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Pnina Tamano-Shata Israel’s First Black Female Ethiopian Representative in Knesset
“There is a large percentage of people with degrees in the community who struggle to find work in their own profession; there are still schools who don’t admit children because of their race; and the Rabbinate still makes things hard for the Ethiopian community. We need to amend existing legislation and at the same time work to legislate new laws to help society be more egalitarian.” ~ Pnina Tamano-Shata, (Yesh Atid ), first black female Ethiopian MK, (Member of Knesset)
Elected in January of this year, attorney Pnina Tamano-Shata has become Israel’s first black female Ethiopian representative in the * Knesset.
*(The literal translation of the Hebrew word Knesset is “the gathering”. It is the name of the single parliamentary house in the government of Israel responsible for passing all laws, electing the President and Prime Minister, (although the Prime Minister is ceremonially appointed by the President), approving the cabinet, and supervising the work of the government.)
Pnina Tamano-Shata, is a member of the Yesh Atid a new liberal Israeli political party, formed in 2012 by former journalist Yair Lapid, who now serves as Finance Minister. The party’s stated mission is to represent the interests of the middle class.
Attorney Tamano-Shata , born in Ethiopia, immigrated with her family to Israel at the age of three years-old. She has a law degree from the Ono Academic College, located in Kiryat Ono, Israel. It is an institution of higher learning similar to the US’ Historically Black Colleges and Universities, (HBCUs), as it educates a large number of the black Israeli Ethiopian Jewish community.
Pnina Tamano-Shata is the granddaughter of Kais Shato, one of the spiritual leaders of the Ethiopian Jews.
Ms Tamano-Shata previously worked as a reporter for Israel’s teevee Channel 1, the second oldest teevee outlet in the nation.
“When you work for the media you have to remain objective, and I often wanted to take an active part. I remember they wanted me to cover the big protest, against racism toward Ethiopians, in Kiryat Malachi. Other journalists would have seized the opportunity, but I chose to take the day off and protest with the people.”
This woman who selected her date of birth out of necessity due to there being no accurate formal records documenting her birth, spent the first few years in Israel with her family at a facility run by the Immigrant Absorption Ministry. In 1988, the family moved to Petah Tikva.
She has continuously been a part of that community; even today the first black female Ethiopian parliamentarian lives there with her husband and her two children.
This newest member of Israel’s legislative body describes herself as a boarding-school girl.
“When we came to Israel, the state policy was to send Ethiopian children to schools far from home, due to socioeconomic issues. My parents had very little money; we were poor and the move to Israel was not an easy one.”
Since the age of seven Ms Tamano-Shata has been a courageous pioneer for social justice; that is when she first became parents’ voice, standing up for their rights when people would cut in line or disrespect them. She was an activist while in law school, heading the Ethiopian Student Union, working to end discrimination.
She recognizes the vast responsibility of her position as a Member of the Knesset, (MK). There are some 150,000 people who admire her and have expectations she will bring about change while fighting racism and discrimination which sadly continue to thrive in Israeli society.
“I think we need to exhibit zero tolerance to discriminatory institutions, regardless of whether they discriminate against Ethiopians, Arabs, or anyone else.”
One of her goals as a member of Knesset is to secure legislation regarding equality and affordable housing. She expresses no apprehension about joining a coalition led by Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu.
“Bibi will have to form a coalition that will adhere to our principles. So far, Yesh Atid’s biggest achievement is in changing Israel’s political discourse – we’ve managed to make the prime minister put issues such as equal distribution of burden and the middle-class as a top priority.”
Congratulations to Pnina Tamano-Shata. Best wishes for success to her as she meets the challenges of a political career in Israel.
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