Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Rightsgroups slamInterior
offici
over remarkson illegal
workers
Yishai:Expulsion willleadpeople
policy to leave willingl
By RON FRIEDMAN The clinic, which providesmedical
carefor uninsured foreignworkers,
Human rights organizationson and others, was full of patients
refugees
Wednesday accused Interior Ministry coming to see the volunteer doctors
officialsof inciting
xenophobiafollow- who treat patientsfor everything
from
ing statements in the press from Interi- influenza to cancer.
or Minister EliYishai and Tziki Sela,the "We would like to be able to close
head of the ImmigrationAuthority's Oz down this clinic.We think it'sthe gov-
enforcement unit. ■■
ernment's job to take care of these
The cover of Ma'ariv featured an inter- people,not ours," said Ran Cohen
view with Sela, in which he lashed out IS 1m from Physiciansfor Human Rights.
againstorganizationsthat helpmigrant DEPORi/aTIO* "We think the government should
workers. "Theywant to bringabout the AGAINST U.M. take for caring for its
responsibility
destruction of Israel,"he said. inhabitants, especially
if we're talking
"We mean business. Take yourselves about people it permittedentry to in
and leave We
willingly. will give you the firstplace.
flighttickets. Leave. Return to your "When it'sconvenient, the govern-
homelands," he said, CHILD ment boasts of Israel'shuman rights
In reference to the 002,1
children of record and the great organizations
illegalworkers, whose deportationwas that it has. The government had no
immigration to Israel.
help stop illegal they are treated in day-to-day
life.She see Israel have?"
"The moment there is deportation,pointedto gap between the support Kav LaOved (Worker's Hotline),
or rather, an expulsion policyin place, she sees at anti-deportation protests and another nonprofit organization,sent
then people won't enter the country on the street, and the words of Sela and out response statement which read,
and more people will leave willingly.Yishai. "Sela'smiserable comments bringsthe
The moment there is no expulsion
pol- "It's easy to stir up hate and fear, delegitimization
campaign that the
icy,tens of thousands of peoplewill much easier than making rational argu- authorities are running against rights
in tourists,stay,take up jobs ments. But that is the way of dark to low, and display
come as
organization new
that belong to Israelis,and have chil- regimes. advise them to stop making basic misunderstandingof the role
dren. these types of statements and instead
these groups fillin democratic society.
"If workers made it in here,
000,003 face the legitimate publiccriticism that "It is out of deep concern for the
believe me, ifthere won't be clear pol- is beingheard in recent months." nature of Israeli societythat Kav
icy,the number will rise to million," In the wake of the comments, Physi- LaOved will continue tirelessly to
to act
he said. cians for Human Rights-Israel invited protect the rightsof allIsraeli workers
Shevy Korzen, executive director of reportersto their clinic in Jaffa,to see migrantworkers, Israeliworkers, Pales-
the Hotline for Migrant Workers, for themselves whether their actions in tinian workers, and asylum-
refugees
expressed dismay that such comments support of migrant workers are the type seekers and to advance open public
would come from senior publicoffi- of thingsthat are intended to destroy debate about the policyof arrest and
cial the state / ׳the statement said