This time they went too far.

[Tahuti]

Well, Palestinians are people too. Does anything less than an Ethiopian jew not count as human in those parts?

Gaza is not even inside Israel's territory, so I doubt it qualifies as a "minority problem".

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Recall Soviet propaganda talking about how the outcome of the Six-Day War was the result of a Jewish conspiracy that infiltrated the Arab nations.

Suggesting that Israel is a racist state because some Ethiopian immigrants felt pressured to take birth control is akin to suggesting that Jews are thieves and providing stories of Jewish merchants scamming people to prove it. I don't think that Jews are greedy liars because Bernie Madoff was Jewish, and I don't think Israel is a "racist country" because Ethiopians had problems with birth control there.

Because the Soviet propaganda, and the instance of misreporting in the media, which is well-known never to stray from factuality out of sensationalist purposes, the industry is quazi-nazi like.

Yeah, whatever. Also, name a country in the world where minorities don't have problems. Just one or two, please.

Introspection is out of the question then?

For someone getting upset about misreporting I thought it would be helpful of me to point out a misrepresentation. I guess I was wrong. "Yeah, whatever" will do.

 

[Quackers]

How about Armenia or Japan?

Aren't there some Japanese islands full of Ainu which the Japanese don't like very much?
Despite Mouthwash's arbritary criteria "give me one or two countries which don't have problems with minorities"; you have to admit it is a fair point. There are no countries with 100% perfectly intergrated minorities, in fact i would say in this day and age it will be impossible. At that point, you acknowledge it is all relative and on a spectrum of massacaring them all the way to the Swedish model, Israel ain't doing badly.

 

[Leoreth]

I typed "Chinaman" into wikipedia but couldn't find anything about this people. Are they from Hokkaido?

 

[Ajidica]

So essentially you are saying that due to the secrecy the Israeli government often uses when dealing with the press, journalists from a reputable Israeli newspaper broke a story that if true would have massive ramifications but were unable to get verification from the Israeli government. The Israeli government then took some actions that while neither confirming or denying the Haaretz story, indicates that there was still some concern about the program itself in the Israeli government. As direct evidence from the Israeli government did not come out (this may be addressed in the second Haaretz article but I can't access it due to a paywall) due either to its non-existence or the Israeli government refusing to release it Haaretz did the responsible action and said that no direct evidence has emerged about the accusations.

It isn't like Israel would turn from a land of happiness and fun if this story was false, or into a land of Cthulhu like horror if it is true. One action doesn't determine the entire course of a state. However, the story itself was given initial credence because it does not seem that far beyond what the Israeli government has done-whether as a whole or singular politicians- has done or entertained doing in the past. Not to put to fine of a point on it but Israel did elect Ariel Sharon to office despite an Israeli commission finding him to bear personal responsibility for Phalangist massacres in Lebanon and who has made several statement bordering on out-and-out racism -at the very least mild xenophobia. The sordid mess of the former Palestine Mandate has left neither side innocent and criticism of the Israeli government should not be assumed as criticizing the Israeli state nor of giving the PA/Hamas/other militant organizations on all sides a free pass.

At that point, you acknowledge it is all relative and on a spectrum of massacaring them all the way to the Swedish model, Israel ain't doing badly.

In Israel proper the situation isn't that bad (although there are still rather significant problems there) but in the territory Israel has de facto claimed in the West Bank, such as the settlements which even the US has called for a moratorium on due to both their damage to the peace process/territorial integrity of the future Palestine and the rather dubious legal/human rights grounds they are based on.

 

[Kyriakos]

I'm not sure why the Palestinians are coming into this, but I'd like to point out that Arabs in Israel proper do even better economically than Ethiopian Jews, and that the Palestinians in the West Bank had one of the highest standards of living in the Middle East until the First Intifada. In 1967 they had zero universities; now they have seven. I'm not sure why the hell you're attempting to construct another racist narrative, because those don't really end well for you.

I give you that this thread (the OP) is not about Palestinians.

Apart from that, though, i do not see what you wrote as correct. It is not some far-fetched "racist narrative" to mention that there is obvious racism from jews towards palestinians, and vice-versa. You would be very hard-pressed to claim otherwise.

 

[Tahuti]

I typed "Chinaman" into wikipedia but couldn't find anything about this people. Are they from Hokkaido?

"Chinaman" has a racist tone to it. It's like calling Jews "kikes".

 

[Mouthwash]

I typed "Chinaman" into wikipedia but couldn't find anything about this people. Are they from Hokkaido?

What's the appropriate term for them besides "Chinese person?"

I give you that this thread (the OP) is not about Palestinians.

Apart from that, though, i do not see what you wrote as correct. It is not some far-fetched "racist narrative" to mention that there is obvious racism from jews towards palestinians, and vice-versa. You would be very hard-pressed to claim otherwise.

Oh, you were referring to Palestinians (presumably in Gaza) having their apartments carpet bombed. Well, again, perhaps shooting rockets out of those apartments wasn't the best idea on the part of the Palestinians.

As Professor Moshe Halbertal wrote:

“In line with principles. the Israeli Air Force developed the following tactic. Since Hamas hides its headquarters and ammunition storage facilities inside civilian residential areas, the Israeli army calls the residents’ telephones or cell phones, asking them to move immediately out of the house because an attack is imminent. But Hamas, in reaction to such calls, brings the innocent residents up to the roof, so as to protect the target from an attack, knowing that, as a rule, the Israeli army films the target with an unmanned drone and will avoid attacking the civilians on the roof. In response to this tactic, Israel developed a missile that hits the roof without causing any actual harm in order to show the seriousness of its intention. The procedure, called ‘roof-knocking,’ causes the civilians to move away before the deadly attack.”

Of course, never mind that Israel also dropped over 2 million leaflets and made over 100,000 phone calls during Cast lead.

Back your post- of course there is racism. There's also racism in the United States and Britain. Does it follow that we should avoid them and boycott them as well?

 

[Leoreth]

What's the appropriate term for them besides "Chinese person?"

What's wrong with that word?

 

[Mouthwash]

So essentially you are saying that due to the secrecy the Israeli government often uses when dealing with the press, journalists from a reputable Israeli newspaper broke a story that if true would have massive ramifications but were unable to get verification from the Israeli government. The Israeli government then took some actions that while neither confirming or denying the Haaretz story, indicates that there was still some concern about the program itself in the Israeli government. As direct evidence from the Israeli government did not come out (this may be addressed in the second Haaretz article but I can't access it due to a paywall) due either to its non-existence or the Israeli government refusing to release it Haaretz did the responsible action and said that no direct evidence has emerged about the accusations.

It isn't like Israel would turn from a land of happiness and fun if this story was false, or into a land of Cthulhu like horror if it is true. One action doesn't determine the entire course of a state. However, the story itself was given initial credence because it does not seem that far beyond what the Israeli government has done-whether as a whole or singular politicians- has done or entertained doing in the past. Not to put to fine of a point on it but Israel did elect Ariel Sharon to office despite an Israeli commission finding him to bear personal responsibility for Phalangist massacres in Lebanon and who has made several statement bordering on out-and-out racism -at the very least mild xenophobia. The sordid mess of the former Palestine Mandate has left neither side innocent and criticism of the Israeli government should not be assumed as criticizing the Israeli state nor of giving the PA/Hamas/other militant organizations on all sides a free pass.

Ariel Sharon was prosecuted for not doing enough to prevent the massacre. He did not intentionally allow it to happen; he was negligent. That's a far cry from being a war criminal.

You appear to have skimmed over the OP.

 

[Mouthwash]

What's wrong with that word?

Length and inconvenience?

 

[Ajidica]

Ariel Sharon was prosecuted for not doing enough to prevent the massacre. He did not intentionally allow it to happen; he was negligent. That's a far cry from being a war criminal.

If I remember the commission report correctly, he was found to bear personal responsibility for allowing the Phalangist militia into the camps and then failing to stop the massacre once the actions of the Phalangist militia became apparent.
While not a war criminal, it doesn't leave him looking innocent either and in America or most of Europe someone with that on their record probably would never have been seen again in national politics. That he stayed in the national government indicates that the ruling party believed voters cared more for his success as general of the IDF (which, it must be said was hardly sterling) and policies than for being found to bear personal responsibility to allowing a massacre to continue by an Israeli commission.

You appear to have skimmed over the OP.

How so? I couldn't confirm or deny much of anything you posted because the Haaretz articles have paywalls. What I could gather from the OP was that you really don't like the media outlets who took this story and turned it into some vile hate-piece calling the Israeli government the new Nazis with sterilization programs. I find those people nutters and there are far better things to criticize the Israeli government on that some rather murky circumstantial evidence. (That said, the Israeli government can do a far better job when it comes to transparency.)

 

[Quackers]

In Israel proper the situation isn't that bad (although there are still rather significant problems there) but in the territory Israel has de facto claimed in the West Bank, such as the settlements which even the US has called for a moratorium on due to both their damage to the peace process/territorial integrity of the future Palestine and the rather dubious legal/human rights grounds they are based on.

I've heard that many employers demand any type of service in the Israeli armed forces as a form of basic entry criteria. This, obviously, rules out the many Arab-Israeli's who are understandbly skittish about fighting their old countryman which might include their family or friends.
Still, the situation in regards to settlements doesn't prove or disprove discrimination. I'm certain there are many Liberal Jews who equally disagree with Israeli foreign policy; but you wouldn't say they're discriminated against would you? Or would you?

 

[Gucumatz]

Mouthwash, are you another MisterCooper-esique account by chance?

 

[Ajidica]

I've heard that many employers demand any type of service in the Israeli armed forces as a form of basic entry criteria. This, obviously, rules out the many Arab-Israeli's who are understandbly skittish about fighting their old countryman which might include their family or friends.

I was under the impression that except for the ultra-orthodox any Israeli citizen is required to serve in either the IDF or the Civil Service. While for some jobs it makes sense that they would require IDF service (say, bodyguard) it does seem rather discriminatory against those who chose the Civil Service if true.

Still, the situation in regards to settlements doesn't prove or disprove discrimination. I'm certain there are many Liberal Jews who equally disagree with Israeli foreign policy; but you wouldn't say they're discriminated against would you? Or would you?

I probably wasn't being clear, but I have no strong feelings one way or another with Israel's domestic situation and alleged racism. For all its faults Israel proper has a functioning and adequate justice system. IIRC the bulk of the issues emerge from determining whether a Palestinian has the legal standing to challenge the court or appeal a decision because they aren't Israeli citizens and they are not inside Israel's legal jurisdiction. Instead, they are in legal limbo.
It is because of that I would not be totally opposed to the Israeli government saying "Screw it, we're annexing the West Bank". At least then the Israeli government would have to take greater responsibility over the actions of the settlers/walls and apply their pretty decent judicial system and code of laws to the West Bank. Trying to have it both ways like the Israeli government has been doing-as attractive as it may be to the ruling party in the meantime- simply isn't sustainable over long periods of time.

 

[Formaldehyde]

Let's try considering where this story came from. Apparently Ethiopian Jews were given Depo-Provera, which is birth control that lasts for three months. Somehow, this was a coordinated scheme organized by the government in an attempt to Ethiopian birth rates low.

This story was first broken into the mainstream from Haaretz.

It was later retracted after the editors realized that the claim had pretty much zero evidence in favor of it.

So according to you, an article by a columnist that appears on Haaretz and is not even available for reading is supposedly a "retraction" by them? That the teaser you posted appears to state just the opposite?

Those on the ground who work with the Ethiopian community who first observed and researched the phenomenon and Gal Gabai, the excellent television journalist whose show “Vacuum” broke the story to the Israeli public, deserve credit for pulling the story...

It appears that both of these subscription-only articles are columns by individuals and do not represent the news or editorial policies of the management of Haaretz in any manner, shape, or form.

Haaretz actually made a minor correction to the story which was not a retraction at all:

The controversy still obviously remains to be unresolved and continues to be a point of contention.

SO STOP QUACKING THIS OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND THINKING THAT YOU COME OFF AS SELF-RIGHTEOUS, because it not only happens to be extremely offensive to Ethiopian Jews, but also all Israelis for suggesting that THEY COME FROM A RACIST SOCIETY. WHICH, IN RETROSPECT, SHOULD HAVE BEEN OBVIOUS TO PEOPLE WHO DON'T CATEGORIZE ENTIRE NATIONS AS ONTOLOGICALLY BASIC MENTAL THINGS. GAME OVER.

Freedom of speech triumphs yet again, this time in caps. "Game over".

Mouthwash, are you another MisterCooper-esique account by chance?

One really has to wonder...

So what is the current status as of this month:

Ethiopian-Israelis Make Waves in New Homeland

Thursday, June 6, 2013

In December 2012, a television exposé by Israeli journalist Gal Gabbay featured numerous Ethiopian-Israelis testifying that they were coerced into taking birth control during their immigration. Today, Tamano-Shata is spearheading the government's investigation of reproductive health services for Ethiopian women.

The Association of Civil Rights in Israel, based in Tel Aviv, says its research found evidence of a nationwide policy of monitoring fertility in the Ethiopian community and coercing women to take birth control injections called Depo-Provera.

Government investigations have yet to yield any conclusive results. But since January, the Israeli Health Ministry has ordered doctors across the country to review how they prescribe birth control and not to renew Depo-Provera prescriptions unless they are sure the patient thoroughly understands the ramifications.

In 2012 the first Ethiopian-Israeli to serve in the Foreign Ministry, Belaynesh Zevadia, became the Israeli ambassador to Ethiopia.

"We start with one," Zevadia said in a recent phone interview. "We will continue to see more and more. Ethiopian-Israeli women are working very hard. Our community has a lot of problems, yes, but we ourselves are the solution."

Still, prominent Ethiopian women have plenty to worry about. An estimated 65 percent of Ethiopian-Israeli children live in poverty, according to recent reports by the State Comptroller's Office, the official watchdog agency.

Just weeks ago, in his comprehensive 2013 report about the status of Ethiopian Jews in Israel, State Comptroller Joseph Shapira criticized mismanagement of programs to help Ethiopian-Israelis, especially in education. Ethiopian-Israeli students have higher dropout rates and lower enrollment rates than their peers. Shapira referred to the government's program to help Ethiopians acquire homes as "a huge failure."

According to Shapira, the diverse programs for Ethiopians lack oversight, efficient resource management and clear ways to measure success. Shapira informed the government that it has been wasting funds and not learning from mistakes.

"The figures [in Shapira's report] clearly show the failure of the program, or the lack of will by the state to implement the program," says Knesset Member Tamano-Shata.

 

[Lord of Elves]

Length and inconvenience?

You sure have a broad definition of what inconveniences you.

 

[Traitorfish]

I'm not sure why the Palestinians are coming into this, but I'd like to point out that Arabs in Israel proper do even better economically than Ethiopian Jews, and that the Palestinians in the West Bank had one of the highest standards of living in the Middle East until the First Intifada. In 1967 they had zero universities; now they have seven. I'm not sure why the hell you're attempting to construct another racist narrative, because those don't really end well for you.

I dunno, constructing racist narratives worked out pretty well for the Israeli establishment.


ba-dum-TISH

 

[Mouthwash]

So according to you, an article by a columnist that appears on Haaretz and is not even available for reading is supposedly a "retraction" by them? That the teaser you posted appears to state just the opposite?

Actually, you can sign up for a free trial and view 10 articles. I said "mainstream" media source.

It appears that both of these subscription-only articles are columns by individuals and do not represent the news or editorial policies of the management of Haaretz in any manner, shape, or form.

When did I claim that the articles represented the news or editorial policies of the management of Haaretz? Of course they're by separate journalists. They weren't arguing against each other, the second story pretty much trashed the first one. There is no debate that the state has deliberately attempted to keep the Ethiopian population low anymore, if that's what you're imagining.

First article:

An inconceivable crime.

It's hard to believe, but in Israel, in 2012, Ethiopian women are forced to receive injections of the Depo-Provera contraceptive. This injection is not a commonly prescribed means of contraception. It is considered a last resort and is usually given to women who are institutionalized or developmentally disabled. According to an investigation for journalist Gal Gabay's “Vacuum” documentary series shown on Israeli Educational Television, it is also given to many new immigrants from Ethiopia.

This is not the first or only case where the state has interfered in the lives of people who have limited means of resistance. And as in other cases, the system that carried out this policy is extremely sophisticated, so it is hard to find a specific person who is responsible for it or a signed and written order. But the televised investigation, conducted by researcher Sava Reuven, found that more than 40 women have received the shot.

Depo-Provera has a shameful history. According to a report by the Isha L'Isha organization, the injections were given to women between 1967 and 1978 as part of an experiment that took place in the U.S. state of Georgia on 13,000 impoverished women, half of whom were black. Many of them were unaware that the injections were part of an experiment being conducted on their bodies. Some of the women became sick and a few even died during the experiment.

There are many examples across the world of efforts to reduce birthrates among disadvantaged populations that lack the resources and the capability to resist. During the 1960s, the U.S. was concerned by the increase of the population in Puerto Rico. In 1965, it was reported that 34 percent of Puerto Rican mothers aged 20 to 49 had been sterilized.

The injections given to Ethiopian women are part and parcel of the overall Israeli attitude toward this wave of immigrants. During the 1980s and 1990s, thousands of Ethiopian Jews spent months or years in transit camps in Ethiopia and Sudan. Hundreds died en route to Israel simply because a country that is supposed to be a safe haven for Jews decided the time wasn’t right, they couldn’t all be absorbed together or they weren’t Jewish enough – who had heard of black Jews?

In transit camps today, future immigrants enter a horrifying bureaucratic entanglement, which gives them the burden of proving they are worthy of arriving in Israel. As in the past, those who arrive here are not quickly released from the grasp of state institutions. They continue to receive “treatment” in absorption centers, where the children are sent to religious boarding schools and included in special education frameworks, while the parents stay in ghettos and the women continue to receive injections. We are told there is no choice. The repressive, racist and paternalistic policies continue unhindered – policies that are supposedly in the best interests of the immigrants, who don’t know what is best for them.

This policy of total control over their lives, which starts while they are still in Ethiopia, is unique to immigrants from that country and does not allow them to adjust to Israel. Using the excuse that they need to be prepared for a modern country, they are brainwashed and made to remain dependent on the state absorption institutions.

The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee said the claims the women made in the investigation were nonsense. This reminded me of some other women who spoke nonsense, such as the mothers of the kidnapped Yemenite children or the Moroccan women who underwent “treatment” for ringworm. To this day, their words are dismissed as nonsense. If they tried to sterilize me or take my children away, I think I would be talking nonsense too.

Second article:

Ethiopian women and birth control: when a scoop becomes a smear.

The story of the dramatic drop in the birthrates of the Ethiopian Israeli community over the past decade and why it happened was a story that needed to be told. Those on the ground who work with the Ethiopian community who first observed and researched the phenomenon and Gal Gabai, the excellent television journalist whose show “Vacuum” broke the story to the Israeli public, deserve credit for pulling the story out of the realm of rumor and shadows.

However - as in the game of telephone, when the more a story is repeated, the more warped and distorted it becomes - the international coverage of this scandal is transforming a tale insensitivity, cultural condescension and, yes, perhaps a certain level of racism, into some kind of villainous genocidal plot of sterilization aimed at ethnic and racial cleansing.

What the original television program uncovered is an insensitivity to a traditional culture and imposing Western norms in what likely began as a well-meaning attempt to help families make an easier adjustment to the shock that was ahead of them when they moved to Israel and once they arrived. The stories women told painted a picture of being coaxed and strongly convinced that they should subject themselves to a Depo-Provera birth control shot every three months, without being offered other methods of family planning. They also recounted being told in educational workshops that Israelis had “small families” and that having many children in Israel would “make their life difficult.” Some said they were led to believe they would not be permitted to emigrate if they did not submit to the shots, others said that their objections to receiving them were ignored. Some women said they weren’t aware the shots were birth control - they thought they were vaccinations, and others said their complaints about disturbing side effects were ignored.

It is the latest chapter in the history of clumsy stumbles the Jewish Agency and the Israeli government have made in their enterprise to move communities to Israel. There is no large group of immigrants to Israel, particularly from Asia and Africa, who don’t have legitimate complaints of treatment of bureaucratic indifference and institutional inflexibility, laced with a heavy dose of cultural superiority and both hidden and outright racism.

Yes, indeed, the television story and the research on which it was based, found evidence that Ethiopian Jewish women, both while in transit in Addis Ababa preparing to emigrate, and after they arrived in absorption centers in Israel, were strongly encouraged to use Depo-Provera as a form of birth control. In Israel and other Western countries, this birth-control method tends to be restricted to those who are not mentally competent or responsible enough to take a daily birth-control pill. These Ethiopian women were clearly not encouraged strongly enough to consider other means of family planning, both when they began the injections in Ethiopia, and certainly later after they immigrated to Israel, their family planning practices should have been reassessed, not automatically continued. And certainly there was not enough careful examination of each individual medical case, causing suffering among those women with medical conditions exacerbated by the Depo-Provera.

When the story first came out as a result of the “Vacuum” broadcast in early December, it sparked a flurry of finger-pointing in various directions, as the JDC and the government all denied any executive decision to put Ethiopian women on Depo-Provera, and said if any such policy existed, the other guy must have done it.

The Jewish Agency, which is responsible for Jewish immigration from abroad, said in response to the first report that it takes a harsh view of any effort to interfere in the family planning processes of Ethiopian immigrants, adding that "while the JA has never held family planning workshops for this group in Ethiopia or at immigrant absorption centers in Israel, the immigrant transit camp in Gondar, as the investigation noted, was previously operated by other agencies."

Then, this past week, there was a ‘gotcha!’ moment, as far as the health ministry was involved.

As reported in Haaretz “a government official has for the first time acknowledged the practice of injecting women of Ethiopian origin with the long-acting contraceptive Depo-Provera. Health Ministry Director General Prof. Roni Gamzu has instructed the four health maintenance organizations to stop the practice as a matter of course ... Gamzu’s letter instructs all gynecologists in the HMOs "not to renew prescriptions for Depo-Provera for women of Ethiopian origin if for any reason there is concern that they might not understand the ramifications of the treatment.”

Gamzu’s action took place after a group of six human rights organizations requested that the Ministry “adopt a number of steps to ensure the practice will not continue” including “making enquiries about the medical condition of each woman and whether the drug is suitable for her circumstances, not to provide any injections without informing the women of the possible side-effects of the drug and providing information about alternative contraceptive methods” and “that a note be included in the patient’s medical records recording that conversation took place” and urged Gamzu “consider examining the background to the practice and to collect updated figures on the use of the contraceptive.”

It is was an appropriate action to take and his quick response was in order, so as to bring birth control in the Ethiopian community should be in line with the rest of Israeli women, making them in control of their decisions with full information as to the alternatives.

But the story has taken on a life of its own internationally. The words “forced” and “coercion” are being thrown around in the international coverage. Images of Mengele-level persecution of clueless, helpless victims being marched by force from camps to clinics to receive their injections have been conjured up, as the story has travelled from the Israeli media to the national mainstream media, to international and niche publications. The headlines run from the oversimplified to deliberately twisted:

Israel admits forcing birth control shots on Ethiopian women

Israel: Discrimination against Ethiopian Jews

Israel coerced Ethiopian women into taking contraceptive jabs

Israel Admits “Shameful” Birth Control Drug Injected in “Unaware” Ethiopian Jews

The most hostile coverage refers inaccurately to “sterilization” - conveniently ignoring the fact that Depo-Provera is a three-month birth control injection, for which women must voluntarily go to a clinic to receive the shots. It is insulting to the intelligence of Ethiopian women to believe that they did this for years at a time against their will. Certainly, if there was a nefarious plot to stop them from having babies, there would have been a more efficient way to do it.

I believe the women who told their stories to Gal Gabbai. I also believe that the vast majority of the Ethiopian women who received Depo-Provera were aware it was birth control and received it willingly, wanting to be in control of deciding when to get pregnant. And some of them - it is unclear how many - preferred being injected at a clinic rather than having to take pills daily in the presence of other family members - husbands or mothers or in-laws - who might disapprove of that decision. I also believe that those who did not want to receive the shots and truly wanted to become pregnant were smart enough to stop receiving them. At least some of the drop in these birthrate is attributable to access to birth control and control over their childbearing that these women wanted.

What is likely true - and needs to be urgently corrected, is that those who do want to practice birth control understand that there are alternative methods that are safer with fewer side effects, and that no ethnic group, native or immigrant is ever systematically given Depo-Provera again.

As for those who suffered from negligent treatment in the past, it is appropriate for each women’s stories to be taken seriously and investigated, and if, at any point they were told that their immigration depended on receiving a birth control injection, that person or agency be held responsible. At the very least, these women are owed the respect of an apology; at most, compensation for their pain suffering if they received Depo-Provera for years and truly didn’t understand they had a choice about it.

But sadly, I fear that the frontal assault and demonization of the agencies who worked tirelessly to bring Ethiopian Jewry to Israel will lead to even stronger denials and defensiveness, which will only bolster the paranoid and hate-fueled conspiracy theories.

The victim in all this will be the truth - and once again, the Ethiopian women themselves.

Haaretz actually made a minor correction to the story which was not a retraction at all:

The controversy still obviously remains to be unresolved and continues to be a point of contention.

No, it doesn't, as I keep proving and you keep ignoring. Of course, I wasn't expecting you to try to refute any of those silly "argument" things.

Ethiopian-Israelis Make Waves in New Homeland

In December 2012, a television exposé by Israeli journalist Gal Gabbay featured numerous Ethiopian-Israelis testifying that they were coerced into taking birth control during their immigration. Today, Tamano-Shata is spearheading the government's investigation of reproductive health services for Ethiopian women.

The Association of Civil Rights in Israel, based in Tel Aviv, says its research found evidence of a nationwide policy of monitoring fertility in the Ethiopian community and coercing women to take birth control injections called Depo-Provera.

Government investigations have yet to yield any conclusive results. But since January, the Israeli Health Ministry has ordered doctors across the country to review how they prescribe birth control and not to renew Depo-Provera prescriptions unless they are sure the patient thoroughly understands the ramifications.

Isn't this what I said in the OP? Is there any real argument here that I glossed over?

In 2012 the first Ethiopian-Israeli to serve in the Foreign Ministry, Belaynesh Zevadia, became the Israeli ambassador to Ethiopia.

"We start with one," Zevadia said in a recent phone interview. "We will continue to see more and more. Ethiopian-Israeli women are working very hard. Our community has a lot of problems, yes, but we ourselves are the solution."

Still, prominent Ethiopian women have plenty to worry about. An estimated 65 percent of Ethiopian-Israeli children live in poverty, according to recent reports by the State Comptroller's Office, the official watchdog agency.

Just weeks ago, in his comprehensive 2013 report about the status of Ethiopian Jews in Israel, State Comptroller Joseph Shapira criticized mismanagement of programs to help Ethiopian-Israelis, especially in education. Ethiopian-Israeli students have higher dropout rates and lower enrollment rates than their peers. Shapira referred to the government's program to help Ethiopians acquire homes as "a huge failure."

According to Shapira, the diverse programs for Ethiopians lack oversight, efficient resource management and clear ways to measure success. Shapira informed the government that it has been wasting funds and not learning from mistakes.

"The figures [in Shapira's report] clearly show the failure of the program, or the lack of will by the state to implement the program," says Knesset Member Tamano-Shata.

What is this supposed to prove? That Ethiopian immigrants are poorer? I'm sorry, but that's not a point in contention. Black people in the US are disenfranchised as well (and something like 20% of all Israelis live below the poverty line). What was this even trying to prove, besides the ineffectiveness of Israel's affirmative action? Most of the Ethiopians are second or first generation immigrants from Ethiopia, which, possibly unknown to you, happens to be one of the poorest states in Africa. I wouldn't expect them eliminate poverty in 40 years.

I dunno, constructing racist narratives worked out pretty well for the Israeli establishment.

You're going to have to give me a little more than that.

 

[Mouthwash]

How so? I couldn't confirm or deny much of anything you posted because the Haaretz articles have paywalls. What I could gather from the OP was that you really don't like the media outlets who took this story and turned it into some vile hate-piece calling the Israeli government the new Nazis with sterilization programs. I find those people nutters and there are far better things to criticize the Israeli government on that some rather murky circumstantial evidence. (That said, the Israeli government can do a far better job when it comes to transparency.)

The entire mainstream media, from the Independent to Huffington Post, jumped on the story. You don't think there's something a little wrong there?