Promoting Tolerance Under Fire
I admit doing a double take when learning of the anti-racism training our Justice Ministry has been conducting with Israeli soccer teams. Who has time for this now?
Besides the challenges of war, there’s also that infamous subset of marginal but raucous fans who refuse to accept the reality of Israel’s deepening shared existence. But the Ministry’s National Anti-Racism Coordination Unit, established back in 2016 (following widespread protests by Ethiopian-Israelis against over-policing), nevertheless bravely chose the path less traveled and should be commended for it.
Focusing on clubs’ youth teams, the Unit’s new anti-racism training program has so far engaged with Maccabi Haifa and Beitar Jerusalem (as well as Hapoel Be’er Sheva). Each youth group reflects the adult team when it comes to inclusion: the former is a model of Israeli integration while the latter has absolutely no Arab players.
I prefer the Maccabi Haifa inclusion standard myself; either way, the active involvement of the clubs’ adult leaguers certainly serves as a positive role model. It was good to see that the Haifa encounter was attended by an Ethiopian-born Israeli player and his teammate from Niger, while the Jerusalem session included a player from Cote d’Ivoire and his Israeli colleague from the Ethiopian community.
True to Israel’s successful public-private partnership model for getting things done, the training sessions are being conducted together with the Israeli NGO Matzmichim. This civil society organization’s declared goal is “to prevent violence, pain and alienation” by creating “a safer and more encouraging environment” for Israelis of all ages and communities.
The program’s importance lies especially in the sport’s widely recognized status as “a melting pot of Israeli society,” in the words of the Unit’s director. Optimistic, she believes that the initiative can be “an effective tool in promoting non-violence both on the field and in society.”
Which brings me to society itself. After all, even overwhelming success in promoting tolerance among young athletes can’t substitute for the challenges of advancing inclusion and fighting discrimination in society in general as Israel enters its second year of war.
The Unit’s on that, too, achieving concrete results as it handles the myriad complaints that unfortunately keep on coming.
For instance: after an Ethiopian-Israeli soldier in compulsory service was called a derogatory remark by a reserve duty officer, Unit action led to the officer’s discharge by the Israel Defense Forces (even though he apologized). In another case, a complaint by an Arab-Israeli that employment agency employees hurled racial epithets at her resulted in both a lawsuit and an investigation by the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC).
Apropos: the EEOC is another Israel government gatekeeper fighting discrimination with real teeth for action. Legislated into law in 2005, it operates under the auspices of the Economy Ministry.
Discrimination complaints from reserve duty soldiers have particularly filled the Commission’s in-box, with more than 500 such cases since October 2023. To illustrate the point: the EEOC recently filed an unprecedented lawsuit on behalf of a reserve duty soldier, after a potential employer allegedly reversed its decision to hire him because of his extended army service.
By the way: the Commission advocate who filed the lawsuit on behalf of the reservist is a member of Israel’s Arab community. While that fact shouldn’t surprise readers, at least not of this blog, it should be noted for the record.
All of this is very encouraging, of course, but educating and penalizing are only part of the game. One of the best ways to show that inclusion is truly on the rise is to ensure that members of Israel’s various communities continue to reach the higher echelons of decision making.
It’s definitely happening. This was demonstrated once again by the government’s recent appointment of the very first Arab-Israeli woman to the supervisory council of the all-important Israel Land Authority. Deputy head of the Social Equality Ministry’s Minority Economic Development Authority (itself led by an Israeli Muslim) and a 14-year veteran of that body, her appointment is obviously well deserved.
Our time-tested sense of right and wrong when it comes to social equality clearly hasn’t been dulled one iota by the ongoing war. Israelis can be very proud of that.