Thousands protest discrimination against Ethiopian Israelis

Thousands of protesters demonstrated in Jerusalem against racism and discrimination against Ethiopians in Israel.

Some 5,000 protesters marched in front of the Knesset Wednesday evening before proceeding to Zion Square for a rally. They carried signs reading “Blacks and Whites – We’re all Equal, “Social Justice” and ” Stop racism.”

One protest organizer, college student Mulet Araro, 26, began walking Monday from his southern Israel home in Kiryat Malachi to meet the protesters in Jerusalem.

The protest comes a week after hundreds of Israelis of Ethiopian descent and their supporters demonstrated in Kiryat Malachi against housing discrimination. A residential committee of a block in Kiryat Malachi reportedly signed residents to a contract committing that they would not rent or sell to Ethiopian Israelis.