I doubt it's anything sinister. Haaretz removes and changes titles all the time. I don't think they're trying to cover anything up...other than the fact that Israeli society doesn't find this racism something to worry about.

Much self-censorship in the Israeli press is enforced by the Editors Committee, which is explained clearly on the Wikipedia page about it, here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E...(Israel)

A couple of years ago members of the Editors Committee met in Eilat and slammed Haaretz for being too pro-Palestinian. Immediately thereafter, then-editor of Haaretz Dov Alfon pulled an interview that he'd commissioned about the one state option. Alfon, who proudly identifies as a former intelligence soldier, never admitted that this was the direct cause, but the timing (interview commissioned, editors committee meeting, interview pulled with no explanation) leads me to that conclusion.

The reason for censoring such an article seems obvious: it makes Israel look less like a Western-style democracy, thus playing into the hands of those of us who want to point out that it indeed is not one. Israel's government has announced that it is spending many millions of tax payers' dollars to this end. Working against that goal is still highly transgressive among Israeli Jews - and that's the demographic which Haaretz editors fall into.

So an alternative explanation is that someone said: "hey, wait, that really makes Israel look bad - let's disappear it and maybe no-one will notice."
Kudos, Ali, for keeping a copy of David Sheen's fine reporting of this travesty.

@ Suha

Where was it mentioned the Sudanese are Jews or claim Israeli citizenship? They are mostly migrant workers who make very little working menial jobs. If you find it hard to sympathize with their plight, so be it, but don't cry wolf when South Sudan, and its citizens reciprocate such indifference.

As a Sudanese I am very disturbed and saddened by this ignorant outburst from certain segments of Israeli society. Its so tragic that after all that these refugees have endured they are met with such hostility. At the same time, I would like to ask those expressing their indignation, where they were when the Egyptians would shoot these "infiltrators" in the backs and murder them in cold blood when they were fleeing to Israel? And where they when the Sudanese government has been slaughtering its own people by the tens of thousands and the whole Arab world sat and watched with apathy? Sudanese refugees are treated no better in Cairo or Beirut where they are subjected to the same kind of racism, and even worse verbal and physical abuse at the hands of the local police and population. Where were they then?? All I have to say to these racist Israeli protesters is to look to their own diasporic history of refugeeness and I hope that those Israelis who still have their humanity and empathy intact to make a strong stand against these regressive trends

I definitely find the video disturbing but I also think you need to focus on the fact that there are maybe 100 people at the rally. Anti refugee feeling against Africans cannot be said to be widespread in Israel by any stretch of the imagination. Take the Academy award winning documentary Strangers No More about a Tel Aviv school that welcomes all and teaches tolerance. I prefer to focus on people like that. This is a small group of horrible racist Israeli's - not all of Israel. And I do not deny that racism exists in Israel. Of course it does, it's like anywhere else. Hell Jews hate eachother - look at the Ashkenazi/Sephardi divide?
As for Ha'artz, I don't by their excuse. Why take it down even if it wasn't newsy...they archive old stories, they don't delete them! Fishy for sure.

There is no greater sign of ignorance in my mind than racism. I am angry and ashamed at this group - but recognize that they are just a small group of ignorant fools.

Netanyahu: 'Infiltrators' Threatening Jewish State
http://www.jpost.com/NationalN...

African are hated everywhere they go, but the question is, as long as the world 1% stops to plunder Africa while causing wars, African will go home and live peacefully and enjoy their minerals...

I'm a resident of Tel Aviv and I'd like to set the record straight for those of you who are not familiar with Michael Ben Ari. In Israel, he's viewed by the vast majority as a radical provocateur, and nothing more than that. Most Israelis don't even know this demo took place, not because the media wishes to cover this up (on the contrary, Haaretz would be the first Israeli outlet to highlight a story like this) but because it's marginal. The protesters fail to acknowledge the painful subtleties of the story, and Haaretz probably realized this. Even those of us who agree with the basic notion (i.e. the government needs to tackle illegal immigration) do not agree with the provocative and thoughtless messages seen here. What I CAN say is that the illegal immigration from Africa to Israel is a GENUINE problem. It's not a racist issue. It's not because they're black. Few Israelis would deny that these immigrants are fleeing awful hardships, whether it's a violent conflict (although very few are actually entitled to refugee status), debilitating financial hardships, or compulsory military service, as in the case of Eritrea. Many have found jobs in Israel on the black market doing menial tasks such as cleaning or construction, but many are unemployed and have turned to crime. South Tel Aviv has become a hotbed of crime and it's damn scary going there. Israel is not equipped to take in tens of thousands of people who enter the country illegally every month through the porous border with Egypt. You may not like Israel's politics (and yes, I gathered from the comments that most of you don't) but forcing the story through a racial prism dumbs down the issue, and is very inaccurate. Just do the math - it's purely economic. This situation would be detrimental for any developed country, and Israel is no exception. That's all there is to it. Please don't give Ben Ari more exposure than he deserves. He's not worth it.

"They could have gone to south africa, europe or any other welcoming place but they chose to seek help from the state of israel and as such i find it hard to care for them. "

To Elias, inta insan ma 3indak la tayoog wala fahm. You simply lack any human empathy. When refugees are fleeing the horrors of genocide they will go wherever they can for safety. Do you have any idea about geography? Why would they go to South Africa as opposed to Israel? A lot of refugees chose Israel for a reason, and it didn't only have to do with its geographic proximity. Initially many made Egypt a temporary refuge but the vicious racism and violence from both the Egyptian police and society made their lives a living nightmare. Where was your sympathy then? Where were was your "sympathy" when the Egyptian police bludgeoned and killed Sudanese refugees demonstrating peacefully against their mistreatment? Da ismu nifaq, its called hypocrisy. They found infinitely better treatment in Israel, despite all its shortcomings, when you compare it to the bullets of the governments of Sudan and Egypt. Ya 3azizi al fadil, we have long stopped expecting any kind of sympathy from the Arab world which has for decades apathetically watched the slaughter of millions in South Sudan and Darfur in the name of Arabism and Islam...