'Ethiopian immigrants should be grateful to state'

Immigrant Absorption Minister Sofa Landver responds to protests against racism against Ethiopian Israelis.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Ethiopian protest Kiryat Malachi 311 (photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem)
Ethiopian protest Kiryat Malachi 311
(photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem)
Ethiopian immigration representatives in the Knesset should be grateful for what the state has done for them, said Immigrant Absorption Minister Sofa Landver (Israel Beiteinu) Wednesday.

Landver's comment came during an emergency meeting held by the Knesset Committee for Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs to discuss the issue of discrimination against the Ethiopian-Israeli community in Kiryat Malachi.On Tuesday, hundreds of members of the Ethiopian community took to the streets of Kiryat Malachi to protest blatant racist behavior publicized recently on national television.Immigrants' representatives responded to Landver saying that MKs are not doing enough for people in the community.RELATED:Ethiopians protest racism in Kiryat MalachiMK Molla to A-G: Investigate Kiryat Malachi racismThe uproar followed a Channel 2 news report that residents of a certain neighborhood in Kiryat Malachi had signed an agreement that no one would sell or rent property to Ethiopian-Israelis.Kadima MK Shlomo Molla called on Attorney-General Yehuda Weinstein to open a criminal investigation into the claims of racism in Kiryat Malachi.