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An African seeking refuge and understanding finds neither in Israel

Mutasim Ali, left, seen during a recent protest in Tel Aviv's Lewinsky Park, is the public face of an estimated 55,000-strong African immigrant population that some in Israel wish would quietly disappear.

Mutasim Ali, left, seen during a recent protest in Tel Aviv’s Lewinsky Park, is the public face of an estimated 55,000-strong African immigrant population that some in Israel wish would quietly disappear.   (Kate Linthicum / Los Angeles Times)

Mutasim Ali, a spokesman for African immigrants in Israel, has a tale of terror and oppression that many officials don’t want to hear.

African immigration to Israel

African immigrants chant slogans during a January protest in Rabin Square in Tel Aviv. The Africans, mostly young men from Sudan and Eritrea, started crossing into Israel from Egypt in large numbers about eight years ago.  (Ariel Schalit / Associated Press)

African immigration to Israel

African migrants sit on top of a Holocaust memorial installation in Rabin Square during a January protest in Tel Aviv.   (Ariel Schalit / Associated Press)

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