'African Americans for Justice in the Middle East & North Africa' condemn rising tide of racism in Israeli society (African Americans for Justice in the Middle East & North Africa, Mondoweiss)

We, the undersigned, condemn in the strongest possible terms recent?racist comments?made by Israel's newly-elected chief Ashkenazi rabbi, David Lau, who referred to African-American basketball players playing in Israel as "kushim," a derogatory term that is akin to "nigger." Rabbi Lau, a government official who is paid by the state and who is scheduled to serve a ten-year term as one of two official chief Israeli rabbis, made the offensive remarks to young Jewish religious students while warning them against watching televised sports like basketball. Following criticism from anti-racism activists, Rabbi Lau was defended?by Natfali Bennett,?Israel's Minister of Religious Services and?leader of the Jewish Home party.

Regrettably, the sentiments expressed by Rabbi Lau reflect a larger problem of racism in Israeli society. In recent years, Israel has witnessed a rising tide of socially acceptable bigotry, particularly against African asylum seekers and Palestinians, fanned by senior?religious?and?political?figures. In June 2012, Israel's then-Interior Minister, Eli Yishai,?declared?that Israel "belongs to us, to the white man," in response to a question about Muslim asylum seekers. The previous month, Israeli politicians, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu?and members of his Likud party, helped incite a wave of violence against Africans after making fear-mongering and incendiary comments about asylum seekers. In one instance, Likud parliamentarian Miri Regev described?African refugees as a "cancer in our body" at a rally in Tel Aviv that degenerated into what local media?described?as a "race riot" in which random individuals of African descent were attacked in the street. Around the same time, a series of?arsons and other?violent attacks?were carried out against Africans in Israel. The situation was so bad that a group of ambassadors from African countries?complained?to Israel's foreign ministry that African diplomats were afraid to walk down the street.

The situation for Palestinians living in Israel and the occupied territories is no better. Those who are citizens of Israel suffer systematic discrimination?as non-Jews living in a self-defined "Jewish state," while those living under Israeli military rule are denied?the most basic of political and civil rights, which are accorded to Jewish settlers living in illegal settlements right next to them, simply because they are not Jewish. Increasingly, the world is?recognizing?the regime that Israel has instituted in the territories that it controls between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea as a form of apartheid.

As African Americans and as citizens of the United States, which provides enormous economic, military, and diplomatic support to the state of Israel, we are appalled by Rabbi Lau's racist statement,?the lack of condemnation from senior Israeli and American officials that it engendered, and by the disturbing growth in openly racist attitudes expressed in Israel against Africans, Palestinians, and others. We call on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Barack Obama, and all peoples of conscience, to condemn Rabbi Lau's comments and the growing culture of intolerance and naked racism in Israeli society that they represent,?and to demand his immediate removal from his position as chief Ashkenazi rabbi. As negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians begin again under the rubric of the US-sponsored peace process, which reportedly includes a demand?supported by the Obama administration that Palestinians officially recognize Israel as a ?Jewish state,? we also urge politicians and all others concerned to acknowledge and address the worsening racism and discrimination suffered by Palestinian and other non-Jewish citizens of Israel. Failure to do so will mean the perpetuation of the injustices done to the Palestinian people, and the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, regardless of the results of any negotiations.?

Signed,

Kali Akuno
Dr. Adisa A. Alkebulan
Carl Bloice
Dr. Eduardo Bonilla-Silva
Rev. Dr. Carolyn Boyd?
Dr. Gloria Brown
Christopher Cathcart
Felicia Eaves
Bill Fletcher, Jr.
Patricia Ford
Dr. Rhone Fraser
Dr. Angela Gilliam
Rev. Graylan Scott Hagler
Dr. Jennifer F. Hamer
Mark Harrison
Dr. James Jennings
Dr. Robin Kelley
Mel King
Rev. Dr. Phil Lawson
Gerald Lenoir
Dr. Charles Pinderhughes
Dr. Russell Rickford
Dr. Lynn Roberts
Jamala Rogers
Roger Toussaint
Dr. Elijah Ward

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