[Tailz]

I wrote a while ago, that in order to maintain the Jewish majority of the Jewish State of Israel - some rather disterbing policies will slowly come into effect. Not all at once, but, little by little, and that no one would see it, till it is too late. Then I saw this article and it reminded me of what I had written years ago...

Israel's Ethiopians suffer different 'planned' parenthood
The revelation that Israel is sterilizing Ethiopian women adds to a shameful history of abuse of powerless women and communities.

It's hard to believe, but in Israel, in 2012, Ethiopian women are forced to receive injections of the Depo-Provera contraceptive. This injection is not a commonly prescribed means of contraception. It is considered a last resort and is usually given to women who are institutionalized or developmentally disabled. Yet according to an investigation recently aired on the “Vacuum” documentary series hosted by Gal Gabay and shown on Israeli Educational Television, it is also given to many new immigrants from Ethiopia.

This is not the first or only case where the state has interfered in the lives of people who have limited means of resistance. And as in other cases, the system that carried out this policy is extremely sophisticated, so it is hard to find a specific person who is responsible or a signed and written order. But the televised investigation, conducted with researcher Sava Reuven, found that more than 40 women have received the shot.

Depo-Provera has a shameful history. According to a report by the Isha L'Isha organization, the injections were given to women between 1967 and 1978 as part of an experiment that took place in the U.S. state of Georgia on 13,000 impoverished women, half of whom were black. Many of them were unaware that the injections were part of an experiment being conducted on their bodies. Some of the women became sick and a few even died during the experiment.

There are many examples across the world of efforts to reduce birthrates among disadvantaged populations that lack the resources and the capability to resist. During the 1960s, the U.S. was concerned by the increase of the population in Puerto Rico. In 1965, it was reported that 34 percent of Puerto Rican mothers aged 20 to 49 had been sterilized.

The injections given to Ethiopian women are part and parcel of the overall Israeli attitude toward this group of immigrants. During the 1980s and 1990s, thousands of Ethiopian Jews spent months or years in transit camps in Ethiopia and Sudan. Hundreds died en route to Israel simply because a country that is supposed to be a safe haven for Jews decided the time wasn’t right, they couldn’t all be absorbed together or they weren’t Jewish enough – who had heard of black Jews?

In transit camps today, future immigrants enter a horrifying bureaucratic entanglement, which gives them the burden of proving they are worthy of arriving in Israel. As in the past, those who arrive here are not quickly released from the grasp of state institutions. They continue to receive “treatment” in absorption centers, where the children are sent to religious boarding schools and included in special education frameworks, while the parents stay in ghettos and the women continue to receive injections. We are told there is no choice. The repressive, racist and paternalistic policies continue unhindered – policies that are supposedly in the best interests of the immigrants, who don’t know what is best for them.

This policy of total control over their lives, which starts while they are still in Ethiopia, is unique to immigrants from that country and does not allow them to adjust to Israel. Using the excuse that they need to be prepared for a modern country, they are brainwashed and made to remain dependent on the state absorption institutions.

The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee said the claims the women made in the investigation were nonsense. This reminded me of some other women who spoke nonsense, such as the mothers of the kidnapped Yemenite children or the Moroccan women who underwent “treatment” for ringworm. To this day, their words are dismissed as nonsense. If they tried to sterilize me or take my children away, I think I would be talking nonsense too.

The writer is a group instructor for women of Ethiopian origin on behalf of the Achoti – Women in Israel organization and served as a spokeswoman for the Israel Association for Ethiopian Jews.

Contraceptive injections, religious re-education, on people, deemed to be, not Jewish enough?

[wat0n]

Was this part of an actual policy? I suppose these 40 cases are only the known ones so far, so how many other women were injected with this contraception?

I'm asking because the article's author mentions the Ringworm Affair, yet as the link shows it seems the use of X-ray treatment was pretty much the protocol back in the 1950s.

[Decky]

No surprise there, after all the whole point of Israel was having enough living space for the master race.

Don't worry guys the US will take you side as it always does. Keep on trucking.

[wat0n]

No surprise there, after all the whole point of Israel was having enough living space for the master race.

Don't worry guys the US will take you side as it always does. Keep on trucking.

That doesn't make much sense to me. I mean, why would Israel let those Ethiopian women immigrate under the Law of Return if it doesn't want them? And if they are considered to be Jews, why would Israel sterilize them?

These questions are also directed to Tailz, since he's the one who started this thread with an incoherent conspiracy theory.

[Moshe]

Indeed, the ethiopian jews and all Jews in Israel contribute to maintaining a Jewish majority in Israel. Israel recognises the falasha Jews as Jews, which is why they went to a great deal of trouble to help them escape ethiopia and immigrate to Israel in the first place.
Israel will always have a jewish majority- it is a jewish country

[Rich]

If Jewish nationalists are entitled to a Jewish state, are Gentile nationalists entitled to a Gentile state?

Disclaimer I'm not a nationalist of any sort, and certainly no fan of terrorist bully boy vermin like Hamas, I just ask because there seems to be some kind of inconsistency going on here. Even if just start to mention that people of Jewish decent seem to have an outsized dominance and influence in western countries and people start screaming anti Semite at you.

[Maas]

Indeed, the ethiopian jews and all Jews in Israel contribute to maintaining a Jewish majority in Israel. Israel recognises the falasha Jews as Jews

That is saying how things should be, but now how things are.

I recall a poll that showed a whopping big % of Israeli Jews being exceptionally racist towards Arabs.
I recall Israeli Jews being openly violent against coloured people when they protested against African asylum seekers.

It seriously is not hard to connect this dotted line.

[Tailz]

Was this part of an actual policy?

You tell me Wat0n, or are you going to make up some story that immigration organs run by the state don't run under state policy?

I suppose these 40 cases are only the known ones so far, so how many other women were injected with this contraception?

We can only go by what is in the article. But as you mentioned, this only what is known so far. I doubt anyone involved, apart from victims, will come forwards with evidence that would incriminate themselves in association with such a policy. While the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee is already saying the investigation is nonsense, which is understandable if there were just trying to cover their own back side. Don't you think?

I'm asking because the article's author mentions the Ringworm Affair, yet as the link shows it seems the use of X-ray treatment was pretty much the protocol back in the 1950s.

The ring worm affair was referenced as a means of comparison, since the victims of that affair are dismissed as nonsense also.

That doesn't make much sense to me. I mean, why would Israel let those Ethiopian women immigrate under the Law of Return if it doesn't want them? And if they are considered to be Jews, why would Israel sterilize them?

Because they are considered to be Jews by many, but not Jewish enough by many others. Thus the mixed approach, and the reception Black Jews experience in Israel presently, discrimination that has resulted in harassment, arson, to outright physical attacks.

These questions are also directed to Tailz, since he's the one who started this thread with an incoherent conspiracy theory.

What conspiracy theory, if you set out to found and then maintain an exclusive ethno-religious population for a state, then you have to engage in a degree of discrimination and racism in order to maintain it. This is just a symptom of that desire when it comes to people who are deemed to be, not Jewish enough.

[wat0n]

You tell me Wat0n, or are you going to make up some story that immigration organs run by the state don't run under state policy?

I think you know I'm talking about the sterilization of these people.

We can only go by what is in the article. But as you mentioned, this only what is known so far. I doubt anyone involved, apart from victims, will come forwards with evidence that would incriminate themselves in association with such a policy. While the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee is already saying the investigation is nonsense, which is understandable if there were just trying to cover their own back side. Don't you think?

Maybe, or maybe someone is trying to cover his own ass for doing things that violate Israeli policies.

The ring worm affair was referenced as a means of comparison, since the victims of that affair are dismissed as nonsense also.

The conspiracy theories regarding some alleged targeting of Moroccan Jews certainly was nonsense. I mean, did you even read the article I linked? It was the usual thing to do back then, it was done to Ashkenazi Jews in Israel too, it was recommended by the UN and it was done in other countries as well. That means, then, that it was a health policy mistake.

Because they are considered to be Jews by many, but not Jewish enough by many others. Thus the mixed approach, and the reception Black Jews experience in Israel presently, discrimination that has resulted in harassment, arson, to outright physical attacks.

But they are considered to be Jewish by the State, which is why they were allowed in via the Law of Return to begin with! What you're saying would suggest, then, that this wasn't part of a state policy but was the ultra vires doing of some official who doesn't like Ethiopians and/or who was payed by someone to do so.

What conspiracy theory, it is a reality, if you set out to found and then maintain an exclusive ethno-religious population for a state, then you have to engage in a degree of discrimination and racism in order to maintain it. This is just a symptom of that desire when it comes to people who are deemed to be, not Jewish enough.

No, it is a conspiracy theory as you're alleging Israel has a policy to that effect that contradicts the past behavior of Israel and common sense (if you're right then why did the Israelis let them immigrate in the first place?) and you have no hard evidence (like internal documents) to base this on.

[Tailz]

I think you know I'm talking about the sterilization of these people.

So am I, since the sterilization was done as a part of the running of those very immigration organs.

Maybe, or maybe someone is trying to cover his own ass for doing things that violate Israeli policies.

We shall have to wait and see what is uncovered.

The conspiracy theories regarding some alleged targeting of Moroccan Jews certainly was nonsense. I mean, did you even read the article I linked? It was the usual thing to do back then, it was done to Ashkenazi Jews in Israel too, it was recommended by the UN and it was done in other countries as well. That means, then, that it was a health policy mistake.

Indeed, but why then a case of discrimination? It would not be the first time that a standard medical procedure is used in order for a known detrimental side effect to be the actual application. In order for the ring worm fiasco to be controversial, something else other than the procedure would have to have been in the analysis. But as was also written in that Wiki article, information is still only now being uncovered - eg: cover up.

But they are considered to be Jewish by the State, which is why they were allowed in via the Law of Return to begin with! What you're saying would suggest, then, that this wasn't part of a state policy but was the ultra vires doing of some official who doesn't like Ethiopians and/or who was payed by someone to do so.

Yet the state took its time bringing the Ethiopian Jews into the state didn't it. Thousands died waiting to get into Israel, the safe haven of the Jews, while their Jewishness was tested (black Jews, who ever heard of that!). Then when they arrive, women are undergo sterilization, they spend years in camps (where more die), their children undergo religious indoctrination... not really a good record from a state that prides itself on being so open and welcoming to the Jewish population of the world. Were Jewish immigrants from Russia, Europe, America, or elsewhere treated as such?

The comment: Black Jews, who ever heard of that. Was sarcasm.

No, it is a conspiracy theory as you're alleging Israel has a policy to that effect that contradicts the past behavior of Israel and common sense (if you're right then why did the Israelis let them immigrate in the first place?) and you have no hard evidence (like internal documents) to base this on.

As i wrote above, they let them in because they are Jewish, but treated them differently because they were not considered Jewish enough. Even now black Jews are treated poorly in Israel.

[wat0n]

So am I, since the sterilization was done as a part of the running of those very immigration organs.

And maybe it was done in contravention of the policy of their bosses, you know.

We shall have to wait and see what is uncovered.

Indeed.

Indeed, but why then a case of discrimination? It would not be the first time that a standard medical procedure is used in order for a known detrimental side effect to be the actual application. In order for the ring worm fiasco to be controversial, something else other than the procedure would have to have been in the analysis. But as was also written in that Wiki article, information is still only now being uncovered - eg: cover up.

But it wasn't known back then! The first Israeli study on the effects of this treatment was published in 1974. Not only that, but as clearly stated in the article:

Many of the accusations surrounding ringworm treatment in Israel were the product of an incomplete narrative that skewed reality: Both the Mizrachi community and the medical community were unaware of two key factors:

. The broader international context of the Israeli eradication program : at the time, this form of treatment was an accepted treatment method, considered safe (as was x-raying children's feet in shoe stores at the time) and was employed elsewhere in the world – from Syria and Yugoslavia, to New York/California, Portugal and Sweden.[13][14][15] In fact, irradiation was the recommended protocol at the time and was partially underwritten by UNICEF.[16][17]
. The broader Jewish context: this form of mass treatment with irradiation had previously been used elsewhere in the Jewish world, in mass treatment of Ashkenazi children in Eastern Europe on a much larger scale, and among Jewish (and non-Jewish) immigrants to the United States.[18]

Research in the first decade of the 21st Century casts the Israeli ringworm narrative in an entirely new context. It was the product of research conducted by medical historian Professor Shifra Shvarts;[19]

Shvarts followed a handful of parenthetical references in Israeli primary documents to international organizations, uncovering a wealth of archival material in Hadassah archives, at United Nations archives and subsequently in the archives of a growing list of countries that reveal mass treatment of ringworm in Israel was founded on treatment protocols designed and administered decades earlier: Between the years 1921–1938, there was a campaign among Jews in Eastern Europe (e.g. among Ashkenazi Jews) in the course of which some 27,000 East European children were irradiated in an identical fashion – in part to allow their families to emigrate, since ringworm was grounds for exclusion in the United States and elsewhere.[18]

The campaign carried out on Mizrachi children from the Mediterranean region was based on this European campaign. The organizers were convinced that the European campaign had been crowned with success in treating ringworm and therefore they sought to enable the Jews of Morocco to benefit from the same. Since most of the Jewish children who had been irradiated in Eastern Europe perished in the Holocaust, there was no way of knowing the ramifications of such treatment

A key figure in formulation and organization of the ringworm campaign among the Jewish community in North Africa was Professor Moshe Prywes who would later become president of Ben-Gurion University and the founding dean of BGU's Medical School. Prywes traveled to North Africa in 1947 and following his findings there, formulated a comprehensive program for eradicating contagious diseases among those planning to immigrate to Israel. The program was called T.T.T., for the three leading diseases the program would address: Tinea (Ringworm), Trachoma and Tuberculosis.[20]

Parallel to irradiation for ringworm carried out during the 1950s in the State of Israel, irradiation for ringworm was also carried out among thousands of Yugoslavian children (some 50,000), in Portugal (30,000) and Syria (7,000).[21] [22]

The primary agent behind these ringworm eradication operations was UNICEF,[17] which even assisted in the purchase of x-ray machines for this purpose. It even supplied the two x-ray machines that operated in the immigrant intake and processing facility for immigrants in Israel – Shaar Haaliyah south of Haifa. With the discovery of the drug griseofulvin for treating ringworm, UNICEF, as part of its policy devoted to eradicating contagious diseases among mothers and children, began funding the supply of the drug to all countries with a high incidence of ringworm.

Yet the state took its time bringing the Ethiopian Jews into the state didn't it. Thousands died waiting to get into Israel, the safe haven of the Jews, while their Jewishness was tested (black Jews, who ever heard of that!). Then when they arrive, women are undergo sterilization, they spend years in camps (where more die), their children undergo religious indoctrination... not really a good record from a state that prides itself on being so open and welcoming to the Jewish population of the world. Were Jewish immigrants from Russia, Europe, America, or elsewhere treated as such?

The comment: Black Jews, who ever heard of that. Was sarcasm.

I hope you're trolling, I know you're smarter than that.

But OK, I'll play along and say that it wasn't easy for Israel to absorb these immigrants in the main migratory waves as they were rescued from war and famine in Africa at the time [1][2]. Furthermore, they also had some serious deficiencies as they lived in a subsistence economy prior to immigrating and this has effects up to this day.

And since you now claim sterilization was a policy, then please provide evidence that Ethiopian women were sterilized in the main migratory waves in the '80s and '90s.

As i wrote above, they let them in because they are Jewish, but treated them differently because they were not considered Jewish enough. Even now black Jews are treated poorly in Israel.

If they are not considered to be Jewish enough, they wouldn't let them in to begin with.

[danholo]

So what's up with all the young Black Jews in Israel? Artificial wombs?

[Tailz]

So what's up with all the young Black Jews in Israel? Artificial wombs?

What kind of a statement is that? Are you trying to say that since there are still Black Jewish women having children, therefore nothing fishy happened?

[wat0n]

Probably his point is that if these sterlizations were done as a matter of State policy then their birthrate should be much lower as they'd be widespread among their population.

[Tailz]

And maybe it was done in contravention of the policy of their bosses, you know.

This is certainly a possibility that should not be ruled out.

But it wasn't known back then! The first Israeli study on the effects of this treatment was published in 1974. Not only that, but as clearly stated in the article:

Quote: Many of the accusations surrounding ringworm treatment in Israel were the product of an incomplete narrative that skewed reality: Both the Mizrachi community and the medical community were unaware of two key factors:

. The broader international context of the Israeli eradication program : at the time, this form of treatment was an accepted treatment method, considered safe (as was x-raying children's feet in shoe stores at the time) and was employed elsewhere in the world – from Syria and Yugoslavia, to New York/California, Portugal and Sweden.[13][14][15] In fact, irradiation was the recommended protocol at the time and was partially underwritten by UNICEF.[16][17]
. The broader Jewish context: this form of mass treatment with irradiation had previously been used elsewhere in the Jewish world, in mass treatment of Ashkenazi children in Eastern Europe on a much larger scale, and among Jewish (and non-Jewish) immigrants to the United States.[18]

Quote: Research in the first decade of the 21st Century casts the Israeli ringworm narrative in an entirely new context. It was the product of research conducted by medical historian Professor Shifra Shvarts;[19]

Shvarts followed a handful of parenthetical references in Israeli primary documents to international organizations, uncovering a wealth of archival material in Hadassah archives, at United Nations archives and subsequently in the archives of a growing list of countries that reveal mass treatment of ringworm in Israel was founded on treatment protocols designed and administered decades earlier: Between the years 1921–1938, there was a campaign among Jews in Eastern Europe (e.g. among Ashkenazi Jews) in the course of which some 27,000 East European children were irradiated in an identical fashion – in part to allow their families to emigrate, since ringworm was grounds for exclusion in the United States and elsewhere.[18]

The campaign carried out on Mizrachi children from the Mediterranean region was based on this European campaign. The organizers were convinced that the European campaign had been crowned with success in treating ringworm and therefore they sought to enable the Jews of Morocco to benefit from the same. Since most of the Jewish children who had been irradiated in Eastern Europe perished in the Holocaust, there was no way of knowing the ramifications of such treatment

A key figure in formulation and organization of the ringworm campaign among the Jewish community in North Africa was Professor Moshe Prywes who would later become president of Ben-Gurion University and the founding dean of BGU's Medical School. Prywes traveled to North Africa in 1947 and following his findings there, formulated a comprehensive program for eradicating contagious diseases among those planning to immigrate to Israel. The program was called T.T.T., for the three leading diseases the program would address: Tinea (Ringworm), Trachoma and Tuberculosis.[20]

Parallel to irradiation for ringworm carried out during the 1950s in the State of Israel, irradiation for ringworm was also carried out among thousands of Yugoslavian children (some 50,000), in Portugal (30,000) and Syria (7,000).[21] [22]

The primary agent behind these ringworm eradication operations was UNICEF,[17] which even assisted in the purchase of x-ray machines for this purpose. It even supplied the two x-ray machines that operated in the immigrant intake and processing facility for immigrants in Israel – Shaar Haaliyah south of Haifa. With the discovery of the drug griseofulvin for treating ringworm, UNICEF, as part of its policy devoted to eradicating contagious diseases among mothers and children, began funding the supply of the drug to all countries with a high incidence of ringworm.

Your burning down a strawman wat0n. I didn't contest the nature of the Ring Worm affair - I only pointed out that details are still being uncovered which leads to accusations of a cover up. Which given what the treatment does, and that people have died as a result of, it is easy to see why people would want to cover up their involvement - regardless of their intention (good or ill).

I hope you're trolling, I know you're smarter than that.

But OK, I'll play along and say that it wasn't easy for Israel to absorb these immigrants in the main migratory waves as they were rescued from war and famine in Africa at the time [1][2]. Furthermore, they also had some serious deficiencies as they lived in a subsistence economy prior to immigrating and this has effects up to this day.

And since you now claim sterilization was a policy, then please provide evidence that Ethiopian women were sterilized in the main migratory waves in the '80s and '90s.

No I am not claiming sterilization is policy, Gal Gabay of Israeli Educational Television is, based on findings by researcher Sava Reuven.

If they are not considered to be Jewish enough, they wouldn't let them in to begin with.

Or they would faf about like they have done so, can you really say the Ethiopian Jews have received as good a treatment as Birthright Jews from Europe doing the same thing, moving to Israel because their Jewish? Should their treatment, have not been equal to the same detail of diligent care? More in fact given the situation they have come from? Yet they were delayed, hindered, their identity was questioned, then when they arrived they were re-educated to bring them up to the Jewish standard (heck there have even been news articles about Ethiopian Jewish religious leaders having to give away their Ethiopian brand of Judaism and adopted the Israeli version of Judaism), stuck in camps, and then when introduced to the community, they are spurned by that very community.

[wat0n]

Your burning down a strawman wat0n. I didn't contest the nature of the Ring Worm affair - I only pointed out that details are still being uncovered which leads to accusations of a cover up. Which given what the treatment does, and that people have died as a result of, it is easy to see why people would want to cover up their involvement - regardless of their intention (good or ill).

OK, that makes more sense though I don't see where this cover up is. I mean, the Israelis even passed a law to compensate those affected negatively by this treatment. Are new details arising due to a cover-up or simply because no one had bothered to dig deeper on the documents dealing with this issue? Particularly the use of radiation to treat ringworm in the 30s or UNESCO's documents from the 50s.

No I am not claiming sterilization is policy, Gal Gabay of Israeli Educational Television is, based on findings by researcher Sava Reuven.

In light of the information available in this thread and my arguments in this debate so far, do you think it makes sense for this to be the case?

Or they would faf about like they have done so, can you really say the Ethiopian Jews have received as good a treatment as Birthright Jews from Europe doing the same thing, moving to Israel because their Jewish? Should their treatment, have not been equal to the same detail of diligent care? More in fact given the situation they have come from? Yet they were delayed, hindered, their identity was questioned, then when they arrived they were re-educated to bring them up to the Jewish standard (heck there have even been news articles about Ethiopian Jewish religious leaders having to give away their Ethiopian brand of Judaism and adopted the Israeli version of Judaism), stuck in camps, and then when introduced to the community, they are spurned by that very community.

Well Tailz, the problem was actually that the Israelis treated them as if they were Europeans, and with European levels of education (literacy in particular). This means then that they didn't address many of the deficiencies that usually come along with living in a subsistence economy in subsaharan Africa (e.g. literacy), a problem that was compounded by the rise of our contemporary knowledge economy, because the Israelis didn't have any experience with these kind of issues (even Jews from poor Middle Eastern regions had iit better than the Ethiopians). My understanding is that these deficiencies are so bad that the Israelis gave up on closing them completely as this wouldn't happen in the immigrants' lifetimes and opted to give some training to adult first generation immigrants so they can get a job (no matter how bad) and opted to dedicate to closing the gaps between their kids/first generation immigrants who arrived as children and Israeli-born Israelis through education so the gaps between Ethiopians and the rest of the population would close over time.

[wat0n]

Delete.

[Moshe]

If Jewish nationalists are entitled to a Jewish state, are Gentile nationalists entitled to a Gentile state?

Disclaimer I'm not a nationalist of any sort, and certainly no fan of terrorist bully boy vermin like Hamas, I just ask because there seems to be some kind of inconsistency going on here. Even if just start to mention that people of Jewish decent seem to have an outsized dominance and influence in western countries and people start screaming anti Semite at you.

Rich, a Gentile is anyone who is not Jewish. The Hebrew word for gentiles is "Goyim", which means "Nations". All States apart from Israel are Gentile States

[Tailz]

Two news articles stuck out to me on this subject mater. One relating to the immigration of Jewish Indians. They were accepted as a lost Jewish tribe, but then had visa's refused, only to be accepted just recently.

The next is an article about the manipulation of the Druze community, dividing/alienating it from the Arab community and towards the Jewish community - which given the conflict and its furthered implications.

Indian Jews from 'lost tribe' of Bnei Menashe arrive in Israel
An Israeli chief rabbi recognized them as a lost tribe in 2005 and about 1,700 moved to Israel before the government stopped giving them visas; now that Israel has reversed that policy, 7,200 more are expected to immigrate.

Dozens more Jews who are believed to be the descendants of a lost biblical Jewish tribe immigrated to Israel on Monday from their village in northeastern India.

The Bnei Menashe say they are descended from Jews banished from ancient Israel to India in the eighth century B.C. An Israeli chief rabbi recognized them as a lost tribe in 2005 and about 1,700 moved to Israel before the government stopped giving them visas.

Israel recently reversed that policy, agreeing to let the remaining 7,200 Bnei Menashe immigrate. Fifty-three arrived on Monday.

Nearly 300 more members of the community will arrive in the coming weeks, said Michael Freund, of the non-profit organization Shavei Israel, and an activist on their behalf.

The community, which lives in India's northeastern border states of Manipur and Mizoram have been practicing Judaism just as their ancestors did, including observing the Sabbath, keeping kosher, celebrating the festivals and following the laws of family purity.

"After waiting for thousands of years, our dream came true," said 26-year-old Lhing Lenchonz, who arrived with her husband and 8-month-old daughter.

Arabic textbooks crafted to disconnect Druze from Arab community, scholar claims
Study says disconnection done by filtering out Arab nationalist writers and works that relate to a broader Arab literary context.

Arabic language studies for Druze schoolchildren are being used to deepen a sense of Druze identity as separate from the Arab community, a new study claims, by filtering out Arab nationalist writers and works that relate to a broader Arab literary context.

Van Leer Institute scholar Dr. Yusri Khaizran said his study also shows that the Arabic language curriculum makes use of hidden messages and "disproportionately" magnifies the importance of Druze writers to Arabic literature in general. According to Khaizran, this is done to foster a separate Druze identity and instill a primeval fear of the Arab world.

Khaizran, who is Druze, found that no literary texts used in Druze junior and senior high schools emphasize the link between the Druze, Arab identity and Islam. Instead, texts chosen for study are those that "are channeled again and again into strengthening the narrow ethnic consciousness," he said.

Also missing from the syllabus, the study said, are works by writers and poets known for their anti-establishment or revolutionary attitudes, as well as works by Palestinian writers such as Mahmoud Darwish, Emil Habibi and Ghassan Kanafani.

Of all the works of Samih al-Qasim, a well-known contemporary Druze poet who lives in Haifa, only one is studied, according to Khaizran. "Not surprisingly, this is a poem lacking any ideological significance or national-political connection between the Druze and the Arab mother-community, while poems overflowing with revolutionary national discourse get no attention at all."

Arabic language textbooks for Druze junior and senior high schools also contain no works relating to the Arabic literary renaissance of the 19th century. "It seems that those responsible for Druze education did not want texts that are connected, even on the most basic level, to the cultural or national revival of the Arabs in the modern era," Khaizran said.

As an example of a hidden message designed to inculcate a Druze identity separate from the Arab world, Khaizran pointed to religious texts in the textbook used by Druze ninth-graders. The only selection from the Biblical prophets is the advice given to Moses by Jethro, who is a major prophet in the Druze faith. Khaizran said this was done to stress the idea that the historical alliance between Jews and the Druze community is 3,000 years old rather than recent.

"It is not for nothing that the writers [of the textbook] used the Biblical name for the Druze prophet, Jethro, and not Shu'eib," he said, referring to Jethro's Arabic name. "Because the latter is mentioned in the Koran, and therefore to mention it would bring up an association to Arab identity or to the historical sources of Druze doctrine, which are embedded deeply in the Islamic culture of the Middle Ages."

Khaizran charged that the Arabic language curriculum for Druze schools "knowingly ignores the deep dialectic between language and identity, perhaps because the Education Ministry's staff knows that the rebirth of the Hebrew language was the first step of the revival of the nation, and thus there was an attempt to disconnect the Arab language from any national thought."

Now to reply to some comments...

In light of the information available in this thread and my arguments in this debate so far, do you think it makes sense for this to be the case?

In the light that this act was performed as a procedure particular to Ethiopian Jews, as compared to Jews from other places about the world. You tell me? Unless other immigrating Jews were under the same set of parameters and treatment? Perhaps the Jews from India that are about to immigrate will also end up in camps with women being given birth control drugs with children having to undergo re-education for Judaic doctrine?

Well Tailz, the problem was actually that the Israelis treated them as if they were Europeans, and with European levels of education (literacy in particular). This means then that they didn't address many of the deficiencies that usually come along with living in a subsistence economy in subsaharan Africa (e.g. literacy), a problem that was compounded by the rise of our contemporary knowledge economy, because the Israelis didn't have any experience with these kind of issues (even Jews from poor Middle Eastern regions had iit better than the Ethiopians). My understanding is that these deficiencies are so bad that the Israelis gave up on closing them completely as this wouldn't happen in the immigrants' lifetimes and opted to give some training to adult first generation immigrants so they can get a job (no matter how bad) and opted to dedicate to closing the gaps between their kids/first generation immigrants who arrived as children and Israeli-born Israelis through education so the gaps between Ethiopians and the rest of the population would close over time.

The Israeli's treated them as if they were Europeans? So European Jews are put in transit camps, given birth control, and re-education?

[wat0n]

In the light that this act was performed as a procedure particular to Ethiopian Jews, as compared to Jews from other places about the world. You tell me? Unless other immigrating Jews were under the same set of parameters and treatment? Perhaps the Jews from India that are about to immigrate will also end up in camps with women being given birth control drugs with children having to undergo re-education for Judaic doctrine?

Nice way of ignoring my arguments. What about you address them and explain to us why would Israel allow them in if it doesn't even want them? Why, if sterilization was a state policy, isn't the birthrate among Ethiopians lower?

The Israeli's treated them as if they were Europeans?

For the purposes of absorption, yes.

So European Jews are put in transit camps,

Were they rescued in the same way Ethiopian Jews were?

given birth control,

Circular reasoning: You haven't proven the case in the OP was part of a state policy.

and re-education?

As a matter of fact, yes, both received reeducation in the absorption process. In fact, they received exactly the same one, which was a mistake as it didn't adequately address the needs of Ethiopian immigrants.