_a.jpg "צילום רפרודוקציה: אבי מועלם")
'Violent youth - product of Israel'
Hundreds of angry Ethiopian immigrants mourning the death of youth stabbed by rival teen on street corner say State, media neglecting plight of their community. Association for Ethiopian Jews: 'Children aren't born with knives in their hands, their situation is a reflection of the collapse of the education system'
The government and the media were highly unpopular amongst hundreds of Ethiopian Israelis who came to pay their respects to the family of 17-year-old Adameh Tarikan who was murdered early Saturday morning in the neighborhood of Kiryat Moshe by a 16-year-old from a rival group of Ethiopian youths with a switchblade.
Police have not yet determined the motive behind the killing, but early reports said Tarikan's stabbing was apparently related to the settling of scores between rival groups.
M, a relative of the family who currently goes to pre-army prep school, said that Adameh was a good boy "who rarely left the house. At his age I barely left the house either."
Near the mourner's tent a young female soldier who is also related to the family said there was no point in talking to the media about the problems in the neighborhood. "The world knows what the problems are and does nothing. It's on the news for a day or two and then it's just ignored."
Rachel, a mother of three, said Israel's strict laws were to blame for the deterioration of Ethiopian youths as these do not permit using physical force against children in any situation and so parents often find themselves helpless. "Here people think that we beat the children but that's not true. I don't think that a little slap can do any harm. If we could educate them here like we did in Ethiopia this phenomenon simply would not exist."
'Violent youth – product of Israel'
According to a study released two weeks ago by the Israeli Association for Ethiopian Jews police opened 2.42 times more criminal records for young Ethiopian immigrants than the national average for the 12-20 age group.
In 2006 some 10 percent of minors serving time in prison facilities were of Ethiopian descent while they only made up two percent of the general minor population.
Kiryat Moshe, hundreds came to pay their respects (Photo: Michael Kramer)
Chairman of the Association for Ethiopian Jews, Danny Admaso, said: "Children are not born with knives in their hands. The fact that many youths find themselves in prison at such a young age indicates a collapse of the education system here, which has failed to understand the needs of immigrants. Almost a third of Ethiopian minors were born in Israel, this violent youth is a product of Israel. Teenage violence, regardless of which neighborhood or community it takes place in, is an expression of frustration, inactivity and distress."
'Kiryat Moshe is not Harlem'
Ababi Zaouda, a city council member and volunteer for an organization that strives to integrate Ethiopian youths into Israeli society, said that while there were still problems in city of Rehovot and specifically the Kiryat Moshe neighborhood, the overall situation for youths had improved over the past two years.
"Anyone who calls this place a problematic neighborhood is talking nonsense. This might have been true several years ago but now it's different, the neighborhood is on the rise," said Zaouda.
Zaouda said that the youth endangerment problem was nationwide and not limited to Ethiopian immigrants. "Instead of being sitting by silently, the government needs to give more funds (towards youth programs) on a national level.
Malko Solomon, chairman of the neighborhood committee, told Ynet: "I've known the victim since he was in first grade. This is a good boy, an excellent student who came from a good family with two working parents."
Solomon said that State-sponsored and voluntary groups have contributed greatly to integrating the community into Israeli society and the results are already evident. But despite this growing success, he said, the media insists on representing the residents of the neighborhood in a negative manner. "The press only comes here when something horrible happens, like this weekend. But when good things have happened here these past two years, nobody came."
Police Chief Shimshon Kvada, who commands the local police station, supported Solomon's sentiment. "For some reason it's popular to say that Kiryat Moshe is like Harlem, but I'm sorry to disappoint you – it really isn't. This is a calm neighborhood. There aren't gangs of youths looking for violence. There was an unfortunate incident but you don't have to project it on the entire neighborhood. In both Kiryat Moshe and Rehovot, police don't have that much to do."
