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Center trains Ethiopian-Israelis for high-tech careers

A technology training center for Ethiopian-Israelis trains dozens of students every year for high-tech professions, but many graduates feel disappointed in a state that still sees them as manual laborers.
Protesters, mainly who are Israeli Jews of Ethiopian origin, run at a main road in Tel Aviv as they block it during a demonstration against what they say is police racism and brutality, after the emergence last week of a video clip that showed policemen shoving and punching a black soldier May 3, 2015. Israeli mounted police charged hundreds of ethnic Ethiopian citizens and fired stun grenades on Saturday to try to clear one of the most violent protests in memory in the heart of Tel Aviv. Picture taken May
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In the last decade Israeli high-tech firms have become the most desirable workplaces in the local market. Their employees have the most promising careers and rewarding benefits. This work environment stands in stark contrast to the situation of Ethiopian-Israelis in the job market, with unemployment twice as high as the general rate and higher poverty rates than the average. Ethiopian workers are concentrated in the lowest paying jobs in the market.

Over the years, young Israeli-Ethiopians were marginalized. They were pushed aside by society, and turned into ''transparent'' beings, almost. This ongoing discrimination motivated in April thousands on these youngsters to go out to the streets and demonstrate. The extent of this rage, expressed also by violent clashes with the police at the heart of Tel Aviv, took Israeli public by surprise.

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