why Ethiopian blood is rejected. Might be some other reason than racism.

It was a strategic mistake to bring Ethiopians to Israel...Israel is a homogeneous society and introducing Ethiopians risks to disturb the harmonious society that existed for so long...

In fact the whole article is trash. First of all, Pnina Tamano-Shata is not of Ethiopian decent, she is Ethiopian! She was born there! Secondly, it is not only MDA with strict guidelines for donating blood. Do a quick google search and see who all is excluded. Most people from the UK cannot donate, as well as men who have sex with men! What's next, the gays are going to start screaming about it too?

It is quite appalling discrimation that is completely unjustified - for example South Africans can give blood although aids is rampant there - very high risk - I made Aliya from Britain in 1986 - the only mad cows that had been heard of were Catherine Ashton and Margeret Thatcher - and it is asounding that I am no longer allowed to give blood - this begs for a commission of inquiry.

The problem is that most people will only read the headline. and even then, the article does not clarify the issue much. If, as I have heard, they do not let British people donate because of the potential for Mad Cow Disease, then this is not just a black/white racism issue, but is a somewhat more reasonable decision based on history/disease risk assessment. When I go to donate, there are questions on the form which would prevent me from donating based on my having been in certain places or having engaged in certain behaviors. That is much less expensive than taking and then screening donations.

This is unacceptable. Pnina Tamano-Shata stand tall. Your blood is a Jewish as any of those who are racist towards if not more so. Don't stoop to their level.

As a Jew who has always defended Israel I am upset with Israel's attitude towards others. Perhaps the world is correct. Zion has become a homophobic racists state who use the Holocaust as an excuse to make world feel guilty. 65 years of war mentality, and religious zealotry have produced the opposite of what Judaism is all about.

I'm British, and MDA won't take my blood either. they think I might have contracted Mad-Cow Disease,!! Who's crazy???

Brits, French, Portuguese and Irish are also barred from donating blood, are y'all you gonna claim they're racially discriminating against Celtics too? Also people who have lived in Central Africa, southeast Asia and the Carribeans for a certain time are also barred from donating blood regardless of race/ethnicity. But nice try Israel bashers...

Fake post. Sarah B. of NY. did not write this post.

Australia has similar restrictions

I'm a white American and one of my parents died from Creutzfeld-Jacobs disease (prion disease). Since then neither I nor my siblings or even children can donate blood.

I tried to donate blood several times and was told that anyone that lived in the UK between certain dates in the 80'-90's (can't remember exact dates) cannot donate blood because of the remote possibility of have contracted Mad Cow Disease (Bovine spongiform encephalopathy) Usual false allegation of racism aimed at the Israel establishment

Israel has always been a diverse country with Jews from many different countries and cultural traditions (Ashkenazi vs. Sephardic/Mizrachi, hiloni vs dati, etc.) And there have always been periods of tension and adjustment.

The international safety guidelines recommend not using blood for transfusions for several reasons: anyone who lived for over a year in Central Africa since 1977, anyone who spent three months or more in the United Kingdom from 1980 through 1986, anyone who has spent five years in Europe from 1980 through the present time, etc. I don't think they would do the same to an Ethiopian Jew born in Israel.

"the special kind of Jewish-Ethiopian blood."? How many kinds are there? I fully support MDA and I agree 100% with Gershon Reed @ #4.

Israel is FAR from a homogeneous society. Just look around. There are people who trace their roots here back through many generations. There are people from other places in the middle east, from Europe, from Asia, from the Americas. And from Ethiopia. (And both legals & illegals from other parts of Africa.) These Ethiopians are Jews and belong here. Their blood, like everyone else's should be tested and checked, and then used or not based on the tests. People who have been in Britain for 6 months (I think) also are excluded because of (I think) fear of Mad Cow Disease, but even vegans who have been in Britain are excluded, and men who have sex with men are excluded, as well as prostitutes. Exclusions may be necessary or not, but explanations should be given.

... any number of people are barred from donating blood, for very sound reasons. It isn't just Ethiopians, either. Anyone with an auto-immune disorder; anyone with hemochromatosis; anyone who has had chemotherapy; anyone who has had an organ transplant; any woman who is RH negative and received rhogam injections during and after pregnancy; anyone who has ever had Hansen's disease (leprosy); anyone with psoriasis; anyone who has ever had gamma globulin shots for ordinary hepatitis; anyone -- of course -- who is HIV positive, or who tests positive for tuberculosis, or who has ever tested positive for Hepatitis B and/or Hepatitis C; anyone who has ever had a venereal disease .... there's a fairly long list of people whose blood cannot be transfused. Get over it. It has nothing to do with racism and a great deal to do with maintaining a healthy blood supply. In this case, the likely culprit is tuberculosis. You don't have to have it actively in order to test positive for it, and, sadly, most Africans do. There are other "dormant" blood-borne diseases which disproportionately affect Africans. Sickle-cell anemia and malaria come to mind -- testing positive, even if the disease doesn't manifest, is enough to bounce you as a suitable donor. Don't make more of exclusionary policies concerning acceptable blood donors than need be. Of course, anyone who wishes to receive blood from someone who tests positive for tuberculosis is free to stand up and be counted. As long as you waive your right to sue down the road, that is.

Nice company.

Blood is blood. It has no religion.

All donated blood is screened for disease anyway so why are certain people banned from donating? It doesn't make sense. Prion disease, HIV, hepatitis, tuberculosis - will all show up contaminated blood. Why is MDA rejecting donors???

Blood donations are stored in bags. MADA has tens of thousands of bags they must replenish every few weeks as they go bad. This means blood bags must be as cheap as possible. Taking tests for every bag would raise a bag's price to critical levels. Some tests would cost hundreds of shekels PER bag. Since for this reason you can't do blood tests you're left with no choice but to filter the population groups that give blood donations, and you exclude "groups at risk". This is done all over the world, including Europe and the US. The two main groups that are at risk are Africans and homosexuals. Homosexuals have a horribly disproportional rate of AIDS and HIV despite being 2% of the population. Africa as a continent is disease ridden and the most colorful diseases can be found there and many immigrants naturally carry them. For these reasons emergency organizations all over the world, and not just in Israel, must filter groups at risk instead of wasting thousands of dollars per blood bag to screen for every disease out there in the world. Is it unfortunate? Yes. Is it racist? No, It's based on merit, not race. It has nothing to do with your skin color but the geographic area of where you were born, or what activities you took. Is it necessary? Absolutely. Again it's not done just in Israel but everywhere else.

It s not a mater of race I m not Jewish coming from a country which was not affected by the mad cow so I was able to give my blood after having answered to some questions about my actual health and my previous illness

There seems to be medical reason. Why noise about discrimination