We've all heard about the demonstration by the Ethiopian community that decided to say enough. Enough of the humiliating treatment that has lasted for almost 30 years.
They work in "black" jobs, while the Israeli government's senior officials' 'excuse' for this humiliating treatment is that they lack education (since they did not study in Ethiopia).
Why an excuse? Because you were supposed to take care of them in absorption and you failed.
As a member of the Haredi sector - the most hated in Israel, I identify with you very much, understand your problem and I have a message for you: don't give up.
Don't let them treat you with violence, racism, and slander. Stand up for yourself. But with respect, not violence.
And back to our sector. I would like to turn from here to my Haredi brothers and ask: Don't you think it's time to say enough? Enough of racism, enough of slander in the 24/7 media where everything is tied to the Haredi issue?
Isn't it time to say enough about our exclusion from the "pluralistic" (alek) neighborhoods in Jerusalem (and the country in general)?
Kiryat Yuval as a parable
In the Kiryat Yovel neighborhood, young children study in substandard conditions in moss-covered shelters in airless warehouses.
There are perhaps 4 such kindergartens in the neighborhood. And where do the other children study? Anyone who wants to live in Kiryat Yovel knows that there are 17 additional kindergartens that are intended for the Haredi residents of the neighborhood, but are located in Beit Vegan (imagine the number of Haredi residents of Kiryat Yovel based on the number of kindergartens).
And why are there no kindergartens in Kiryat Yuval? Because Nir Barkat decided that the secular character of Jerusalem should be preserved, and therefore "Haredim are not here.".
Rachel Azaria (formerly an MK from Kahlon's party in Irria) once said: "I understand that the Haredim have needs, so they need to be taken care of outside the neighborhood, and that way the character of the neighborhood won't be harmed.".
If I were to open the subject of Kiryat Yuval, I would need a long scroll to list the series of atrocities suffered by the neighborhood's ultra-Orthodox residents. How is it possible that the news has never mentioned the name of Kiryat Yuval? If you arrest a Jerusalemite and ask him whether the ultra-Orthodox are being alienated in Kiryat Yuval, he will say that he has never heard of it.
Our own demonstration
My name is Nir Barkat, shame on you. You have set yourself only one goal as mayor: to exclude the ultra-Orthodox as much as possible from the city of Jerusalem.
And yet I would like to ask: Don't you think we deserve basic rights? Maybe it's time to wake up the man so that he sweats and rolls his eyes like he did at the Ethiopian demonstration.
What will happen if we, the ultra-Orthodox, no longer sit quietly and stand up for our basic rights?
And maybe, my Haredi brothers, it's time to take to the streets? It worked for the Ethiopians. In the secular media, they acted as if the whole world had stopped, and turned their eyes to the Ethiopians. Television programs were filled with investigations and news about the situation in the neighborhoods where Ethiopians live, etc., and the demonstration certainly succeeded in creating a public agenda.
Why wouldn't it work for us?
Between one demonstration and another
The comparison between the demonstrations – the Haredi and the Ethiopian – is almost obvious: in the million-strong demonstration, there was no violence at all.
It's not hard to imagine what would have happened if we had behaved with terrible violence and brutality. The secular media would not have covered us as delicately as they did during the Ethiopian demonstration.
You were, you in the media, as thirsty for our imagination as ever. The proof: Where were you when we were constantly being condemned in an anti-Semitic manner? I will mention some of the expressions for those who have forgotten: parasites, leeches, ticks, bloodsuckers, penguins, etc.
Where were you when they demanded that we be expelled from the parks, and called for us to be murdered using IDF weapons, when senior journalist Raviv Drucker's blog stated that he understood the desire to murder the Haredim (and I further refined his words)?
Secularists, and Ethiopians, we are the hated sector in Israel, the treatment we receive is unimaginable.
This recognition brings me back to the understanding that we must demonstrate, so that the "reflection" will awaken on its own, and awaken the secular public.
But, when we protest against all the injustices we suffer, will anyone listen to us? I am very afraid that everyone will say again, 'We didn't hear, we didn't see.'.
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