Ethiopians

1
Ethiopians

• cut off from Rabinic Judaism
• 19th century discovered
• early 70s some to Israel
• q. whether Israel want to bring them in
• Tad Szulc vs. Graenum Berger

2
Ovadia Yosef ruling

• Tribe of Dan
• Considered Jewish for Law of Return
• Eligible to receive Jewish education
• Must convert if want to marry other Jews

3
d

• American Association for Ethiopian Jewry
• Graenum Berger
• Move to Addis Ababa
• Menachem Begin 1977
• Operation Moses 1984
• Operation Operation Solomon 1991

4
Settlement in Israel (Housing)

• communities with strong infrastructures
• ie. Not development towns/
• center of country
• did opposite
• outskirts of center
• poorest neighborhoods

5
Challenges of absorption

• Have to overcome poverty, lack of skills and
  education, cultural differences being different
• Education a key what happened
• Army much better experience
• progress at University level

6
Case study

• Politics, Race and Education Israeli Education
  Policies for Ethiopian Jewish Immigrants,
  1984-1992.

7
Nachal Bekka

• Kindergarten black and white why?
• 1. political party politics not religion explain
  the separation.
• 2. matters of nationality, ethnicity and more
  recently race have been concerns of Israeli
  educational policy.
• 3. experience of Ethiopian pupils resembled
  Jewish immigrant children from North Africa and
  the Middle East 1950s.

8
Ethiopians come to Israel

• 1977 Menachem Begin
• 1985 Moshe
• July 1991 Solomon
• 70,000 by 1993

9
Socio economic status

• Who were they
• poor agr area, little education, low-level
  skills, high illiteracy,
• high single parent families (25-38 vs 9
  israeli
• lot of kids in families with one or no
  breadwinners

10
Absorption policies

• Israel provide housing and education
• -fewer opportunities than most other immigrants
  and Jewish Israelis
• - Israel's political-administrative systems
  influenced absorption Ethiopians to
• a. periphery poorer neighborhoods
• b. weak educational system.
• Key poly party interests especially education

11
Education absorption

• 1. Education key for absorption
• 2 Politics always dominate policies
• 3 Ethnic considerations (Jews) national (arabs)
  always major concerns
• Ethiopians, being black Jews, race
• -1948-53 streams reform of 53
• state secular (80) state religious (10)
  recognized schools (5)

12
1950s 1960s

• 1950s 60s massive immigration
• Ashkenazim Jews from Arab lands
• separate residences Dispersal New towns
• /neighborhood school policy (2 systems)
• arabs, kibbutzim
• Ashkenazim center of country, kibbutzim
• sephardim maabarot development towns moshavim
• each to own schools if same school tracks

13
By 1980s

• overall policy was equality of opportunity since
  60s programs to close gap not succeed.
• 1980s when Ethiopians state religious (mostly
  Sephardim or adot mizrach)
• parents set up NOAM

14
Education policy toward Ethiopian children

• -early 1980s Minister Hammer decision
• state religious first year (forever)
• policy accepted by all
• first time ever not for soviet

15
Why?

• 1. religious values etc not education assimilate
  into religious life (even if not respect)
• 2. political motivation or not (resources)

16
Effects

• 1. Ethiopians weak pupils poor backgrounds,
  illiterate parents who not know new society,
  poverty, single parent families
• 2. place of residence proved to be an important
  variable (handicap) for education neighborhood
  policy
• official policy center but settled in periphery
  and poor neighborhoods in central Israel
• "the economic realities of the country continued
  to favor the "ghettoization" of the Ethiopian
  immigrants"

17
Thus

• --not participate in direct absorption
• --public housing in periphery and poor
  neighborhoods in center
• --convertible absorption centers
• --mortgages
• Meant assigned to schools with poor Jews from
  Arab lands
• Also segregation since few schools

18
moreover

• --state religious lower educational level, lower
  level of teachers, more learning problem pupils
  (2/3 of kids)
• --divergence by area lower level in periphery
• --more complex
• recognized not accept unless convert
• Noam not accept
• Place in weakest schools
• In schools in special classes for years
  (untrained teachers)

19
y

• With Solomon not enforce quotas of 15 or 30
  many schools 60-70 1996-07 60 schools had
  more than 25 Eth in 1997 18 schools above 40
• --overall lack of resources (Russian flood)
• --poverty of Ethiopians books hike 40
• spring 1992 Likud change but not Ministry of
  Education
• June 1992 Rabin government change
• 1993 95 1995 85 1996 76

20
Youth aliya

• To boarding schools of NRP
• Soviets selective
• Why
• 1. moses orphans
• 2. ideology of Youth Aliya better than parents
• 3. Jewish Agency (overseas Diaspora) fund not
  government
• 4. NRP institutions

21
consequences

• 1. Negative low academic level and poor social
  environment
• 2. dead end, non academic vocational programs
• 1990-91 only 13 in academic 1994 40 1996 80
• 3. segregate them 70 1994
• 4. no choice for parents
• change with Rabin
• yet college programs (remedial and army and
  scholarships)

22
conclusion

• educational policies of the Israeli government
  until 1992
• 1. denied Ethiopian children access to better
  educational opportunities
• 2. placed them in an inferior school system
• 3. segregated them.

23
u

• 4. political parties and coalition politics
  dominate government and ministry decision
  ministries compete freedom to use ministry
  Hammer did so then Meretz under Rabin do
  opposite
• 5. ethnicity, class and race remain factors in
  educational policy
• Not race perse but relative political
  importance, influence power of ethnic or racial
  group within Israeli political system

24
1950s 1960s

• Ashkenazim/Sephardim 1990s Russians/Ethiopians
• 1. Then Ashkenazi government sent poorer, less
  educated often darker skinned Jews from Arab
  lands to peripheral communities and placed their
  children in inferior schools.
• Force religious to attend to secular schools
• like Ethiopians too dependent to resist
• 2. Bias also against European immigrants, stigma
  of Holocaust yet in the end
• preferential treatment
• Like us, more human resources, options to go to
  other countries, relatives in the country and
  shared many cultural values with veteran
  Ashkenazi Israelis.

25
1980s repeat

• Soviet and Ethiopian children face lack of
  tolerance and discrimination
• Educational system not receptive
• Policy of assimilation, give up your culture
• Yet experience differ for both groups

26
Russians

• Russains/soviet 1/6 of population
• Students excellent, live all over country,
  parents well educated 90 secular
• Savy leaders Natan Sharansky
• Electoral key 92, 96 municipal and 99

27
They achieve

• mold an initially less than supportive
  educational system on all levels to meet their
  needs.
• -poor teachers
• -inadequate Hebrew instruction
• -weak support
• -matriculation exams in Hebrew
• System adapt
• More multicultural form of assimilation
• Exams in mother toungue

28
Ethiopians

• fewer most in periphery little political clout
  poorer schools kids lack educational experince
  weak parents MK Masala
• lacked political clout and influence to resist
  and bargain with those wielding power.
• became wards of the 'second-rate' state
  educational system of the National Religious
  Party.