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<H1 style="LINE-HEIGHT: 120%" class=h1>Unprecedented Refugee March Sweeps Tel
Aviv </H1><BR>Thousands took to the streets after a week of hundreds of arrests
of asylum seekers who marched from Israel's new open-air prison <EM><B>-
<NOBR><FONT style="COLOR: #000">December 23, 2013</FONT></NOBR></B></EM> </DIV>
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<H3>Precis</H3>
<P>On Saturday, December 21st, an unprecedented demonstration took place in Tel
Aviv when thousands of African Asylum seekers marched through the city. The
previous Sunday, a group of 150 refugees left the open-air prison Israel has
newly constructed in the Negev Desert and began marching towards Jerusalem.
After marching for two days through Be�er Sheva and spending the night in a
small Kibbutz inspired by their actions, they made it to Jerusalem, only to be
met with Israeli police. The new jail, called Holot, is the largest prison for
refugees in the developed world, as The Real News' Lia Tarachansky reported in
the past. Following international condemnation, the Israeli government decided
to open the jail, saying it is not really a prison, however refugees must sign
in three times a day and must remain there at night.</P>
<H3><A name=Transcript>Transcript</A></H3><IMG
style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #ffffff 10px double; BORDER-LEFT: #ffffff 10px double; FLOAT: left; BORDER-TOP: #ffffff 10px double; BORDER-RIGHT: #ffffff 10px double"
alt="Unprecedented Refugee March Sweeps Tel Aviv"
src="http://therealnews.com/media/trn_2013-12-01/refugeesisrael12202013-240.jpg"><FONT
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 130%; FONT-SIZE: 130%"><FONT size=6>LIA TARACHANSKY,
PRODUCER: On Saturday, December 21, an unprecedented demonstration took
place in Tel Aviv, when thousands of African asylum-seekers marched through the
city.</FONT>
<P></P>
<P><FONT size=6></FONT></P>SPEAKER (SUBTITLED TRANSL.): Mr. Prime Minister,
once, your families were refugees and you were a refugee. Were you treated the
way you treat us? I'm a human being, but my skin is black. That's why you treat
me like this? Because I'm black? What is the difference between me and all of
you? I'm a human being and you are human beings. We are only asking to be here.
We are asking for asylum. We are not asking this to be our home.
<P></P>
<P></P>~~~
<P></P>
<P></P>MAHARENEH, ASYLUM SEEKER FROM ERITRIA (SUBTITLED TRANSL.): I am here
today because of the treatment I received in Israel. I'm not treated as a human
being. I came today because of what happened in Jerusalem. We weren't treated
well. They told us, you're blacks.
<P></P>
<P></P>INTERVIEWER: The police?
<P></P>
<P></P>MAHARENEH: Yes, the police.
<P></P>
<P></P>They say Israel is democratic, but I don't see democracy. There is no
freedom here. In a country that has freedom, you can't be beaten with force. I
want freedom to protest like in the rest of the world.
<P></P>
<P></P>~~~
<P></P>
<P></P>TARACHANSKY: The previous Sunday, a group of 130 refugees left the
open-air prison Israel has newly constructed in the Negev desert and began
marching towards Jerusalem. After marching for two days through Beersheba and
spending the night in a small kibbutz inspired by their actions, they made it to
Jerusalem only to be met with the Israeli police. They were all arrested.
<P></P>
<P></P>In the days since, more groups have left the facility, also marching
towards the center of the country. They were also rounded up and arrested. The
new jail, called Holot, is the largest prison for refugees in the developed
world, as The Real News reported in the past. Following international
condemnation, the Israeli government decided to open the jail, saying it's not
really a prison. However, refugees must sign in three times a day and must
remain there at night.
<P></P>
<P></P>Human Rights Watch issued the following statement:
<P></P>
<P></P>"Under international law and United Nations guidelines, Israel should
detain asylum seekers only as a last resort, on an individual basis, not as a
group, and as a strictly necessary and proportionate measure to achieve a
legitimate aim such as security."
<P></P>
<P></P>"'The Israeli authorities seem hell-bent on finding new ways to detain
these people,' said Gerry Simpson, senior refugee researcher at Human Rights
Watch. 'Officials should drop this charade of pretending that these extensive
restrictions are not detention, and genuinely release the asylum seekers, in
line with the High Court ruling.'"
<P></P>
<P></P>EMANUEL, ASYLUM SEEKER FROM ERITRIA (SUBTITLED TRANSL.): But there is no
difference, whether you imprison a person, whether in an open prison or
not--prison is a prison. What I know is that you imprison a person if he's a
criminal, if he kills or steals. But with no reason? For asking asylum? I came
here today to protest the new law that orders to imprison the refugees.
<P></P>
<P></P>TARACHANSKY: Since Israel completed the construction of its wall with
Egypt this year, asylum seekers stopped entering the country from the Sinai
Desert. Currently Israel is home to roughly 50,000 African refugees, mostly from
Eritrea and North Sudan. In 2012, the parliament approved the controversial
infiltrators law that allows for the detention of all asylum-seekers for three
years. However, after an extensive Supreme Court challenge, a new law came into
effect on December 10 forcing the refugees into so-called residency centers
such as the new Holot facility.
<P></P>
<P></P>The thousands of refugees who ran through Tel Aviv past its upscale
coffee shops and restaurants blockaded several major intersections.
<P></P>
<P></P>CROWD: No more prisons!
<P></P>
<P></P>SHESHA'HE, ASYLUM SEEKER FROM ERITREA (SUBTITLED TRANSL.): Every day
there's something new. One day they say they'll deport us to another country.
Then they say they'll deport us to our countries. Then they say they're putting
us in camps. That's why there's no democracy in Israel for Sudanese and
Eritreans.
<P></P>
<P></P>Someday these people's countries will change and they'll return to their
countries. But until that day, I'm asking the state of Israel, the prime
minister and the Israeli people, to receive us with an open heart. A human being
is a human being.
<P></P>
<P></P>TARACHANSKY: For The Real News, I'm Lia Tarachansky in Tel
Aviv.</FONT></DIV></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>