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Description: Penina Tamanu-Shata (born November 1, 1981) is an Israeli lawyer, journalist and politician. She is currently a member of the Israeli parliament, officially called the Knesset, for Yesh Atid, the centrist party in Israel, whose main focus is the economy. Tamanu-Shata was the first Ethiopian-born woman to hold a Knesset seat ever in Israeli history. Tamanu Shata speaks Hebrew, English and Amharic, the native language of Ethiopia.

Early life: Penina Tamanu-Shata was born in 1981 in the village of Wuzaba in Ethiopia, and in 1984, at age three, she immigrated to Israel through Sudan as part of Operation Moses. The Ethiopian-Jewish community was under threat from the Ethiopian government, and Israel conducted covert operations to bring the Ethiopian Jews to Israel. This operation was called Operation Moses, which was the covert evacuation of Ethiopian Jews from Sudan during a civil war that caused a famine in 1984. After being brought from Ethiopia via an airlift, Tamanu-Shata and her family first lived at an absorption center in Pardes Hanna, a town in the Haifa District of Israel. Even today, absorption centers are temporary living quarters specifically for immigrants, which provide a support and education, tailored to a new immigrant’s needs. They are located throughout the entire State of Israel. In 1988, at the age of seven, Tamanu-Shata and her family moved to Petah Tikvah, a city in the Central District of Israel, where she resides to this day. As a child, she felt “different,” and said that she did not have any friends. She also described that other children threw stones at her for being Ethiopian. Tamanu-Shata was educated at Ulpana Tzfira, the Carmit boarding school and ORT High School in Givat Ram, Jerusalem. She was recruited to the Israeli Defense Force in 1999 for her compulsory military service. After her service, she studied law at Ono Academic College, and became Deputy Chairman of the National Ethiopian Student Association. Tamanu-Shata was often involved in student protests against the discrimination against Ethiopian-Israelis. In 2002, Tamanu-Shata began her law studies while also serving as an instructor for at-risk teens in disadvantaged neighborhoods in her hometown of Petah Tikvah.

Military Career: At the age of 18, Tamanu-Shata began to compulsory military service in the Israeli Defense Force in 1999. All Israelis are mandated to serve in the IDF for three years. She served in the Home Front Command as an Operations Sergeant, the senior non-commissioned officer, monitoring and supervising the performance of the enlisted staff. Tamanu-Shata also sang in the Home Front Command from time to time, until an official band was formed during her service.

Career as a Lawyer: In 2006, Tamanu-Shata was chosen to serve as a public representative on the Israel Press Council, and in 2007, she received a license to practice law. Tamanu-Shata worked in this field for a short period of time before she began working in the media industry full time in 2008.

Career as a Social Activist and Journalist: Tamanu-Shata began her public career in 2004, after being elected chairperson of the Ethiopian Israeli Student Union. In 2006, she was one of the founders of the Headquarters for the Ethiopian Jews' Struggle for Social Equality, and led protests against racism and discrimination, mainly in relation to the discrimination of Ethiopians from giving blood donations, religious discrimination and the discrimination against Ethiopian-Israeli students in the education system. During this time Tamanu-Shata also began her career in the media world, and, in 2005, she began hosting the ‘Friday at Five’ news program on Channel 1 in Israel.

First Term in Knesset: In 2012, Tamanu-Shata left the media world and ran for the 19th Knesset on behalf of the Yesh Atid party. Yesh Atid is a centrist political party founded by Yair Lapid in 2012 whose goal is to represent the secular middle class in Israeli society. At 31 years old, she was elected to the Knesset for the first time, making her the only Israeli woman of Ethiopian origin to be elected to the Knesset. She was appointed Deputy Speaker of the Knesset during her first term. In the 19th Knesset, Tamanu-Shata was a member of the House Committee, the Internal Affairs and Environment Committee, the State Control Committee and the Special Committee for the Rights of the Child. Tamanu-Shata chaired the Knesset Lobby for the Advancement of Ethiopian Immigrants and the Lobby to Promote the Rights of Victims of Criminal Offenses in Israel, and was active in other lobbies, including the Lobby for Strengthening the Periphery and the Lobby for Strengthening the Jewish People. Her passion for this type of work came from the fact that Ethiopian Israelis account for less than 10 percent of the population while 30 percent of inmates in prisons are Ethiopian. She also headed the Israel-Africa Friendship Association and played a key role in the efforts to strengthen the relations between Israel and African countries, which there is now exchanges of delegations from Israel and African countries, and the establishment of friendship associations in Ghana. An Israeli consulate was established in Ghana in 1956, prior to independence. Ghana was the first country from Africa to establish diplomatic relations with Israel.

Departure from Knesset: Tamanu-Shata was placed 13th on Yesh Atid’s list ahead of the 2015 elections for the 20th Knesset, but lost her seat as the party was reduced to 11 seats. Between 2015 and 2018, she continued her voluntary public work outside the Knesset. During 2015 and 2018, she served on the Executive Committee of Transparency International–Israel. She also was a member of the National Economic Council and a member of a special public committee of the Government Companies Authority, which recommended the advancement of proper representation of disadvantaged population groups in government directorates. Tamanu-Shata also served as acting chairperson of a subcommittee of the Council for Higher Education, and as a member of the Jewish Agency’s Board of Governors. She continued her worked in the media industry, served as an outside director, headed the Social Division of the Israel Bar Association and continued to lecture before children and teenagers, and delegations in Israel and abroad.

Return to Knesset: On February 9, 2018 Tamanu-Shata returned to the Knesset as a replacement for Ya'akov Peri who had resigned following allegations that he had leaked information during a corruption investigation twenty years beforehand. She currently serves as a member of the 20th Knesset on behalf of the Yesh Atid party.

Discrimination of Ethiopian-Israelis In 2015 Tamanu-Shata was one of the leaders of the Ethiopian Israelis’ protests against police violence, and her initiative led to a government decision on the establishment of a special committee in the Ministry of Justice, which published the Palmor Report on reducing racism and discrimination in Israel, particularly against Ethiopian-Israelis and on policy change and measures to combat this trend. She also led a new policy for the integration of members of her community into mainstream Israeli society.

Blood Donation Incident: In 2013, Magen David Adom, Israel's national emergency medical, disaster, ambulance and blood bank service, refused to allow Tamanu-Shata to donate blood to be used, stating she had “the special kind of Jewish-Ethiopian blood.” The staff told her that she could donate blood, but her donation would not be used. In the past, many have claimed that Magen David Adom's refusal to use blood donated from resident of Ethiopian is racist. In response to claims of racism, Magen David Adom said they are only trying to minimize risks to blood recipients. At the time, Tamanu-Shata was filmed by a news crew during this encounter, and asked the Magen David Adom team to verify whether or not she met the criteria to give blood. After several minutes she was told she could give blood, but that it would be frozen in storage. After the incident, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu telephoned Tamanu-Shata and said that there should be a review of the criteria for blood donations by Ethiopians. The national blood bank said that members of the Ethiopian community could donate blood on the understanding that it would not be used. However, in some cases, where the donated blood is from a particularly scarce blood type, the portion is frozen for possible future use. The rules, though, which have been condemned in the past, drew harsh responses from figures across the political spectrum. Shimon Peres, then president of Israel, said, “It is forbidden that we should differentiate between blood and blood in the State of Israel. All citizens are equal. New regulations should be created to enable all citizens of Israel to give blood. The Ethiopian community is very dear to Israel, the real salt of the earth.” Peres died in 2016. Furthermore, Health Minister Yael German called the rules archaic. “I think it is absurd and unacceptable that in the year 2013, in the State of Israel, members of the Ethiopian community, who arrived here 25 years ago, can’t give blood,” she said. Sofa Landar, the former Immigration and Absorption Minister condemned the incident. “I can’t stay silent when in the 21st century, in the State of Israel, somebody dares to differentiate between blood and blood,” she said. Since the incident, Tamanu-Shata has worked to bring social justice to the Ethiopian Jewish community through her activism and speaking for the community on the Knesset floor.

Views on the Arab-Israeli Conflict: Tamanu-Shata is a member of the Yesh Atid party. Yesh Atid’s stance on the Arab Israeli conflict is to strive for peace according to an outline of “two states for two peoples”, while maintaining the large Israeli settlement blocs and ensuring the safety of Israel.

Awards and honors: In recognition of her social activism over the past decade Tamanu-Shata received the 2016 Unsung Hero Award from the Drum Major Institute, a non-profit American progressive think tank and community action group. President Reuven Rivlin and Martin Luther King III, the son of American civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. and President of the Drum Major Institute presented the award to her. In 2015 Tamanu-Shata received the Fellowship Award from the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, and she was also on TheMarker newspaper's list of the 100 most influential Israelis for that year.

See Also: History of Ethiopian Jews in Israel African Union-Israeli relations Journalism in Israel

References (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.knesset.gov.il/mk/eng/mk_eng.asp?mk_individual_id_t=905 Azulay, M. (2013, November 11). MDA reject blood of MK of Ethiopian decent. Retrieved from https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4464240,00.html Drum Major Institute. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.drummajorinst.org/ Hoffman, G. (2015, April 07). Yesh Atids Tamnu-Shata vows to continue fighting racism from outside Knesset. Retrieved from https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Politics-And-Diplomacy/I-cant-live-in-a-country-in-which-my-color-means-facing-a-glass-ceiling-396471 Israel, V. O. (2015, April 07). A Parting Interview with Pnina Tamanu-Shata, Israel's First Ethiopian-Born Woman MK. Retrieved from https://www.breakingisraelnews.com/35496/a-parting-interview-with-pnina-tamanu-shata-israels-first-ethiopian-born-woman-mk-israel-radio/ Ghana Relations with Israel Reported Closer Than with Any Country. (1958, February 07). Retrieved from https://www.jta.org/1958/02/07/archive/ghana-relations-with-israel-reported-closer-than-with-any-country Mualem, M. (n.d.). Ethiopian-born Israeli member of parliament firmly stands against racism & discrimination. Retrieved from https://ethiopiaobservatory.com/tag/penina-tamanu-shata/ Penina Tamanu-Shata returns to the Knesset. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/241879 (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.idf.il/en/

Background Information History of Ethiopian Jews in Israel Ghana-Israel relations Journalism in Israel Yesh Atid