JERUSALEM/ISRAEL: ETHIOPIAN JEWS HOLD VIOLENT PROTEST OUTSIDE ISRAELI CABINET OFFICES AGAINST BLOOD BANK AIDS POLICY

Record ID: 399737

  • Title: JERUSALEM/ISRAEL: ETHIOPIAN JEWS HOLD VIOLENT PROTEST OUTSIDE ISRAELI CABINET OFFICES AGAINST BLOOD BANK AIDS POLICY
  • Date: 28th January 1996
  • Summary: JERUSALEM/ TEL AVIV, ISRAEL (JANUARY 28, 1996) (RTV -- ACCESS ALL) PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE, JERUSALEM 1. GV/SV THOUSANDS OF ETHIOPIANS IN FRONT OF PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE, CHANTING SLOGANS AND CARRYING PLACARDS/ PLACARD READING "ALTHOUGH OUR SKIN IS BLACK, OUR BLOOD IS AS RED AS YOURS AND WE ARE JUST AS JEWISH AS YOU ARE." (4
  • Embargoed: 12th February 1996 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: JERUSALEM/ TEL AVIV, ISRAEL
  • City:
  • Country: Israel
  • Reuters ID: LVA64XM4WV083QZ6WPSBIQD1AFMG
  • Story Text: Thousands of Ethiopian Jews held a violent protest outside the Israeli Cabinet offices in Jerusalem on Sunday (January 28) against the national blood bank's policy of throwing away their donations out of fear of AIDS.

    Police used tear gas and water cannon to push back demonstrators who stormed through a fence at the protest site.

    The protest occurred across the street from the building where Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres and his cabinet were holding their weekly meeting.

    But the wind blew the gas back into police ranks, and the black Jews reached the perimeter fence around the prime minister's heavily-guarded compound.

    Several policemen were injured by rocks and tree branches thrown by protesters and at least six people were arrested.

    Leaders of the 60,000 Ethiopian Jews in Israel accused authorities of racism after the blood bank confirmed a newspaper report last week it routinely destroyed -- out of fear of AIDS contamination -- all blood donated by Ethiopians.

    The head of the country's central blood bank, Dr. Amnon Ben-David, confirmed that virtually all blood from Ethiopians was summarily destroyed without any tests.

    Ethiopian Jews have frequently complained of racism, beginning with the initial rejection of their clergy by Israeli religious authorities, since Israel secretly brought in tens of thousands of them in two massive airlifts in 1984-85 and 1991.

    Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) can be transmitted through blood transfusions and products.


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