, Sudanese
children dont go to school. The Egyptians dont
want to help they kill people in the street and
in their homes. Because of this we came to
Israel. Amal,
16 years old
22
I really miss Sudan first because it is my
(historic) homeland and second because I was born
and grew up there. I hope that one day I can
return to my birthplace in South Sudan.
Omot, 16 years old
23
I appeared in the press, on TV and on panels with
members of Knesset. Our children were even
interviewed for a popular childrens magazine.
Links to the items on BTzedeks website.
24
BTzedek participated in the coalition of
organizations to help the refugees. To help the
general public, politicians, media and
policy-makers better understand the refugees,
BTzedek worked with university students to
interview refugees and write their life stories.
BTzedek was asked by the Coalition to set up a
multi-agency task-force to develop a policy
proposal for the government. The group we led
developed policy recommendations we now seek to
promote.
25
The Policy Guidelines for Israel and the Jewish
People in brief
We have a moral responsibility to help. We must
do everything we can, though we cannot solve this
international problem alone. We must not send
back to their country of origin people genuinely
seeking asylum in Israel. To ascertain their true
status, their background must be thoroughly
checked by the internationally accepted
standards. We must create a comprehensive, legal
and just system for handling asylum seekers,
including arrangements for sustenance, health and
housing. We must severely limit the use of jail
detention. We may fast track those who are
clearly not refugees (in accordance with
International and Israeli law) and send them
back. We must name the number of refugees we will
look after, long-term, and arrange with other
countries to take in the others. We must
pressure Egypt to improve conditions for the
refugees living there. We, Israel and the Jewish
people, must engage in international activism to
reduce the number of people who become refugees
and to secure the rights of those who do. For
details, see www.btzedek.org.il
26

• BTzedek wants to expand its impact on behalf of
  refugees and Israeli society.
• Please join us in this effort.
• With your help, we will actively engage and
  empower youth, students and communities in Israel
  and across the Jewish world to advocate for
  better policies.
• We will also provide web-based materials
• our policy recommendations with background and
  educational materials
• refugees personal stories, and
• suggestions for how to impact politicians and
  policy-makers.

27

• Please help in any of the following ways
• Donate to help us make a difference credit card
  or other
• Pass this on to your friends
• Add your name to our campaign list

Together we can make a difference. Yonatan
Glaser Director BTzedek yonatan_at_btzedek.org.il
Further information at www.btzedek.org.il