Thousands of African asylum-seekers in Israel and their local supporters gathered in south Tel Aviv Saturday evening to protest Israel's plan to deport them.
The Israeli government has given the migrants until April 1 to leave the country for an unnamed African destination in exchange for $3,500 and a plane ticket, or they will be incarcerated indefinitely.
The Africans, nearly all from dictatorial Eritrea and war-torn Sudan, say they feel great appreciation for Israel, coupled with dread over the looming expulsions.
Israel considers the vast majority of the nearly 40,000 migrants to be job seekers and says it has no legal obligation to keep them. Critics have called the government plan unethical and a stain on Israel's image as a refuge for Jewish migrants.
The demonstration took place in south Tel Aviv – an area that is home to the largest concentration of illegal African migrants in Israel, which over the past several years has seen waves of protests against the new arrivals by local residents, who complain that the large number of illegal immigrants has adversely affected their quality of life and led to an increase in violent incidents.
However, not all residents of south Tel Aviv are in favor of deportation, and some of the participants in Saturday's demonstration are members of a group called South Tel Aviv Residents Against Deportation.
South Tel Aviv resident Shula Keshet, one of the organizers of the anti-deportation protest, said, "I'm standing here, screaming in rage and protest at the consistent, yearslong stance of the authorities regarding the residents of south Tel Aviv. They tell us that deporting [the Africans] will rehabilitate our neighborhood. And I'm saying – the deportation will just make things worse."
Togor Omer Adam, an asylum-seeker from Sudan, said, "The old Israeli residents and we asylum-seekers all live in one community, and they are always trying to cause us to fear one another.
"I want to say something directly to my neighbors from Shapira [neighborhood] who are here today: I know that you don't want me to be deported. I know that you don't want anything bad to happen to me," Adam said.
Meanwhile, a much smaller group of locals staged a counter-demonstration in favor of the planned deportation.
The protesters calling to deport the illegal migrants held a memorial ceremony for Esther Galili, who was murdered by a Sudanese citizen.
Shefi Paz, a leader in the fight to have African migrants deported, said, "The infiltrators have stolen our sense of safety and our freedom of movement. The left-wing organizations are stealing our identity and backing this absurdity – limiting the human rights of the residents of south Tel Aviv."
