Published: 25 June 2019
Last updated: 4 March 2024
JOHN AND LANCE are in the 7th grade at Tel Aviv’s Gymnasia Herzliya school. Both were born in Israel and grew up in south Tel Aviv, and their only language is Hebrew.
All of their friends are Israelis. They are members of the Israeli scouts are and excellent basketball players. Their lives and experiences are entirely rooted in Israel. And their future is also here.
When they graduate from high school, they want to serve in the army. They are the flesh of our flesh. They have no other country.
John’s mother arrived in Israel 20 years ago from the Philippines, and Lance’s mother 14 years ago. Both mothers entered the country legally to care for elderly Israelis. In the period of a generation that they have lived among us, caring for our elderly, their sons were born.
Because they dared to give birth in Israel, their residence visas were not renewed. A few months ago, the women were detained by the immigration police while waiting for a bus.
When it was found that their visas had long expired, they were offered a choice: immediate arrest for themselves and their children or they could sign a document “consenting” to leave the country.
FULL STORY Israel must head off expulsion of Filipino children (Haaretz)
Photo: Students and teachers at Tel Aviv’s Gymnasia Herzliya school stage a protest march against the expulsions of their Filipino classmates, Israel, June 17, 2019
