Newsletter - June - August 2002	Latest newsletter
Included in this edition: Advocacy Bulletin Ethiopian National Project Semach Bet School Update National Insurance payments for Ethiopian Students - New Law! Community Empowerment Advances Welcome to new IAEJ staff members! Friends of the IAEJ
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About Us:
The Israel Association for Ethiopian Jews (IAEJ) was formed in 1993 in response to the growing crisis facing Israel's Ethiopian immigrant community with regards to education, housing and employment. IAEJ is an Ethiopian-led advocacy and service organization representing Israel's Ethiopian immigrant community. Our goal is to assist in the full and rapid absorption and integration of Ethiopian Jews into mainstream Israeli society. Towards that end, IAEJ leads lobbying efforts in government ministries and in the Knesset, produces and distributes reports and position papers reflecting the situation and needs of the Ethiopian community in Israel; and works to foster partnerships in programming between local and national Ethiopian Israeli organizations. Through this multifaceted approach, we seek to establish an informed and empowered Ethiopian citizenry.

Advocacy Bulletin
Over the past three months, IAEJ advocates have been working extremely hard on behalf of Ethiopian Jews in Israel. Researching, writing and presenting position papers; consistently lobbying in the Knesset and Government Ministries; initiating meetings and assemblies to discuss issues facing Ethiopian Jews in Israel; these are just some of the ways in which IAEJ works to achieve full absorption and integration of Ethiopian Jews into mainstream Israeli society.

On June 10, 2002 there was a meeting of the Knesset Committee on Immigration and Absorption. IAEJ advocates were on hand, as was the Director of the Ministry of Education, Ronit Tirosh, in attendance at IAEJ's invitation. Also present were other representatives from a variety of organizations working in the field of immigrant absorption. The topic at hand was the planned implementation of new summer courses for school teachers and principals, providing training in how to teach Hebrew as a Second Language (HSL) for new immigrants. While IAEJ is happy to see such plans on the committee's agenda, we also wish to ensure that the specific needs of Ethiopian students are met. IAEJ advocates presented a position paper on Ethiopian students in the educational system. IAEJ also asked to see the specifics of the intended courses, and requested that the Steering Center for Ethiopian Immigrants in the Education System be made part of the planning and implementation of the courses. This will assist the committee in developing a program that will take into account the cultural needs of Ethiopian students in HSL classes. IAEJ advocates also wrote a letter to Amihud Bahat, Head of Absorption of the Ministry of Education, expressing our concerns in this respect.

The issue of participation by the Steering Center, in programming affecting Ethiopian students, has been raised in the past as part of the recommendations made by the IAEJ initiated Task Force on Education. Other Task Force recommendations, such as external reviewers for assessing implementation of programs for Ethiopian students, have already been put into effect. These advances were also discussed in the meeting.

On June 12, 2002 another meeting of Knesset Member Ran Cohen's committee on bridging social gaps between immigrant groups in Israel was convened. Topics under discussion included a variety of social concerns including education, employment and public planning issues. Once again, IAEJ advocates and representatives were on hand to make sure that the specific issues facing the Ethiopian population were prioritized. The meeting focused on the recent findings of Prof. Victor Levy concerning the relationship between education and social inequality. Prof. Levy provided detailed explanations and analysis of the results of his study which focused on Jewish Israeli, Ethiopian Jewish, and Arab-Israeli populations in Israel. The gap between educational performance of Ethiopian Jews and Jewish Israeli populations is staggering. For example Jewish Israelis outperformed Ethiopian Jews by 50% on nationwide Bagrut (high school matriculation) exams! Dr. Levy isolated such factors as socio-economic status and parents' level of education as primary factors affecting children's educational development. The meeting was extremely informative, and helped to publicize some of the root causes of poor educational performance among Ethiopian youth. IAEJ is now writing a report on housing, employment and educational issues for Ran Cohen's committee. The report is due out in September.

On July 3, 2002 a meeting of Knesset Member Tamar Gozansky's committee discussing " school dropouts" and the Israeli Educational system was held. The committee considered the results of a recently published report titled, " School Dropouts and School Disengagement: Research Report," put out jointly by the Knesset Research and Information Center and the JDC-Brookdale Institute. IAEJ was present to protest the report's virtual exclusion of any discussion concerning Ethiopian dropouts, who represent a very large proportion of the overall total. The report was more concerned with comparing Jewish Israeli and Arab-Israeli dropouts. Ethiopian dropouts were simply lumped into the mere one paragraph, out of the 100-page report, that dealt with "immigrant populations." Given the severity of the dropout situation among Ethiopian youths this is a very problematic omission. IAEJ presented a position paper on the problem at the meeting, and will continue to work on raising awareness and promoting change with regards to this issue.

The Knesset is currently on break for the entire month of August.

Ethiopian National Project
The Ethiopian National Project (ENP) preparations have continued with the immense effort of IAEJ and all those involved in the planning process. The ENP, a nine-year, $660,000,000 effort to provide comprehensive support for the absorption of Ethiopian immigrants in Israel is a collaborative effort of national and local organizations, the Ethiopian community, United Jewish Communities, Joint Distribution Committee, Jewish Agency for Israel, Karen HaYesod, and the Israeli Government.

Elections for the new Ethiopian National Representatives were held on June 7, 2002. IAEJ Director, Shula Mola, was chosen to remain a representative in the upcoming year. The structural development of the ENP requires much forethought and time and ENP projects, addressing issues of education, empowerment, and employment, will be launched in January 2003.

On August 21 in a meeting held at the Jewish Agency, the following decisions were made in regards to the ENP's timely implementation:
· A $1 million dollar budget was approved for use from October 1-December 31, 2002. This budget will be used to complete the building of a legal body to oversee the ENP and to create an annual plan for 2003 based on a 20 million-dollar projected budget. Funding for the ENP will come from the United Jewish Communities and the Israeli Government. Each will provide 50% of the necessary resources.
· The Search Committee for Chairperson of the Board, under the supervision of Arnon Mantver, will recommend potential candidates to fill the position of Chairperson. In conjunction with the other project partners the Committee will makes its final recommendation by September 5, 2002.
· The Search Committee for the ENP Director, led by Giora Rom, will make recommendations for the Director before September 30, 2002.
· A representative from a high level governmental position will be chosen to act as an integral member of the ENP.
· The Committee of Budget and Finance Management, under the supervision of Nachman Shai, will bring a recommendation regarding the legal structure to the partners of the ENP.

Those present at this meeting were: Giora Rom, Nachman Shai, Arnon Mantver, Mike Rosenberg, Danny Pines, Devorah Blum, Negiste Mengeshe, and Eli Cohen.

The security situation in Israel has created an economic crisis resulting in the reduction of many social budgets. These budgets, especially crucial for low- income families, greatly effect the Ethiopian community whose majority live below the poverty line. The government has become less involved in social issues making the ENP even more of a necessity at this time. IAEJ continues to actively participate in all stages of the ENP's development and hopes that others will assist us in advocating on behalf of the ENP.

Semach Bet School Update
As previously reported, one building supplied by the Municipal Education Office of Ashdod houses two very different schools. The two schools share the school grounds, front gate and steps, and even the same principal. The schools are separate however in many ways. They have different classes and teachers, children have separate recess periods, and most importantly, one school is almost entirely Ethiopian while the other has only one Ethiopian student. The first floor of the building houses the Semach Bet School, which is 90% Ethiopian and where there have been recent reports of physical abuse on the part of the principal. The Yishai School housed on the second floor is composed primarily of religious Mizrachi students. At the Yishai School there have been no reports of corporal punishment against students. This situation highlights the separation that has plagued Ethiopian integration and absorption into the Israeli educational system.

IAEJ lobbyists recently wrote a letter to Ronit Tirosh, Director of the Ministry of Education, demanding an investigation into both the allegations of violence, and the overall situation of the Semach Bet School. Tirosh forwarded this letter to Ya'akov Marciano, Director of Education for the Southern Region of the country. In May, Marciano contacted IAEJ lobbyists in order to address the situation, and IAEJ has recently received more concrete answers concerning the situation in Ashdod.

Amihud Bahat, Head of Absorption in the Ministry of Education contacted IAEJ advocates to report that he personally visited the Semach Bet and Yishai schools in the company of representatives of the Steering Center for Ethiopian Immigrants in the Education System. He recognizes the problems there and is in the process of instituting the following changes for the year to come:

¨ 8 more Ethiopian students have been enrolled in the Yishai school.
¨ Ethiopian children will be enrolled in the Yishai kindergarten.
¨ The two schools will begin having recess together.
¨ Regular activities between students of the two schools will be instituted.
¨ Officials will also continue to work on new methods for increasing interaction and integration.
¨ Transportation will be provided to allow Ethiopian Jewish parents to transfer their children to the school in Ashdod of their choosing.

IAEJ Director, Shula Mola, and IAEJ advocates will be travelling to Ashdod to explain the changes, and nurture IAEJ's connection with the local community. IAEJ will continue to monitor the situation and act in partnership with the Ethiopian Jewish community in Ashdod, to tackle whatever problems might arise in the future.

National Insurance Payments for Students
All Israelis past the age of 18 are required by law to pay a set monthly fee to the National Insurance Agency. Due to the difficult transitions involved in the immigration process, many Ethiopian youths have needed additional schooling past the age of 18, and not having jobs, been unable to pay for it. Many of these students were also unaware that they were incurring any debt at all. The subject has been a confusing one, especially for those members of the Ethiopian community unsure of their repayment responsibilities. To this end, IAEJ advocates have worked hard to change the law with regards to National Insurance payments in these cases.

IAEJ efforts bore fruit recently, exemplified in the passing of a new law with regards to this issue. The new law takes into consideration the fact that immigrant students may take longer to complete their high school education and also recognizes that some native-born Israeli students also have difficulties finishing by the age of eighteen. In this vein, the new law states that any person continuing his/her high school studies will be exempt from paying National Insurance debts until the age of twenty-one.

Community Empowerment Advances
As a continuation of IAEJ's efforts towards a more empowered Ethiopian community, IAEJ Community Workers have been spending a great deal of time with small Ethiopian organizations in various cities throughout the country. In the past few months IAEJ has enhanced its connections with active Ethiopian community members in Kiryat Gat, Hadera, and Beit Shemesh.

Kiryat Gat
On July 30 IAEJ convened a meeting of six Ethiopian community organization leaders from Kiryat Gat to discuss education, employment, and development of partnerships between the organizations. The goal of this discussion was to initialize cooperative work between the organizations in order to provide more effective services for the community. Each representative addressed the problems rampant in the city and the troubles they have faced trying to work with local municipal leaders as well as with one another. Each representative expressed enthusiasm about the idea, presented by IAEJ, to work towards the creation of a unified voice for the Ethiopian community in Kiryat Gat.

Those present clearly understood that cooperation between their various organizations could lead to greater change on behalf of the community. To this end, the representatives worked on streamlining their work to better represent and meet the needs of the community. Some of the potential solutions that were discussed included: the creation of an Ethiopian umbrella organization in Kiryat Gat and the creation of a Board for the Ethiopian community to include members from each organization.

On October 15th the representatives will meet again to further discuss these issues. Each participant will come with his final recommendation on the best way to achieve a unified voice for the Ethiopian community in Kiryat Gat. Each organization will also present a copy of their annual plan in order to eliminate duplication of services within the city in the year 2003. In the meantime, IAEJ Community Workers will continue to assist each organization on an individual basis.

Hadera
A two-day conference, held by IAEJ staff, on August 9-10 hosted 42 Ethiopian activists, 2 members of the Hadera municipality and 1 representative from SHATIL. The group gathered to discuss and work on problems that have arisen in the Ethiopian community in Hadera. Topics on the agenda included: conflict resolution, community empowerment, and problem solving.

The groups worked together, sharing information about their work in Hadera and obstacles that they have faced. This process led to a clearer definition of each person's role in the community. This also helped both IAEJ and local activists to better understand the work to be done in Hadera. Throughout the two-day encounter many connections were made, issues were debated, and ideas for ways to more effectively assist the Ethiopian community in Hadera were born. Workshops on problem-solving allowed groups to work with real issues and develop a list of potential resolutions. All resolutions were then opened for discussion of the entire group.

IAEJ received positive feedback on the effectiveness of the conference. IAEJ staff members witnessed positive interactions between the various individuals present. The Community Empowerment Unit of IAEJ plans to continue working with the individual activists in Hadera, while encouraging partnership between the activists as the key to successful activity.

Beit Shemesh
IAEJ Community Workers met with representatives of the two Ethiopian organizations operating in Beit Shemesh on August 21, 2002. In addition representatives from Eder, a community group created to address the needs of the community in times of simcha or crisis (i.e. weddings, brit-milah, funerals, etc) were present. The group spoke about problems facing their community and obstacles they face when working towards solutions.

Each person had many things to add to the discussion and the group agreed to meet again to further develop effective solutions for their problems. Each representative was encouraged by the meeting and agreed to bring more people from the community to the next meeting in order to broaden the range of voices being heard.

In the meantime, IAEJ plans to meet with each organization separately to clearly define the overall situation facing the Ethiopian community in Beit Shemesh.

Welcome New IAEJ Staff members!
We are happy to welcome two new members to the IAEJ staff. Elias Inbrum began working with the IAEJ this month in the areas of resource development and public relations. Elias holds a BA from Ben Gurion University in Business Management and is currently enrolled in a program for Educational Leadership at the Mandel School.
Gadi Melaku has begun work this month as one of IAEJ's Community Workers. Gadi holds a BA from Sapir College in S'derot and has extensive experience working with Ethiopian youth in Lod. IAEJ wishes much success