Activist Sheffi Paz, who fought presence of migrants in south Tel Aviv, dies at 74

Right-wing activist Sheffi Paz, a prominent and longtime advocate for deporting migrants and asylum seekers in her south Tel Aviv neighborhood, has died at the age of 74, the Otef Tachana Merkazit group says.

Paz was recently diagnosed with cancer for the fourth time, after recovering three times previously, according to the civil organization, which says it fights illegal immigration and crime rates around Tel Aviv’s partly abandoned central bus station, where many thousands of migrants — mainly Eritrean and Sudanese men — are concentrated.

Paz, the daughter of Holocaust survivors who immigrated from Poland as a child, in 2013 started leading a local battle against the growing migrant presence in her neighborhood, arguing that the migrants are a source of violent crime, including rape, and that it was being tolerated only because south Tel Aviv is a socio-economically disadvantaged area.

Paz over the years orchestrated protests that included vandalism and trespassing, prompting criminal proceedings that on one occasion resulted in a 45-day prison sentence.

“Sheffi dedicated her life to the residents of south Tel Aviv,” Otef Tachana Merkazit says in a statement. “She was a voice for the silenced, forgotten people, and proved time after time that even a single person, armed with a truth and self-belief, is capable of shaking an entire country.”

“Sheffi sought justice for the neighborhood residents, and wasn’t willing to be silent in the face of the injustice. Even when she was persecuted, arrested and sent to jail, she continued to stand tall.”

In recent years, tens of thousands of African migrants in Israel have been detained, threatened with deportation, and faced hostility from lawmakers and residents. The High Court has pushed back against government plans to jail or deport the migrants, saying a solution in line with international norms must be found.

While many of the migrants say they are refugees fleeing conflict or persecution, Israel views them as job-seekers who threaten the Jewish character of the state.

The Africans, mainly from war-torn Sudan and dictatorial Eritrea, began arriving in Israel in 2005 through its porous border with Egypt, after Egyptian forces violently quashed a refugee demonstration in Cairo and word spread of safety and job opportunities in Israel. Tens of thousands crossed the desert border, often after enduring dangerous journeys, before Israel completed a barrier in 2012 that stopped the influx.