[MakkabI]
July 27th, 2004, 05:41 PM
The town of Gedera has failed in its absorption of Ethiopian immigrants, with some 40 percent of the town's Ethiopian immigrants not having mastered Hebrew despite all having studied in an ulpan upon arrival, contends local Council Chairman Yaron Ben Nun.
"If a 28-year-old woman who has already lived here for eight years still cannot carry on a basic conversation in Hebrew, that is a problematic situation," he said.
Almost 2,000 of Gedera's 14,000 inhabitants are Ethiopians who immigrated over the last decade, and although most are no longer defined as "new" immigrants, they do not speak Hebrew well.
The local council blames the problem on the fact that the Ethiopians were almost all sent to live on two streets when they arrived. "They live in their own community, speak Amharic with each other, and don't interact with the local community," said one local resident, who asked to remain anonymous. "`Ghettoes' have been created here."
The local council recently set up two ulpans (Hebrew immersion courses) to teach Ethiopians the language, and three others will open in the coming months under the auspices of Mila Tova ("Good Word"), a joint venture between the local council, the Education Ministry and a local college, Ahva.
Ben Nun hopes that by 2005, some 600 Ethiopian residents will have attended the new ulpans. "My guess is that at first, only a few dozen will come," he said. "The ulpans will expand according to demand." He added that Ethiopian community leaders have been informed about the new venture in an effort to insure that as many people as possible hear about it.
But Asfa Matfin, one of the leaders of Gedera's Ethiopian community, is not particularly troubled by the language problem. In his view, that is one of the less urgent problems facing the community, as it is mainly older immigrants who have trouble with Hebrew. Far more urgent is the employment problem.
"Fifty percent of the Ethiopian immigrants who live here aren't working," Matfin said. "To obtain unemployment benefits, they must travel to Rehovot ... Why? Because there is no Employment Office here. We are powerless."
The local council's Absorption Committee has also been troubled in recent weeks by reports of Ethiopian girls in distress. According to data from the local welfare department, some 15 local girls are "in distress," and at least half are Ethiopian. Some, aged 15 and 16, are pregnant.
"This information has also reached me, unofficially, and I understand that this is a very problematic phenomenon," said a leader of the local Ethiopian community, who asked to remain anonymous. "These girls have apparently been sexually exploited. The parents lack the tools to cope with this. Many people in town know about this, but because of family honor and the cultural code, the matter is not talked about much within the community, and therefore, there is also no precise data on the subject."
Bat Chen Karni, head of Gedera's welfare department, said that the department is helping some of these girls, but others have refused assistance.
Gedera officials also complained that some Ethiopian youths have been involved in vandalism. "There is deep frustration among the youth," said Absorption Committee Chairman Dudi Koch. "The boys are frustrated because of the cultural gaps between themselves and veteran [Israeli] boys their own age. This community is being lost. We've invested in playgrounds and public parks, and they've been destroyed. There have also been cases of boys puncturing the tires of cars on Shalem Street. It seems that no one has done significant work to absorb these immigrants in a better fashion."
The Gedera police station opened only two months ago. Before then, said Ben Nun, there was one community policeman and a "patrol" consisting of a motor scooter. But the new station is being funded mainly by the town rather than the police - the local council "even pays for the policemen's mobile phones."
It is also paying rent on the station's current location, a local store, because bureaucratic infighting between government ministries has stymied the town's original plan of putting the station in an empty government building that used to be occupied by the Employment Office.
"But the price doesn't matter," said Ben Nun. "It's important that there be police here. Where there are no police, there is also no law."
"If a 28-year-old woman who has already lived here for eight years still cannot carry on a basic conversation in Hebrew, that is a problematic situation," he said.
Almost 2,000 of Gedera's 14,000 inhabitants are Ethiopians who immigrated over the last decade, and although most are no longer defined as "new" immigrants, they do not speak Hebrew well.
The local council blames the problem on the fact that the Ethiopians were almost all sent to live on two streets when they arrived. "They live in their own community, speak Amharic with each other, and don't interact with the local community," said one local resident, who asked to remain anonymous. "`Ghettoes' have been created here."
The local council recently set up two ulpans (Hebrew immersion courses) to teach Ethiopians the language, and three others will open in the coming months under the auspices of Mila Tova ("Good Word"), a joint venture between the local council, the Education Ministry and a local college, Ahva.
Ben Nun hopes that by 2005, some 600 Ethiopian residents will have attended the new ulpans. "My guess is that at first, only a few dozen will come," he said. "The ulpans will expand according to demand." He added that Ethiopian community leaders have been informed about the new venture in an effort to insure that as many people as possible hear about it.
But Asfa Matfin, one of the leaders of Gedera's Ethiopian community, is not particularly troubled by the language problem. In his view, that is one of the less urgent problems facing the community, as it is mainly older immigrants who have trouble with Hebrew. Far more urgent is the employment problem.
"Fifty percent of the Ethiopian immigrants who live here aren't working," Matfin said. "To obtain unemployment benefits, they must travel to Rehovot ... Why? Because there is no Employment Office here. We are powerless."
The local council's Absorption Committee has also been troubled in recent weeks by reports of Ethiopian girls in distress. According to data from the local welfare department, some 15 local girls are "in distress," and at least half are Ethiopian. Some, aged 15 and 16, are pregnant.
"This information has also reached me, unofficially, and I understand that this is a very problematic phenomenon," said a leader of the local Ethiopian community, who asked to remain anonymous. "These girls have apparently been sexually exploited. The parents lack the tools to cope with this. Many people in town know about this, but because of family honor and the cultural code, the matter is not talked about much within the community, and therefore, there is also no precise data on the subject."
Bat Chen Karni, head of Gedera's welfare department, said that the department is helping some of these girls, but others have refused assistance.
Gedera officials also complained that some Ethiopian youths have been involved in vandalism. "There is deep frustration among the youth," said Absorption Committee Chairman Dudi Koch. "The boys are frustrated because of the cultural gaps between themselves and veteran [Israeli] boys their own age. This community is being lost. We've invested in playgrounds and public parks, and they've been destroyed. There have also been cases of boys puncturing the tires of cars on Shalem Street. It seems that no one has done significant work to absorb these immigrants in a better fashion."
The Gedera police station opened only two months ago. Before then, said Ben Nun, there was one community policeman and a "patrol" consisting of a motor scooter. But the new station is being funded mainly by the town rather than the police - the local council "even pays for the policemen's mobile phones."
It is also paying rent on the station's current location, a local store, because bureaucratic infighting between government ministries has stymied the town's original plan of putting the station in an empty government building that used to be occupied by the Employment Office.
"But the price doesn't matter," said Ben Nun. "It's important that there be police here. Where there are no police, there is also no law."