HOLOT DETENTION FACILITY, Israel – Hundreds of African migrants have gathered in Israel’s Negev desert to eat matzo and recall the Passover story, mere steps away from a detention facility where they’re being held.
Friday’s symbolic Passover seder, a festive meal to be held by Jews around the world Monday night, was organized to draw attention to the plight of Israel’s migrants, who themselves fled persecution and conflict, yet face detention under the country’s infiltrators law.
Israel has struggled with how to deal with the African migrants, who number around 50,000 and who the government views as illegal economic migrants. It built a fence along its 130-mile border with Egypt, offered cash to migrants to return home, reached out to other countries to take them in and in many cases detained them.
The migrants’ presence has challenged Israel, founded in part as a refuge for Holocaust survivors after World War II. Some believe it has a responsibility to help the downtrodden, while others fear taking in so many Africans will threaten the country’s Jewish character.
