Ethiopian Jews, also known as the Falasha (immigrant in Hebrew) or the Beta Israel community, have a complicated, controversial, religious history. There are several theories as to the history of the Beta Israel community, the first being that the Beta Israel are the descendants of the entourage that accompanied Menelik 1, son of King Solomon and Queen Shiba. The second that they are descendants of the Jews who left the conquered Kingdom of Judah in Egypt after the destruction of the First Temple in 586. The third is that the Beta Israel were from the tribe of Dan. The third theory is the one Rabbi Ovadia Yosef subscribed to when he ruled that the Ethiopian Jews were Jewish and had a right to settle in Israel. Rabbi Yosef, Chief Sephardic
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Operation Moses began on November 18th, 1984 and ended on January 5th, 1985. During this short period the CIA and Israeli government flew 6,500 Ethiopian Jews to Israel from transit camps in Sudan and Ethiopia. The missions ended when the campaign became public knowledge, creating a divide in many families with parts living in Israel and others still in Sudan or Ethiopia. The follow up, Operation Joshua, was a small mission in 1985 which flew 800 more Ethiopian Jews to Israel to try to remedy familial divides. While many Ethiopians were eager to escape poverty and an anti- Semitic government regime, there have been questions raised about Israel’s motives for facilitating the exodus. Critics have wondered about whether the rescue missions were truly inspired by the religious desire to bring African Jews to the promise land, or whether the move was primarily political. It has been argued that the Israeli government facilitated the movement of people to increase the Jewish population compared to the Palestinian one and to bring in a supply of inexpensive labor. Critics have proposed that the airlifting of immigrants was a ploy to alter the demographics of Palestine, and served as a means of importing Jews to contested land en masse. These criticisms have also been discussed with regard to the second large wave of immigration in 1991 when Israel …show more content…
After undergoing the conversion ceremony, the Beta Israel are sent to absorption centers. The Israeli government claims that the absorption centers are a necessary stepping stone into Israeli society, but there are reports of the centers as being cites of forced assimilation, economic distress and poor living conditions. Shay Sium, an Ethiopian Jewish man who was raised in Israel, recalled that he understood his position as "Being black in Israel means you are treated as a second-class citizen" beginning in his time in the absorption centers. On top of having poor living conditions, the absorptions centers have unsuccessfully in enabling the Beta Israel to live successfully in Israeli society. 75% of Ethiopian Jewish families live below the poverty line, 2/3 of them are in need of assistance, and there are high rates of unemployment. Avi Maspin of the Israel Association for Ethiopian Jews acknowledges that “racism is a word that I have feared using until now, because I did not believe that it could exist in Israel in 2007, but the time has come to call a spade a spade. Israeli society is profoundly infected by racism and unfortunately there is no suitable punishment for racism in Israel.” A broader perspective includes that the Ethiopian people are forced to leave behind traces of their Ethiopian identity to be assimilated into
Operation Moses began on November 18th, 1984 and ended on January 5th, 1985. During this short period the CIA and Israeli government flew 6,500 Ethiopian Jews to Israel from transit camps in Sudan and Ethiopia. The missions ended when the campaign became public knowledge, creating a divide in many families with parts living in Israel and others still in Sudan or Ethiopia. The follow up, Operation Joshua, was a small mission in 1985 which flew 800 more Ethiopian Jews to Israel to try to remedy familial divides. While many Ethiopians were eager to escape poverty and an anti- Semitic government regime, there have been questions raised about Israel’s motives for facilitating the exodus. Critics have wondered about whether the rescue missions were truly inspired by the religious desire to bring African Jews to the promise land, or whether the move was primarily political. It has been argued that the Israeli government facilitated the movement of people to increase the Jewish population compared to the Palestinian one and to bring in a supply of inexpensive labor. Critics have proposed that the airlifting of immigrants was a ploy to alter the demographics of Palestine, and served as a means of importing Jews to contested land en masse. These criticisms have also been discussed with regard to the second large wave of immigration in 1991 when Israel …show more content…
After undergoing the conversion ceremony, the Beta Israel are sent to absorption centers. The Israeli government claims that the absorption centers are a necessary stepping stone into Israeli society, but there are reports of the centers as being cites of forced assimilation, economic distress and poor living conditions. Shay Sium, an Ethiopian Jewish man who was raised in Israel, recalled that he understood his position as "Being black in Israel means you are treated as a second-class citizen" beginning in his time in the absorption centers. On top of having poor living conditions, the absorptions centers have unsuccessfully in enabling the Beta Israel to live successfully in Israeli society. 75% of Ethiopian Jewish families live below the poverty line, 2/3 of them are in need of assistance, and there are high rates of unemployment. Avi Maspin of the Israel Association for Ethiopian Jews acknowledges that “racism is a word that I have feared using until now, because I did not believe that it could exist in Israel in 2007, but the time has come to call a spade a spade. Israeli society is profoundly infected by racism and unfortunately there is no suitable punishment for racism in Israel.” A broader perspective includes that the Ethiopian people are forced to leave behind traces of their Ethiopian identity to be assimilated into