A Racist Israeli Bus Driver to an 11-Year Old Ethiopian Girl, "Hey, You, the Monkey at the Back, Go to the Zoo!"
Racist Israeli Bus Driver Who Allegedly Called 11-Year-Old Ethiopian Jewish Girl “Monkey” And Said She Should Go To “The Zoo” Sued
Ethiopian Jews protest racism in Israel
April 29, 2014
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
"Hey, you, the monkey at the back!" the driver allegedly said. Then he followed the girl after she got off the bus and continued insulting her, asking "where is the monkey?" Then he lashed out against her again, allegedly saying, “go behave this way at your parents home – oh, I forgot it won't matter as they are monkeys as well, so why don't you go to the zoo?"
The mother of an 11-year-old Ethiopian Jewish girl has filed a NIS 139,800 ($40,300) defamation suit against a bus driver who last January allegedly used the his school bus’s public address system to call the child a "monkey,” chased after her and told her to "go to the zoo,” Ynet reported. The suit is also against the bus company the driver works for.
"How can a person humiliate her in front of her friends in this manner? She was crying when she told me what happened and said, 'Mom, I don't want to go to school tomorrow. All of my friends heard (about this) and will make fun of me,'" the girl’s mother told Ynet.
Last January, the girl was on a school bus with her friends heading to an extracurricular activity. At the end of the trip some of the girls were noisy and wild but the Ethiopian Jewish girl was not.
The driver reacted to the wildness by allegedly using the bus’s public address system to insult the Ethiopian girl.
"Hey, you, the monkey at the back!" the driver allegedly said. Then he followed the girl after she got off the bus and continued insulting her, asking "where is the monkey?" Then he lashed out against her again, allegedly saying, “go behave this way at your parents home – oh, I forgot it won't matter as they are monkeys as well, so why don't you go to the zoo?"
The Ethiopian Jewish girl and her friends fled in fear.
A teacher who was there and the Ethiopian girl’s friends reportedly confirmed her story, and the teacher made sure a different driver brought the girls back after their activity.
“[She] was simply afraid of the driver. She told me that she and her friends just ran away. [The driver] went off the bus and actually sought her out and called her and our entire family 'monkeys.' She told me 'Mom, it's because I'm Ethiopian,' her tears were mixed with anger too,” the girl’s mother said, adding that her daughter returned to school because of the support she received from classmates and teachers.
"In Ethiopia they told us 'you are Jews, get out of here, this is not your land and not your homes,' and there were even cases of assaults and burning of houses. All this time we felt only the land of Israel is our country and we thought we could raise our children with pride here. It's hard to encounter such phenomena here of all places, and this is not a rare case," the girl’s mother said.
The driver denies the incident took place.
"I gave my version to the police, it's all nonsense, I didn't say these things. People are trying to make easy money,” the driver told Ynet.
However, after the incident the manager of the bus company called the girl’s family to apologize and promised that the driver would no longer drive those children.
Three days later the driver alleged went to the school and asked to apologize to the girl. She refused to see him.
Ethiopian Jews protest racism in Israel
April 29, 2014
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
"Hey, you, the monkey at the back!" the driver allegedly said. Then he followed the girl after she got off the bus and continued insulting her, asking "where is the monkey?" Then he lashed out against her again, allegedly saying, “go behave this way at your parents home – oh, I forgot it won't matter as they are monkeys as well, so why don't you go to the zoo?"
The mother of an 11-year-old Ethiopian Jewish girl has filed a NIS 139,800 ($40,300) defamation suit against a bus driver who last January allegedly used the his school bus’s public address system to call the child a "monkey,” chased after her and told her to "go to the zoo,” Ynet reported. The suit is also against the bus company the driver works for.
"How can a person humiliate her in front of her friends in this manner? She was crying when she told me what happened and said, 'Mom, I don't want to go to school tomorrow. All of my friends heard (about this) and will make fun of me,'" the girl’s mother told Ynet.
Last January, the girl was on a school bus with her friends heading to an extracurricular activity. At the end of the trip some of the girls were noisy and wild but the Ethiopian Jewish girl was not.
The driver reacted to the wildness by allegedly using the bus’s public address system to insult the Ethiopian girl.
"Hey, you, the monkey at the back!" the driver allegedly said. Then he followed the girl after she got off the bus and continued insulting her, asking "where is the monkey?" Then he lashed out against her again, allegedly saying, “go behave this way at your parents home – oh, I forgot it won't matter as they are monkeys as well, so why don't you go to the zoo?"
The Ethiopian Jewish girl and her friends fled in fear.
A teacher who was there and the Ethiopian girl’s friends reportedly confirmed her story, and the teacher made sure a different driver brought the girls back after their activity.
“[She] was simply afraid of the driver. She told me that she and her friends just ran away. [The driver] went off the bus and actually sought her out and called her and our entire family 'monkeys.' She told me 'Mom, it's because I'm Ethiopian,' her tears were mixed with anger too,” the girl’s mother said, adding that her daughter returned to school because of the support she received from classmates and teachers.
"In Ethiopia they told us 'you are Jews, get out of here, this is not your land and not your homes,' and there were even cases of assaults and burning of houses. All this time we felt only the land of Israel is our country and we thought we could raise our children with pride here. It's hard to encounter such phenomena here of all places, and this is not a rare case," the girl’s mother said.
The driver denies the incident took place.
"I gave my version to the police, it's all nonsense, I didn't say these things. People are trying to make easy money,” the driver told Ynet.
However, after the incident the manager of the bus company called the girl’s family to apologize and promised that the driver would no longer drive those children.
Three days later the driver alleged went to the school and asked to apologize to the girl. She refused to see him.
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