Rina Ayelign-Gorelik, CEO of the Association of Ethiopian Jews (AEJ) in Israel spoke recently at a rally following protests in Israel about the controversial judicial reforms as well as the killing of a 4-year old Ethiopian Israeli child by a hit-and-run driver. Please watch this 2 minute video of excerpts from Rina’s speech, as well as her compelling message below:
And SUPPORT AEJ ! Ethiopian Jews still need your help!
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LETTER FROM RINA AYELIGN-GORELIK of AEJ
Dear Friends,
As we all know, over the past months and hot summer, there have been challenging developments in Israel pushing many of us to think about how we feel and how to act. Many critical issues were shared in AEJ’s July summer newsletter sent to you last month.
In particular, the Ethiopian Israeli community has taken government reforms particularly hard with regard to over-policing and its decision to fire Adv. Aweke, the Coordinator for Israel’s Justice Ministry’s National Anti-Racism Unit and now our disbelief about police inaction regarding the hit & run tragedy of the late 4-year-old Rafael Adana and resulting police violence against Ethiopian Israelis as we continue to protest. AEJ published a report on the Israel police’s disproportionately high criminal cases opened against Ethiopian Israelis.
AEJ is at the forefront confronting these injustices as we continue to impact and raise awareness about police violence and the late Solomon Tekah, as well as Avera Mengistu who still suffers in Hamas captivity, and now the misconduct by the police and justice system regarding Rafael Adana – all examples of the greater issue of systemic discrimination in Israeli society.
Last week I witnessed firsthand how the police turned violently against our demonstration and I was able to escape with a minor injury while others were not so lucky.
Saturday night I spoke out again at the weekly street protests, this time in Jerusalem about human and civil rights violations. I emphasized careless police and legal investigations that lead to reduced indictments and failure to prosecute perpetrators.
And mostly I affirmed how the struggle for equality and democracy is the struggle of all of us and as difficult as the issues are, they serve as a force to make Israel better. We still believe in the dreams we brought with us to Israel and will continue to work with all our might to see them come true. Please support our efforts together with us to strengthen our fight on the front lines for democracy.
Thank you,
Rina
Adv. Rina Ayalin – Gorelik, Executive Director