Poverty & Racism in Israel

POVERTY AND WORK ISSUES:

• Workforce participation of Ethiopian men aged 22-64 has fallen substantially in the past 10 years. (Haaretz)
• Haredi women are being trained for work in advertising, a somewhat alien line of work, and it must be done with utmost caution: “it is best that there is no talk of the institute being a place that provides an education.â€? (Haaretz)
• Prof. Menachem Friedman argues for waiving all military requirements for the haredim, saying “If we concede to them completely on military service, many of them will leave the yeshivas and enter the labor force. I’m aware of the intense inequality in this proposal, but it is preferable to the existing situationâ€? (see second part of the article). (Haaretz)
• A Haredi journalist talks about despair and humiliation arising from poverty in the Haredi world. (Ynet)

RACISM AND DISCRIMINATION:

• Haredi schools which don’t accept Sephardic kids seek to counter changes of discrimination by saying that the parents fail “to meet the “spiritual standards” of the school.â€? (Haaretz)
• The State of Israel has a Rabbinical Court system, which for its judges and legal aides, will hire only men. Naama Safrai-Cohen who “has a master’s degree in Hebrew law and possesses extensive knowledge of Jewish fiscal and family lawsâ€? says this is discriminatory, and wants the job openings canceled until this is fixed. (Haaretz)
• In Israel, it can be difficult to fire women who have already become pregnant, so there are increasing reports of women who become fired once the employer learns that she is undergoing fertility treatments. During this time, legal protections do not apply. (The Jerusalem Post)
• Yannick Kamanan, a black soccer player for Herzliya’s team says. “Racist chants would greet me from the direction of the Maccabi stands each time I touched the ball.â€? It’s happened to others too, but he is the one who is complaining. (Ynet)