BLACK PANTHERS

BLACK PANTHERS IN ISRAEL

 

The Black Panthers were an Israeli protest movement of second-generation Jewish immigrants from Middle Eastern countries. They were one of the first organizations in Israel with the mission of working for social justice for the Mizrahi Jews. Saadia Marciano, one of the movement's founders, chose the name "Black Panthers" in 1971 when Angela Davis, one of the African American Black Panthers, came to visit Israel where she met with Marciano, who then adopted the name. They are also sometimes referred to as the Israeli Black Panthers to distinguish them from the African American group

 

The movement began early in 1971 in the Musrara neighborhood of Jerusalem, in reaction to discrimination against Mizrahi Jews, which they considered to have existed since the establishment of the state.The Black Panthers felt that this discrimination could be seen in the different attitude of the Ashkenazi Establishment towards the olim from the Soviet Union. The movement's founders protested "ignorance from the establishment for the hard social problems", and wanted to fight for a different future.

 

This series of photos includes the founders of the 'Black Panthers' mouvement and those who grew alongside at the same neighbourhood.

The photographer Avshalom Levi grew alongside the activists from the black Panthers mouvement.