ISRAEL: Everyday Racism

[Russian panthers]

... Last week ( Wednesday, 26 July ) when I was in the bus # 500 ( Haifa - Kiryat-Shemona )
an Israeli soldier by mistake took me as supposed "terrorist", have reported about me to the
driver and two policemen there ... I saw the gun "Uzi" directed at me right in front of my face
( that was soldier`s private initiative ) and a question from policemen " Who are you ? What
are you doing here ? " ...

My statement that I am Russian ( all those who are from Russia are called "Russians" in Israel )
and therefore not dangerous, in both Hebrew and Russian languages, did not help !!!
I had to leave the bus for 2 minutes, show my Israeli ID to a policeman ( I have it despite the
fact that for the Israeli Ministry of Interior I am not Jewish ) and a ticket - additional evidence
that I did not enter that bus illegaly. After that everything was fine ... !

... Yesterday I was returning after 11 pm from the concert of a Romani musical group from Russia
- "Chavale" lead by Victor Svetlov. At 11:30 pm in the area of Dan Panorama ( Northern Haifa )
I saw several intellegent Israeli people talking on the corner of a street ... One woman in that group
has asked others after a quick look at me " Ma ze - Aravi ? " - " What is this - an Arab ? " ...
Not even " Who is this ... ? " ...

Ariel Eliahu
Member of
"The Society of Gypsies in Israel"

[Carlo]

So, mr. Ariel "the Gypsy" Eliahu , you are trying to establish the fact that they don't like arabs in Israel? Well ... Arabs have shown to the world that the people in Israel have a legitimate reason to despise them. I am sorry to hear that you look like an arab. Good friend of mine, who lives in Israel and who is jewish, had to shave his mustache in order to stop his profiling as an arab. But he’s got no problem with it because he appreciates the reason why it is happening. When you have murderers who kill and terrorize women and children , and all of them come from the same ethnicity, it is not hard to imagine that the people of that ethnicity will get special treatment including looking into the barrel of the automatic weapon.
And you, being the gypsy , of all people , should be able to understand feelings of the people who , after many centuries of living without homeland, finally gaining one , just to become the target of someone else’s attacks.

[Unregistered1]

Wouldn't you rather be checked by Israeli soldier on the bus than being blown on the same bus by a murderer.
Don't you realize that it's better be safe than sorry.