News release
ARDC responds to racial incitement by Israeli journalist, Ben Caspit
The Israel Post and Jerusalem Post recently published a statistically and factually misleading article by Ben Caspit (“South Tel Aviv: Abandoned by the State”), a widely respected Israeli journalist, regarding asylum seekers and the abandoned and neglected southern neighbourhoods of Tel Aviv.
Whilst his article is littered with fallacies, ARDC debunks the top eight inaccuracies cited by Caspit in his inflammatory article. This includes, for example, his considerable inflation of the number of asylum seekers currently in Israel (despite the fact that the correct figure is publically available); his assessment that those fleeing Eritrea and Sudan cannot be legitimate refugees; his description of the ease with which asylum seekers can open a business; and his accusation that asylum seekers are the cause of the area’s general deterioration.
ARDC does not dispute the description of South Tel Aviv as a neighbourhood rife with drugs, prostitution, trafficking and crime.
Caspit, however, fails to recognize that both the long-term residents of South Tel Aviv and asylum seekers are victims of the government’s failure to act. Harsh government policies combined with lack of intervention results in exploitation and extortion in the work place and the rental market for asylum seekers.
Note –
Israel to deport refugees – Here is an article published in Live Encounters a year ago – Asylum seekers in Tel Aviv Special Report by Steven Beck, Director of Israel – Diaspora Relations- Be kind to the stranger for we were once strangers… LINK
marculyseas 