Tsega Melaku

In February 2016, the Israeli Justice Ministry announced that the Israeli government had formed a new inter-ministerial task force to examine racism against Ethiopian-Israelis. The purpose is to create effective tools and methods to combat discrimination. There are three sub-teams within the task force, and Melaku will lead the one focused on raising public awareness of racism and enhancing the visibility of Ethiopian-Israeli Jews in the public sphere.

She is a community activist in Israel's Ethiopian community. She was active in protests against Magen David Adom's policy on Ethiopian blood donations. A scandal ensued when it was revealed that blood from Ethiopians was thrown away out of fears it would contain HIV. Israel's Ethiopian community of over 100,000 people is grappling with profound economic challenges. A study completed in 2012 determined that Ethiopian immigrants constitute the worst-paid population in Israel. Ethiopian immigrants earn 30-40 percent less than Arabs in Israel.

In 2008, when she was appointed to the position as director of the radio station Reshet Alef in 2008, she became the first woman and the first Ethiopian immigrant to hold that role. She described her goals for the station as breaking down "the elitist approach to culture in this country and make sure that everyone can get his say, not just those who are from Tel Aviv. I want everyone to be able to hold the microphone and speak out about issues." She is the manager and a presenter for an Amharic language radio show on Israel Radio’s Reka station. She has had a profound impact on the Ethiopian community, according to Len Lyons: "Under her direction, Amharic radio for the Ethiopian Israeli community has become an essential resource for education and social awareness.

Melaku was born in Gondar, Ethiopia, and left her family in her native Ethiopia to emigrate to Israel in 1984 at the age of 16. She recalls that her first defense of her rights in Israel was to insist on keeping her first name, instead of adopting the Hebraicized "Oshra", a name given to her on her arrival. "When we arrived in Jerusalem, we thought that the people would greet us with open arms", she remembers. "But when we got here, everyone looked at us suspiciously and did not believe that we were really Jewish. I was shocked too, because I had never seen white Jews before. It was ironic really because they thought that we were the ones who weren't Jewish."

Tsega Melaku (Hebrew: צֶגָה מֶלָקוּ ; born 1968) is an Israeli author, journalist, and community activist. She is the former director of Kol Yisrael's Reshet Aleph ("Network A") radio station. Before her disqualification from running in Israel's March 2015 election with the Kulanu party, it was expected she could become a Member of the Knesset.