Highlights from the march, part 2: the refugees

The African refugees were the stars of the march for human rights in Tel Aviv. They formed the largest contingent by far, and they caught everyone’s attention with their continous rhythmic chant of “We are refugees!” They held signs with simple, poignant messages: “We do not belong in prison”; “we need help”; and “we need protection.”

Many of these refugees, who come from some of the most violent, war-stricken countries in Africa, suffered unspeakable horrors during their flight to Israel. Stories of rape, murder and extortion are very common. They are not hunted or killed in Israel, but they have few rights, live mostly in poverty and often spend months in jail before being granted asylum. Now, the prime minister is proposing that the refugees be rounded up and kept in a big open-air prison in the Negev.

In his post about the refugees at the march, Dimi Reider  writes:

One of the key human rights issues today in Israel is that of the African asylum seekers; even those that make it past Egypt’s shoot-to-kill border patrol policy and avoid detention, are left hanging in limbo for months if not years, as Israel considers their application for official refugee status while entangling them in a hopeless web of bureaucracy and bullying. There has been a massive undertaking in favor of refugees by Israeli citizens honest enough to remember their parents and grandparents often came into Israel just like that – sneaking over the border, fleeing death and destruction in their home countries.

But until yesterday, Israelis have never seen the refugees march together, as a coherent, unapologetic group, not merely speaking their claim not in the slums and the periphery where they have been pushed, but chanting it on one of Israel’s most affluent shopping streets.

The video clip below was filmed by Dimi Reider, as he watched the refugees pass him during the march. Look how many there are!