Isreali Minister Inflames Racial Tensions

Israeli minister inflames racial tensions with attack on 'infiltrators'

Interior minister Eli Yishai uses interview to suggest many African migrants are criminals infected with HIV

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/31/israeli-minister-racial-tensions-infiltrators

Israel interior minister has risked further inflaming public sentiment against African migrants by saying that the area of Tel Aviv in which they are concentrated has become "the country's garbage can" and suggesting many of them are infected with HIV.

Eli Yishai, who said he was speaking out of "love for my country", repeated earlier calls for all migrants to be imprisoned "without exception". His comments, in an interview with Israel's Maariv newspaper to be published on Friday, followed a demonstration in Tel Aviv last week in which migrants were attacked and abused. Eleven youths appeared in courton Thursday accused of racially motivated attacks.

"Southern Tel Aviv has become the country's garbage can," Yishai said. "I'd suggest to all those bleeding hearts who speak out against me to take a few dozen infiltrators and house them in their neighbourhoods. Let them see them every day; let their children try to play in the playgrounds they're in.

"Yesterday, a woman called me. Two Sudanese men chased her in the alleyways of Jerusalem. It could have ended in rape. Did you know that there are a lot of women in Tel Aviv who have been raped but are afraid to complain so that they don't get stigmatised as Aids carriers?"

According to a health ministry spokesman quoted by Maariv, "99.9% of the migrants who come to work in Israel are not infected with any unique disease whatsoever".

Yishai said that "infiltrators", along with Palestinians, were threatening the "Zionist dream". "There isn't another country that is as sensitive as we are to human rights," he said.

He called for more detention centres and camps in which to hold migrants. "We need to transform military bases in which we can imprison all of them without exception." Non-dangerous prisoners could be released early pending deportation to make room for "infiltrators who pose a far greater risk to public safety".


He said the army would be deployed to track down the migrants. "The infiltrators are going to reach the promised land but they aren't going to see it at all, only through bars ... they are going to be deported from here, either pleasantly or forcibly," he said.

He dismissed accusations of racism. "I sound like a racist, a benighted man or a xenophobe, but I'm motivated by love for my country and the knowledge that I don't have another country."

A second member of the government, deputy health minister Yakov Litzman, said Israel was spending more than 50m shekels ($13m) a year on health care for African migrants "at the expense of the weak population". "This must be stopped ... there is no reason for Israelis to pay such a dear price," he said.

Official data presented to a parliamentary committee this week showed the crime rate among foreigners was significantly lower than among Israelis. In southern Tel Aviv, which has become a flashpoint for racial tensions, the percentage of crimes committed by foreigners was 13.5% although they make up 28.5% of the population.

According to the population and immigration ministry, there are 62,000 migrants in Israel, the vast majority from Eritrea and Sudan. It said that 2,031 migrants entered Israel via Egypt this month, compared with 637 last May. The country's population is 7.8m.

Israel granted asylum status to one applicant out of 4,603 applications in 2011, according to the US state department, which last week criticised Israel for its routine use of the term "infiltrators" to describe migrants.

 

An Israeli advocating rounding people up and putting them in camps. Wow! I guess he never heard of irony or bad karma.

 

Oh, ok.

 

conjuring up 'facts' such as African migrants bringing in the AIDs virus by the truckload, sounds like a racist agenda to me. Making claims that women are being raped by Sudanese men, but not reminding people of rape statistics involving non-Africans. That's some bullshit. It's funny tho.....people of African decent were dragged into WW2 to help fight against a man who literally wanted all Jews dead. :smt043

 

Well any possible sympathy I could have had for the Israeli government just pretty much went out the window.
Guess its human nature to let fear and irrational behavior to take root over courage and logic. Smdh

 

they let anyone into politics these days

can you really be that dumb and hold office?

where do i sign up

 

All you need is money, backing, and pandering to the lowest common denominator of the populus. George W Bush anyone?

 

It's been like that for a long, long time.

 

I heard on the BBC last night of a Israeli crowd tried to beat up a African couple and the government deporting Black Christians from South Sudan. Bibi is one sick F*ck.

 

Power hungry and mad. And luckily I'm not saying all this on the Politics GameFAQs forums otherwise this one guy would try and denounce anything negative about Israel and accuse us of being racist. :smt013

 

One Israeli even using "minute men" in shooting Africans like those guys on the US/Mexico boarder.

 

They already do it. And steal people's land and property. I'm not sure what's new here.

 

"He dismissed accusations of racism. "I sound like a racist, a benighted man or a xenophobe, but I'm motivated by love for my country and the knowledge that I don't have another country."

He doesn't sound any different than the white supremacists or neo-nazis we have in the States. "I'm not a racist. I don't hate anyone. We just love our white race and want to look out for it."

 

Most bigots tend to lean on nationalism to explain their bigotry; its gone of for centuries.

 

Actually, he sounds more like these two.

The funny thing is that Jews/Isreali's are saying the world is forgetting about the Holocaust, but it's them that are forgetting.



I wonder what white supremists group think about what is going on in Isreal on this issue? Do they support it or do they not care?

 

My sentiments exactly. And many of the progressive Jewish-American (those of Israeli or Hebrew descent) tend to agree with that. Either that or feel highly distant from the country they once knew.

 

Israel has been taking advantage of the United States FOREVER. I'm with you that I have little respect/sympathy for that country.

 

Israel says "jump", our politicians run to the nearest airport, hop on a plane and ask "Would you prefer 8000 or 10000 feet?"