In a piece for Ebony, Jamila Aisha Brown explores how anti-African sentiment and legislation have increased in Israel's major cities. She also draws comparisons to American attitudes and policies.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, standing in accord with the anti-African sentiments of his fellow right wing constituents, publicly denounced undocumented migrants as "infiltrators" calling for the swift deportation of 25,000.
In a move that rivals Arizona's SB1070, last week, an Israeli court ruled to expel 1,500 South Sudanese under the premise they are no longer at risk in their homeland.
The court's ruling accompanies a series of raids in the southern city of Eilat and parts of central Israel. Averaging arrests of one hundred suspected undocumented Africans since the sweeps began, government and immigration officials are simultaneously pushing for penalties against Israelis who employ African workers even though contractors heavily rely on their cheap labor.
Interior Minister Eli Yishai claims the raids and forced deportations are only the beginning. As he described in Israel HaYom's publication, the Israeli state is only permitted to expel "infiltrators" originating from South Sudan and Ivory Coast now but its next phase is to mark immigrants from Eritrea and Sudan for deportation.
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Read Jamila Aisha Brown's entire piece at Ebony.
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