The Malaysian Insider :: Features
The Malaysian Insider :: Features |
| Africans face uncertain Israeli future after perilous migration Posted: 22 Dec 2013 05:14 PM PST Six years on, he is married, a father and holds a coveted menial job in Tel Aviv. But a sense of security still eludes him, as one of 60,000 African migrants living in Israel who face indefinite jail time under a law parliament passed this month. Solomon, 28, got a rare work permit that allows him to earn $1,500 (RM4,900) a month as a school custodian. It is due to expire next month and may not be renewed - a situation he fears would expose him to police round-ups as an illegal worker. "I wanted to change my life (but) in Israel I am also afraid," said Solomon, who absconded army conscription in Eritrea in 2007 to make the two-month trip via war-ravaged Sudan and then Egypt. In Egypt's Sinai desert, he hid for two days while Egyptian troops fired at other African migrants, then successfully dashed into Israel. At the time, he was briefly detained by the Israelis and then released to Tel Aviv, the coastal metropolis in whose lower-income south many Africans have carved out a tenement network including clinics, cafes and churches. Israel's right-wing government has cracked down on the migrant influx, however, seeing a threat to public order. It fortified the Egyptian border fence and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to deport migrants in Israel. On December 10, parliament approved a measure to incarcerate migrants indefinitely in new desert facilities under construction, unless they voluntarily leave Israel. The measure describes the migrants - deemed by the government as job-seekers though migrants say they want asylum or safe haven - as doing "harm to Israel's social fabric and safety of its citizens". Human rights groups and left-wing politicians denounce the amendment to an anti-infiltration law as undemocratic. They have petitioned Israel's Supreme Court to outlaw it. In September the court struck down a similar law that enabled the jailing of migrants for three years. Israel grants automatic citizenship to Jews, while denying refugee or residency status to many others. Some social activists complain this is a result of discrimination while others cite a shortage of legislation governing immigration. Hotline for Migrant Workers, an organisation that advocates for the Africans, accuses Israel of pressuring hundreds in its jails to accept payouts and leave. More than a dozen left earlier this year for Eritrea to win release from prison. Israel balks at repatriating Sudanese and Eritrean migrants given the dangers they might face in their native lands, and has said it was seeking other African destinations for them. Despite the government's unwelcoming attitude, the left-leaning Tel Aviv municipality offers many of the migrants aid, such as welfare and education for their children. Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai scoffed at Israeli policy toward the migrants, saying on Israel's Channel 2 television in November, "can 50,000 people be a demographic threat? That's a mockery." "The truth is they will remain here. They are human beings and I must take care of them," Huldai said. A teacher where Solomon works arranged for him to be included in first-grade Hebrew classes. Swallowing his pride, Solomon attends, hoping language skills will open up new opportunities with which to support his 10-month-old child and his wife, a fellow African migrant who lacks a work permit. "What's the difference how old I am? I just want to learn," he said. "You just have to live your life for today. Who knows what tomorrow will bring?" - Reuters, December 23, 2013. |
| Boozy, explosive fun – the old Colombian sport of disc throwing Posted: 22 Dec 2013 04:55 PM PST It involves trying to hurl a disc into a tube surrounded by small bags of gunpowder. Tejo was first made popular by an indigenous people in Colombia called the Muisca, but is still played by thousands of enthusiasts in the South American country's Andean region. The atmosphere is festive, as drinking beer during the competition is common, and players and spectators alike enjoy local delicacies like beef tripe stuffed with rice. The disc, or tejo, is thrown from a distance of about 16 to 18 metres at a metal tube sticking out of a clay-covered board angled at about 45 degrees. Around the hole are four triangular pouches of gunpowder. The highest score is given for getting the disc in the hole and exploding a pouch along the way. Lower scores come from just scoring a detonation or getting the thing in the hole, or at least getting it close. The game ends when a player or his or her team – the game can be played one-on-one or by teams of two players each – reaches 27 points. "I play every weekend with my friends," said Javier Borda. He celebrates every gunpowder pop joyfully, as if it were a goal in football. Borda, of medium stature, has a hefty build but is nonetheless agile as he aims and throws the disc. "It is a sport that was played by the indigenous peoples that lived in what are today the departments of Cundinamarca and Boyaca" in central Colombia, said historian Luis Moreno, a tejo buff. Both men and women play. As in a discus throw, there is a rule as to how much of a running start players can get – no more than 2.5 metres. The game is just half the fun. A carnival atmosphere fuelled by beer and food surrounds all the play, watched by boisterous crowds. "Here, you make friends, drink some beer, enjoy the afternoon, get dirty with the clay and forget your problems for a day," said Roberto Alayon, who takes pride in his aim. Inviting spectators to join him in downing a beer from a case at his feet, he says he has had runs of 15 straight good shots in which he either got the disc in the hole, hit an explosive pouch, or both. If none of those feats is achieved, a point goes to the player who hits closest to the hole. The game is played both in rural areas and in cities in Colombia. Booze flows freely, and typical dishes are wolfed down: small intestines from a cow, large intestines stuffed with rice, and special potato dishes. "Here we eat a lot of vitamin ch," a cook named Hermilda says with a laugh. She is referring to pigs, known in these parts as "chanchos", and treats made from them like fried pork rinds. - AFP/Relaxnews, December 23, 2013. |
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