Ethiopian bloggers join scandal over racist video about 'Russians' in Israel

Ethiopian community bloggers have joined the scandal surrounding a promotional video by KAN 11, where a bride expressed intolerance towards Russian and Amharic languages. They supported Russian-speaking immigrants, calling the statement racism. MKs Liberman, Beliak, and Sova demanded the video be removed. KAN stated the clip was taken out of context from a comedy show.

A scandal is escalating in Israel over a promotional video for the reality show 'Four Weddings' on KAN 11. In the video, one bride says she cannot stand Russian and Amharic languages, claiming they 'drill into her brain.' After a wave of outrage from Russian-speaking immigrants, bloggers from the Ethiopian community joined them. They called the statement racism, emphasizing that dislike of a language or other community traits is a form of racism. Knesset members Avigdor Liberman (Yisrael Beiteinu), Vladimir Beliak (Be-Yahad), and Evgeny Sova (Yisrael Beiteinu) demanded that KAN management remove the video and apologize. In response, the broadcasting corporation stated it opposes racism but that the clip is part of a comedy program where the bride also criticizes herself, and the host condemned her words. Ethiopian community bloggers also drew parallels with attitudes towards the Arabic language, noting that dislike of it should not extend to Arab citizens of Israel.