Lately it seems every day I read the media, I find something factually incorrect. I'm finally moved to write after I saw TRNN's (The Real News Network's) reporting on Ethiopian Jewish protests in Israel. The video had two main factual errors. As a black Israeli and a doctor, I want to respond:
There are many black populations in Israel. One of the first black populations of Israel was the Afro-Palestinians. They came before the rise of the state, and they are still around both in the old city of Jerusalem (their historic home is the close to the Temple Mount) and throughout the country. During my first Ramadan season in Haifa, I was very happy to eat with such a family in my neighborhood in Haifa. In the south of the country there are black Bedoiuns who were slaves from Sudan many generations ago. The second major group of blacks are the Black Hebrew Israelites, African Americans who migrated to the country in the 1960s. Although many identify as Jews, some do not, as they are adherents to a very particular non-halachically Jewish tradition which includes a vegan diet and afro-centrism. The third major group of black Jews in Israel is the Ethiopian Jews. The next group would be other Africana Jewry. The obvious example would be the lovely family from Ashdod who ended up in the supreme court over their right to stay in the country as conservative movement Jews. Although the family was Jewish, it seems their skin color aroused lots of suspicion. Also in the group of Africana Jews fall groups like the Lemba.
Identity is often mostly imaginary, so drawing a line around who is black in Israel is hard. Some Morrocan of even Yemenite Jews will tell you they are black. The black panthers of Israel represented Mizrachi Jews, and to this day Mizrachi popular culture draws on African diaspora culture.
TRNN went beyond overlooking many populations to distorting reality. Ethiopian women were mistreated when it came to contraception; however they were given depo- not sterilized. Depo is reversible contraception. Sterilization is what happened to many black and hispanic women in the United States through the 1970s. Poor black women in the USA would have their tubes tied so they would never be able to conceive again. Interestingly, I am black, and I had to fight to get on birth control when I was in Israel. One of the main important differences, in my opinion, was language. I spoke in languages the doctors understood. There are not enough Amharic translators in the hospital system. I'm acutely aware of this as a doctor. And as a doctor, I'm often subject to many special 'privledges', including my colleagues questioning whether I should get birth control given that I'm part of the "positive population" as one put it. These words positive population highlight the real essence of the problem. Becuase of the way Ehtiopian Jews were integrated into the Israeli society, they suffer high amounts of poverty and live other poor populations except the Haredim they have been incredibly marginalized. But TRNN further marginalizes blacks by getting our story wrong, and prescribing how we should protest.
Lia Tarachansky reports that there were good and bad elements of the recent protests. She speaks about how supposedly bad it was for Ethiopian Jews to wrap themselves in the flag. Like all Jews Ethiopian Jews are a people of many different opinions and identities: leftist and right wing, gay and straight, femenist and familist, and so on...together Ethiopian Jews are fighting for their rights. I think it is important that the full rainbow of identity is on display; and further those who utilize Zionist symbols point out the obvious. This is supposedly our state too. I see no problems waving an Israeli flag. I'm not trying to be politically avante gaurde...I'm trying to help my community advance.
Thank you for directing me to your blog from TRNN comments section. It would be great if all people being interviewed on news networks were known for being experts in their field and impartial, but I think it's too much to ask! I do believe all networks should seek to invite people who are very knowledgeable and try to show different sides of the story and correct points that need correcting but especially with short interviews that are posted as quick content there's only so much that can be done.
ReplyDeleteAn interview isn't like a fact-checked article, it's closer to a conversation with someone who has certain information or life experience that would be interesting to hear about. My comment comes from me having just about no knowledge about black populations in Israel and I feel like even though there were some factual errors, the interview was short and interesting enough to get me wanting to learn more... It's give and take when trying to get people who have no basic knowledge of a situation some basic knowledge... To try to cover all black populations might get overwhelming.
The part where she puts her own opinion on positive and negative aspects of their protest, I noticed. The biggest problem was the misinformation on the sterilization of women... I was completely shocked when I read that! But depo is not the same so that changes the situation quite a lot. It's not morally right, but the forced delay of families is not the same as sterilization, which prevents them from their rights to have families and also prevents a new generation of people.