No, they aren't anarchists and they don't want to be. The young Ethiopian Israelis aren't protesting out of a desire to question the existing order. All they want is to be allowed to become an integral part of it.
The protests have an anti-establishment look and sound. Tires are burned, roads are blocked, rocks are thrown, and civilians are hurt โ not exactly a winning tactic if they want consensus approval. But if we listen closely, we'll hear these young people telling the Israeli public: "Accept us, already! We're just like you." They want a chance to integrate into the mainstream, not stay on the sidelines.
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They want to be soldiers and commanders and lawyers and doctors and engineers. True, they chose to speak to Israeli society using the language of outsiders, but their ultimate goal is to be completely regular, like most of us. They've been saying so for years, and no one listened.
They are begging for a chance to be in the middle, to take out a mortgage and study at university, so simply be a part of the fabric of society. They aren't rebels, essentially, they are and want to be regular citizens.
That is why they are so furious. It doesn't matter how much they try, how must they want to be all right โ something always goes wrong on the way, and the establishment gives them a painful reminder that they are not like us. They try, they do everything they are supposed to, by the book, and still no one is blind to the color of their skin.
In our collective consciousness, we feel that they are a part of us. There's that nice TV reporter, and neither he nor we ever mention the word "black." There are Ethiopian Israeli doctors and now we have the first Ethiopian Israeli IAF pilot. Musician Idan Reichel worked on that lovely project with them, and this is a small country โ how far can a group be isolated?
But they can spot the fakery. Because none of what we tell ourselves plays out in their day-to-day lives. The social obstacles, the cultural alienation, the suspicious treatment, the looks. From the slim chance of getting a job interview to the police car that slows down โ how far are they from the one guy who earned his pilot's wings?
Anyone who characterizes the protests as "leftist" is completely wrong. These young people don't want to set up any new left-wing movement. The opposite โ if we were to poll them, it's likely that most of them hold center-right political views.
All they want is to be given a key to Israeli society โ the main room, not a small utility room. They want us to allow them onto the main stage. For that to happen, they need to raise their own flag.
