Televised scenes of Israelis police aiming powerful water cannons and lobbing tear gas canisters at angry Ethiopian Jewish protesters had led to some concern about the debacle’s possible impact on black-Jewish relations in the United States.
Police clashed with some 10,000 Ethiopian immigrants who were demonstrating Sunday in Jerusalem to protest reports that Magen David Adom, which operates the country’s nationwide blood bank, routinely discards blood donated by Ethiopian olim out of fear that the blood is contaminated with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
“So much of the African American press has been very negative on Israel, and this gives ammunition to those who have incorrectly said Israel is racist,” said a Jewish community relations expert in New York.
“Though this mess isn’t racist at all, but a misguided effort to prevent the Ethiopians from being stigmatized, it was foolish,” she said.
“I am so afraid that the African American press will pick up on this to the great detriment of relations” between the two communities. “We’re so glad to be able to say to African Americans, `Look at the Ethiopian Jews, they are totally accepted,’ and this hurts, this really hurts,” said the expert, who asked that her name not be used.
Burt Siegel, associate director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Philadelphia and a veteran activist in black-Jewish relations, said he did not hear the issue discussed much on black talk radio.
“One called made reference to the fact that Israel has demonstrated what a racist country it really is, but the host didn’t pick up on it,” Siegel said.
“But I think that’s temporary. Those in the African American community who have animus towards Israel and the Jewish community will use this as an opportunity,” he said. “It’s still early. Nothing’s happening yet, but I’m afraid it will.”
Community relations experts across the country shared Siegel’s trepidation.
Referring to the television news coverage of the melee in Jerusalem, one Midwest Jewish federation professional said, “There is some concern about how it will impact efforts with the African American community.”
Rabbi David Saperstein, director of the Reform movement’s Religious Action Center, called the policy of discarding the blood donations “highly discriminatory.”
Saperstein also is a member of the board of directors of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
“This news is utterly incomprehensible and intolerable on various grounds,” Saperstein said in a statement.
In an interview, Saperstein said the crisis “requires a real effort by the Jewish community to provide the overall context to these issues to the black community so that they understand the enormous investment Israel is making” in the absorption of Ethiopian Jews.
“It’s a mistake to translate the way we think about issues of color in the U.S. to Israel,” Saperstein said.
“There is a much greater sense of common peoplehood in Israel, a much greater support for addressing problems of discrimination, and far more assertive affirmative action programs that we’ve ever had in the U.S. to help both Sephardic and Ethiopian Jews.”
“Rather than bring blacks over in slavery, Israel brought a sizable black community in with open arms and love and commitment,” he said.
Saperstein’s organization, in cooperation with the Israeli government, held its annual Civil Rights Leadership Awards ceremony at the Israeli Embassy on Monday in Washington.
Rep. Kweisi Mfume (D-Md.), who was one of two people to receive the award this year, tried to head off concerns about the crisis’ impact on black-Jewish relations here.
“We must not allow the wonderful dream of religious reunification in any way to turn into a bitter nightmare of discrimination, either real or imagined,” said Mfume at the beginning of his acceptance speech.
Most of the community relations experts and advocates for the Ethiopian Jewish community interviewed said the original intent of the blood bank’s policy in Israel was probably good because Ethiopian were not publicly singled out as a health risk.
According to Israel’s Health Ministry, Ethiopians are 50 times more likely to be HIV carriers than other Israelis.
Health Minister Dr. Ephraim Sneh announced Tuesday that all blood donated by Ethiopians would be kept frozen until the committee appointed Sunday by Prime Minister Shimon Peres completes its inquiry.
In the United States, blood donors are screened based on their behavior, not on the basis of race or sexual orientation, according to American Red Cross sources.
For several years, the U.S. government banned blood donations from Haitian and some African immigrants, but lifted the bans once reliable tests to detect HIV in blood were developed.
In the United States, potential donors fill out a detailed questionnaire about their health, history of sexual activity and travel experiences. Then donors are interviewed, and at several points along the way – even after the blood in drawn – donors have the opportunity to withdraw.
The blood is then tested to determine whether it is contaminated with any one of seven different infectious diseases, including two strains of HIV.
The same measures, however, are apparently not taken in Israel, sources said.
Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, in a letter to Sneh, urged to adopt American testing methods.
“Because Israel needs quick turnaround in the blood supply, due to terrorism, they can’t hold the blood for the requisite amount of time to make sure it is free of the HIV,” said Martin Raffel, associate executive vice chairman of the National Jewish Community Relations Advisory Council.
On Monday, Raffel organized a conference call for representatives of national Jewish organizations and community relations councils across the country to discuss their concerns about the potential fallout of the incident here.
“This is obviously a public relations nightmare,” Raffel said. “Some might try to project this as a matter of racism or discrimination in Israel without any basis. We want to avoid that perception, which is a faulty one, from being entrenched.”
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
