From Correspondent Walter Rodgers
JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Thousands of angry Ethiopian Jews protested Sunday against an Israeli health ministry policy to throw out donated Ethiopian blood because of a fear of AIDS contamination. (782K QuickTime movie)
The protesters, charging racial discrimination, threw stones, branches and bottles at police outside the office of Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres. At least 30 police officers were injured.
Last week, the Israeli national blood bank confirmed a newspaper report that the bank routinely destroys all blood donated by Ethiopians.
Addisu Messele, a leader in the Ethiopian community, called for the resignation of Health Minister Ephraim Sneh. Sneh has said the rate of HIV infection among the 60,000-member Ethiopian community is 50 times higher than that of the Israeli population. Messele said about 300 Ethiopians in Israel carry the HIV virus that causes AIDS.
Leaders of the Ethiopian Jews had called for a demonstration to protest the policy, but it erupted into violence. (859K QuickTime movie)
At least 10,000 Ethiopian Jews tried to break into the prime minister's office, and the area outside resembled a battlefield. Israeli police tried to fend off demonstrators by dispersing tear gas and using water cannons. The police also shot the crowd with "a limited use of rubber bullets," said police spokesman Eric Bar-Chen.
One red-lettered sign was labeled "Apartheid in Israel." Its message read: "Although our skin is black, our blood is as red as yours."
The protest is the latest in a series of demonstrations by Ethiopian Jews who claim they are treated as second-class citizens in Israel and are discriminated against in housing and employment opportunities.
Ethiopian Jews began charging Israel with racism when Ethiopian clergy were rejected by Israeli religious authorities, after Israel secretly brought in tens of thousands of Ethiopian Jews in two massive airlifts in 1984- 85 and 1991.
After hours of violence Sunday, Peres met with some of the protesters. His office later announced that the government would look into Ethiopian complaints. According to Peres' spokeswoman Aliza Goren, the prime minister apologized for the blood bank's policies, although government officials knew nothing about it. However, Peres condemned the violent demonstration "very strongly," Goren said.
![[Imagemap]](/WORLD/images/9601/navbar2.gif){kind=small}
Copyright © 1996 Cable News Network, Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.
