What the Ethiopians demonstrated

Regarding “Tekah’s family: Stop the protests” (July 4), the Ethiopians’ level of violence against ordinary individuals, as reported by the mainstream and social media, has been counterproductive and reduces my sympathy for them. They are frustrated at the way they have been treated by Israeli society, but after demonstrating their violence, maybe the police attention and their army insubordination and prison rates are justified, and the policeman did fear for his life when attacked by the youth.

Most Israelis I know believe that Jews are a caring people, not racist, but there are some blind spots, and many believe these demonstrations have exposed an unpleasant side of Israeli society. i.e. a racist attitude toward non-Ashkenazim.

Why did the disabled have to similarly block roads for their grievances to be heard? Why do non-Orthodox couples have to fly to Cyprus to get married, etc.? Sometimes it seems that Israelis care more for the victims of an earthquake on the other side of the world than the neighbor across the road.

Yet Israel is one of the most ethnically mixed countries there is, gathering as it does Jews from all over the world, and the vast majority of Israelis successfully co-exist, albeit with loud complaints!

So, yes, these demonstrations underscore problems, and we can definitely do better, but demonstrations only once in a while maybe actually show how good Israel is at integration. BOB KNIGHT Modi’in

Unfortunately, regarding “Police see no difference between Arab and dark-skinned man” (July 4), the police have it all wrong. They should see no difference between a dark-skinned Jew and a light-skinned Jew.

As far as Arabs are concerned it makes no difference between a light-skinned or a dark-skinned Muslim.

In another vein, all of the people running for office in the Knesset have shown and proven that they don’t give a damn about the country or the Jewish people. They are only interested in placing their behinds on a chair and getting glued to it. There are many things that I do not agree with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about, but one thing is absolutely certain. There is not one of the characters running for office that has the ability to conduct and produce the diplomatic achievements obtained by him. JOE SIMON Kfar Aviv

The agonizing eruption of fury among the Ethiopians is an indictment of this nation and we are to blame for this ghastly tragedy that has been brewing like a menacing tumor and is now in full sight.

There is something rotten in the State of Israel and one cannot say this is an isolated occurrence.

We are a people divided. We do not mingle with those who are different. We are no longer the melting pot that produced spectacular successes in the early years of our establishment.

Our leaders play the race card during each election. Our various strands of Judaism are mistreated by those who know how to shout loudest. Israeli sabras have their own cliques, rather like the country clubs in the Diaspora that forbade Jews as members. Our olim chadashim cling to one another according to their lands of origin and the ideal of a unified nation has dissipated.

Soon the Ethiopians will stop blocking our highways and return to their sad little boxes and the rest of us can go to our summer parties with our exclusive friends.

Will a Messianic age ever dawn in which we perhaps bus our children to play and be educated with their children? Will we ever invite them to join us on a hike, a picnic or even to a dinner party?

They are Jews, so we can’t play the religion card. They are black and so we are playing the color card. That policeman won’t be punished because we are all on the same page; he is like the American cops whose murderous violence toward blacks doesn’t even raise an eyebrow.

The brouhaha is nearly over. Let’s have a barbecue. SUSAN TUCKER Netanya

In the wake of the current upheaval concerning the death of Solomon Tekah at the hands of an off-duty police man – no, he was not “murdered in cold blood” – the country, it seems, has lost all sense of proportion. While a gag order has been issued concerning the case pending thorough investigation, it is recognized that the officer went out of his way to break up a fight, that he called the police emergency unit for fear of his life, and that he sustained injuries from rocks thrown at him and required hospitalization.

The Jerusalem Post is not subtle in citing the disproportionately high incidents of assaults on policemen by Israelis of Ethiopian origin and saying that “weak communities with low socioeconomic conditions, such as minorities, are more involved in crime than other populations,” even suggesting that Ethiopian parents have difficulty in bringing up their children and preventing them from “being at the wrong place and the wrong time.”

Threatened by someone with a deadly weapon – yes, stones do maim and kill – a potential victim will first and foremost want to defend himself before considering whether the attacker is Arab or Jewish. Our sages teach us not to judge your fellow man until you are in his place. FRED GOTTLIEB Jerusalem