Ringworm affair
The ringworm affair refers to circumstances involving an alleged number of 20,000 to 200,000 Jews who were treated between 1948 and 1960 for tinea capitis (ringworm) with ionizing radiation to the head and neck area within Israel. The population suffering from the disease in Israel at the time was composed primarily of newly arrived immigrants and populations who were expected to emigrate, mostly from North Africa, as well as some from Middle East and elsewhere, but many Jewish children were irradiated in their home countries regardless of their intent to emigrate. The irradiation of Mizrahi children is viewed by activists in Israel as the most salient example of injustices encountered in the 1950s as a result of shortcomings or irresponsibility on the part of authorities in the absorption in Israeli society of new immigrants. A documentary about the affair, titled The Ringworm Children (Hebrew: ืืืื ืืืืืช, romanized: Yeladei Hagazezet), was released in 2003.
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