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Against separation: Opening of a special school for Ethiopian children in Rehovot is an admission of failure
Today's festive opening of a special school for Ethiopian children in Rehovot, to be attended by the president as well as activists from the Fidel educational association, is, in essence, an admission of failure when it comes to the absorption of Ethiopian immigrants - despite the association's tremendous efforts over the past decade.
Fidel (which means education in Amharic) was established in 1996 by veteran Israelis and Ethiopian immigrants with the goal of nurturing education among the community's children. "Fidel's vision," reads a pamphlet distributed by the association, "is to involve the community of immigrants from Ethiopia living in Israel in shaping the face of society and educational and social activities in the State of Israel. The association aspires to enable each boy and girl from families that came from Ethiopia to reach their full potential in the mainstream Israeli education system." There is a very discordant discrepancy between this statement and the principle according to which the Hadarim school will be run - together with other similar schools which Fidel's leaders intend to open across the country. The message Fidel is sending right now by presenting Hadarim as its new vision is even worse than admitting a failure in absorption. It internalizes that failure, placing it on the pupils' shoulders and convincing them that it is beyond their power, or anyone else's, to integrate them into the society in which they live, and the society into which the vast majority of them were born.
The followers of this new segregation are influenced, among other things, by the multiculturalist fashion prevalent mainly among separatist African-Americans. They define integration in general as a failure, and extend this to the integration of Ethiopian children in particular. Indeed, integration has failed in many cases, especially where children from less-affluent neighborhoods are bused in every morning to attend more ambitious, stronger schools where they have difficulty finding their own place.
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Yet not all Ethiopian pupils drop out of school and many schools across Israel have succeeded in promoting talented Ethiopian children, nurturing them and providing them with the tools they need to further their successful integration. The rate of Ethiopian immigrants in the Israel Defense Forces command courses, in the army's program for academics and in the universities and the Technion is far from negligible. Fidel itself has contributed to the advancement of many children of Ethiopian immigrants through higher education scholarships. Many of the association's current activists - social workers, lawyers and others - received support when they first set out on their way.
The sense of insult among parents and activists is understandable. They cringe as they see how, despite their best efforts, dropout rates for Ethiopian children remain high, and how the community's children are having trouble integrating because of the color of their skin. But the separatism they are now proposing - for which they will not be able to provide sustainable and adequate funding anyway - is a dangerous internalization of the system's failure. Worse still, it is an acceptance of the rejection and racism that compromise the process of intergration.
A wound turn inward is not the answer, least of all when it is carried out on the backs of children who, like all immigrant children, want to be like everyone else, despite everything. Fidel and its supporters need to confront Israeli society with the diversity of its dark-skinned children and, in the best interests of all parties, and according to what it took upon itself to achieve, the association needs to open the road to integration.
Source: Haaretz editorial. Against separation. Haaretz.com (24 March 2008) [FullText]
Fidel (which means education in Amharic) was established in 1996 by veteran Israelis and Ethiopian immigrants with the goal of nurturing education among the community's children. "Fidel's vision," reads a pamphlet distributed by the association, "is to involve the community of immigrants from Ethiopia living in Israel in shaping the face of society and educational and social activities in the State of Israel. The association aspires to enable each boy and girl from families that came from Ethiopia to reach their full potential in the mainstream Israeli education system." There is a very discordant discrepancy between this statement and the principle according to which the Hadarim school will be run - together with other similar schools which Fidel's leaders intend to open across the country. The message Fidel is sending right now by presenting Hadarim as its new vision is even worse than admitting a failure in absorption. It internalizes that failure, placing it on the pupils' shoulders and convincing them that it is beyond their power, or anyone else's, to integrate them into the society in which they live, and the society into which the vast majority of them were born.
The followers of this new segregation are influenced, among other things, by the multiculturalist fashion prevalent mainly among separatist African-Americans. They define integration in general as a failure, and extend this to the integration of Ethiopian children in particular. Indeed, integration has failed in many cases, especially where children from less-affluent neighborhoods are bused in every morning to attend more ambitious, stronger schools where they have difficulty finding their own place.
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Yet not all Ethiopian pupils drop out of school and many schools across Israel have succeeded in promoting talented Ethiopian children, nurturing them and providing them with the tools they need to further their successful integration. The rate of Ethiopian immigrants in the Israel Defense Forces command courses, in the army's program for academics and in the universities and the Technion is far from negligible. Fidel itself has contributed to the advancement of many children of Ethiopian immigrants through higher education scholarships. Many of the association's current activists - social workers, lawyers and others - received support when they first set out on their way.
The sense of insult among parents and activists is understandable. They cringe as they see how, despite their best efforts, dropout rates for Ethiopian children remain high, and how the community's children are having trouble integrating because of the color of their skin. But the separatism they are now proposing - for which they will not be able to provide sustainable and adequate funding anyway - is a dangerous internalization of the system's failure. Worse still, it is an acceptance of the rejection and racism that compromise the process of intergration.
A wound turn inward is not the answer, least of all when it is carried out on the backs of children who, like all immigrant children, want to be like everyone else, despite everything. Fidel and its supporters need to confront Israeli society with the diversity of its dark-skinned children and, in the best interests of all parties, and according to what it took upon itself to achieve, the association needs to open the road to integration.
Source: Haaretz editorial. Against separation. Haaretz.com (24 March 2008) [FullText]
Labels: Rehovot Education
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