Arson attack targets African migrants in Tel Aviv

Two firebombs were thrown at the Tel Aviv home of African residents on Saturday night, Israeli daily Haaretz reported. It is the second such attack of its kind in the last two weeks targeting African residents in south Tel Aviv. In late April, firebombs were thrown at a kindergarten and apartments used by the African community. A 20-year-old Israeli resident of the neighborhood was questioned by police about the attacks and a protest took place a day later in the Shapira area to express solidarity with African asylum seekers. In April 2011, residents of south Tel Aviv marched in the area to demand that the government deport all illegal residents. Around 40,000 migrant labor workers and over 20,000 asylum seekers live in south Tel Aviv. In 2010, some 14,735 illegal immigrants, mostly Eritreans, crossed into Israel via the Egyptian border. In early January, Israel tightened its law on undocumented migrants, including asylum seekers, who now face up to three years' imprisonment, drawing sharp criticism from refugee groups and activists. The issue of immigration raises fierce emotions in Israel, many of whose citizens themselves arrived as refugees after World War Two's Nazi Holocaust.  the