Kesher Talk

Jews in odd places: Ethiopia: But they want to get to Israel.

As Israel takes steps to bring some 20,000 Falash Mura to Israel from Ethiopia, the Jewish state is looking to American Jewry to help pay the tab. The latest moves in the saga of the Falash Mura -- Ethiopians whose Jewish ancestors converted to Christianity but who since have resumed practicing Judaism -- comes in the wake of increased lobbying by officials from U.S. Jewish federations, Jewish humanitarian groups and Ethiopian Jewry advocates. Advocates for the Ethiopians want Israel to accelerate the aliyah process, especially in light of the ongoing famine in Ethiopia.

Israel has been bringing Falash Mura to the Jewish state at a rate of about 2,500 per year.

Several Israeli media outlets have reported that the minister of immigrant absorption, Tzipi Livni, disparaged the idea of bringing the Falash Mura. She reportedly dismissed them during a ministerial meeting as "Christians from Africa," despite their apparent return to the Jewish fold. Following several days of controversy, however, a spokesman for the absorption ministry denied that Livni had made the controversial remarks at the closed meeting.

The minister was jeered at a Jerusalem protest this week involving 2,000 Ethiopian Jews now living in Israel. "Tzipi Livni, don't discriminate against us," the demonstrators shouted, according to the event's organizer, Avraham Neguise.

Interestingly, some Ethiopian officals agree with Livni.

But the Israeli foreign minister, in early January, stepped up the timetable, saying Israel would begin moving the last of the Ethiopian Jews to Israel this month. Silvan Shalom announced the start of the plan at a news conference following talks with top Ethiopian officials in the capital, Addis Ababa. It is unclear how many people will participate.

The last mass emigration of Ethiopian Jews to Israel was in 1991.

posted by William @ 1/19/2004 08:08:00 AM