Camilla Schickova

Noam Shalit, father of Gilad, with MK Shlomo Molla and protest leader Alemitu Ferede at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem.

Protesters, Ethiopian rabbis, and lawyers gathered at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem at the start of this week to appeal for an extension allowing their protest tent to remain outside the Prime Minister’s house until June.

Around six Israelis protesting against racism and discrimination have remained camped at the junction of Balfour and Derech Gaza streets in Israel’s capital since a large anti-racism rally of Ethiopian and non-Ethiopian citizens marched in the streets in January.

A lawyer representing the Jerusalem Municipality argued to Supreme Court Justice Zvi Zilbertal on Sunday that the law only allows these kinds of protest camps to stay erected in the area for three days maximum, and that it risks encouraging ‘trouble-making’ (an accusation which prompted gasps from supporters in the courtroom).

The judge then asked why the municipality had allowed ‘white’ demonstrators to camp there in the past. Indeed the main controversy boosting the lawyers defending the Ethiopian protesters is that the famous Gilad Shalit tent was pitched at the same spot for up to four years until his release in a controversial prisoners swap between Israel and Hamas last year.

The municipality lawyer countered that the tent for Gilad had been a “special case for the nation,” and that it was not likely to be allowed again.

Despite this, Noam Shalit, father of Gilad, was present in the courtroom to show his support for the Ethiopians, along with MK Shlomo Molla of the Kadima party and chief Ethiopian rabbi Semai Elias.

Lawyers defending the protesters then argued the problem of racism against Ethiopian Jews, of which there are 140,000 now in Israel, is as much a national issue as Gilad’s ordeal had been. This is a protest representing the “pain of the people,” not a private affair, one defence lawyer said, and it is inspirational to see young people taking the initiative to make themselves visible in knowing that the PM’s opinion needs to be gauged for political change to occur.

The protest tent is already having a positive political effect. Thirty-year-old protest leader Alemitu Ferede says they have already had several meetings with PM Netanyahu to discuss anti-discrimination policies, which she argues they would likely not have secured had the tent not been a deliberate eyesore for the public and tourists outside PM Netanyahu’s house.

Things are particularly coming to a head now because the first generation of Ethiopians to be born as Israelis, since the first immigrants arrived thirty years ago, are reaching the age where they are getting married and divorced – the life processes which require a rabbi. However, Ethiopian rabbis are not actually recognized as ‘Jewish enough’ by Israel’s state rabbinate, the lawyer argued. Even if we forget skin colour, Ethiopians are considered half Jews in a lot of places. This is a new kind of racism, with “a whole generation being raised into it, and we’re not doing anything to stop it,” the lawyer stressed.

So, contrary to the municipality’s argument, allowing young Ethiopians to demonstrate peacefully ought to ease tensions and decrease the risk of so-called trouble-making or violent protests. The protesters’ lawyers therefore asked the Supreme Court to give the camp sufficient time, until June, in order for a significant political difference to be made.

The appeal ended with the Judge granting the protesters and municipality a further ten days of negotiations ahead of Israel’s Memorial Day next week. Chief Ethiopian Rabbi Semai Elias said afterwards that there had been “no results” from the appeal, and MK Molla stressed he would like to see positive long-term changes within the justice system towards protecting Ethiopians from discrimination. Protesters said there will likely be another rally very soon in response.