Skip to main content
NEU Senior Regional Support Officer
A state for some of its citizens: captured black soldier’s saga highlights racism in Israel
By Ramzy Baroud
DISCRIMINATION: Ethiopian men at a rally in Kiryat Malakhi, ‘City of Angels,’ in southern Israel in 2012 [Orrling/CC]

“FOR HOW long will I be in captivity? After so many years, where are the state and the people of Israel?” These were the words, uttered in Hebrew, of a person believed to be Avera Mengistu, an Israeli soldier of Ethiopian origin who was captured and held in Gaza in 2014. 

Footage of Mengistu, looking nervous but also somewhat defiant, calling on his countrymen to end his nine-year incarceration, mostly ended speculation in Israel on whether the soldier was alive or dead. 

The timing of the release of the footage by Hamas was obvious, and is directly linked to the Palestinian group’s efforts aimed at conducting a prisoner exchange similar to the one carried out in 2011, which saw the release of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in exchange for the release of over 1,000 Palestinian prisoners.  

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
STATE SANCTIONED: A violent mob of Israeli settlers in balaclavas attack and beat up 67-year-old Basim Saleh Yassin in the northern West Bank village of Deir Sharaf on January 8 2026
Middle East / 17 January 2026
17 January 2026

RAMZY BAROUD looks at how entire West Bank communities have been shattered, their social and physical fabric deliberately dismantled by Israel to enable its formal annexation

An Israeli Defense Forces tank is towed near the Israel-Gaza border, southern Israel, June 26, 2025
Features / 1 July 2025
1 July 2025

Israel’s genocide in Palestine and wars against its neighbours would be impossible without constant Western support — so we must amplify the brave voices demanding a halt, argues DR RAMZY BAROUD

Displaced Palestinians return to their destroyed homes in th
Features / 5 February 2025
5 February 2025
RAMZY BAROUD explains why, despite horrific losses and destruction, many Palestinians talk of return to their homes as a victory