Black Panthers (Israel)

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The Black Panthers (Hebrew:הפנתרים השחורים, HaPanterim HaShkhorim) are an Israeli protest movement of second-generation Jewish immigrants (olim) from Middle Eastern countries, that is Mizrahi Jews. They were one of the first organizations in Israel with the mission of working for social justice for the Mizrahi Jews. They received the name Black Panthers as a nickname by Israelis based on the African American Black Panthers, and then eventually adopted it as their official name. They are also sometimes referred to as the Israeli Black Panthers to distinguish them from the African American group.

The movement began early in 1971 in Mosrara neighborhood of Jerusalem, in reaction to perceived discrimination against Mizrahi Jews, which they considered to have existed since the establishment of the state. The Black Panthers felt that this discrimination could be seen in the different attitude of the Ashkenazi Establishment towards the olim from the Soviet Union. The movement's founders protested "ignorance from the establishment for the hard social problems", and wanted to fight for a different future.

In the beginning of March 1971, the Israeli police denied the Black Panthers a permit for a demonstration; the Panthers ignored this decision and proceeded with the demonstration illegally, protesting the distress of the poverty, the gap between poor and rich in Israel, and the ethnic tensions within Jewish Israeli society. The movement successfully built a base of supporters, both in the public and in the media.

On May 18, 1971, "The Night of the Panthers", between 5,000 and 7,000 demonstrators gathered in Zion Square in Jerusalem in a militant protest against the racial discrimination. The demonstrators even demanded to change the name of the square to Kikar Yehadut HaMizrakh (Eastern Jewry Square). This demonstration was also held without police permission. The security forces which came to disperse the demonstration encountered an angry mob who threw stones and Molotov cocktails. Both police and demonstrators were injured in the clash; 20 were hospitalized, and 74 demonstrators were arrested by the police.

Prior to the demonstration, representatives of the Panthers had met April 13 with Prime Minister Golda Meir, who characterized them as "not nice people". She saw the leaders of the movement as lawbreakers and refused to recognize them as a social movement. The violent protest of May 18 brought the government to discuss seriously the Panthers' claims and a public committee was established to find a solution.

According to the conclusions of that committee, discrimination did exist against many levels in society. Following this, the budgets of the offices dealing with social issues were enlarged significantly. However, the Yom Kippur War soon changed the government's list of priorities, and most of these resources were turned, again, towards security needs.

The Panthers eventually moved into electoral politics, but without success, at least in part because of internal disputes and struggles. Some of the movement's leaders integrated into either the main Israeli parties specific, ethnic parties such as Tami or Shas, and through them promoted the Mizrahi Jews' agenda. Charlie Biton became a member of Knesset with the Israeli Communist Party and was re-elected four times.

The young Black Panther activists raised public consciousness to the "Oriental question" in Israel, which is today inseparable from the main agenda of the state of Israel. Since then, many Mizrahi Jews have entered the mainstream of Israeli politics, including Moroccan-born Amir Peretz and David Levy, Iraqi-born Benjamin Ben-Eliezer and Yitzhak Mordechai and Iranian-born Shaul Mofaz and Moshe Katzav.

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