President Katsav: It Might Have Been Better If Ethiopian Jews Had Stayed In Ethiopia

Israel's President, Moshe Katsav, had this to say about Ethiopian Jews:

Israel may have been wrong to bring Ethiopian Jews to Israel, President Moshe Katsav said Sunday in an unusually candid comment. "At times I feel we did an injustice to the Ethiopian population by bringing them to the country," the president said after being presented with recommendations for fighting violence within society.

Katsav's remarks came after the Ministry of Absorption released data showing that during 2005 there was a drop of 11 percent in crimes involving youths of Ethiopian descent and a 10 percent drop in crime involving youths from the former Soviet Union.

The president also criticized the lack of appropriate care for youths who emigrated from Ethiopia.

President Katsav did not make the same remark about Russian Jews. I cannot say what President Katsav meant. But I can say this – corruption and repeated (and uncorrected) mistakes do not lead to good absorption. And neither does the bigotry so in evidence from both politicians and rabbis.

But, if history is any indication, Israel will not learn this lesson. The corrupt and inept absorption will continue, politicians and rabbis will not stop being racists. The price for this will be paid by Israeli society, which will have, for years to come, black people on its margins – black people who wanted nothing more than to come home after thousands of years of exile. And it will be paid by Ethiopian Jews, who came home to Israel only to discover the color of their skin is more important than their years of sacrifice.

Shame on us all.

Comments

I heard that the ethiopians aren't really Jewish.

[Neo-Conservaguy]

I heard that once, a long time ago, we were told to be kind to the stranger in our land, for we were once strangers too. Must not have been important enough to remember, or something like that.

[mibessarekha al titaallam]

we gott'a hand it to him .
this is true for many other communities .
the morrocans for example , who invariably did better going to France or Canada .
and many others .
one is left to wonder if Pres Katzav would have taken the liberty and daring to reflect aloud in the same manner and same conclusions about the much larger and no less violent raskolnikovean pravoslav aliya ?

[mibessarekha al titaallam]

to : anon who heared !
in any case , they would be so more than you , anytime of the day .

to : Neo Conservaguy !
those idiots you are trying to put some sense into, are animals . they are not jews . how did bilaam say ?
reishit goyeem amalek . that's what they are !
how did the prophet yeshayahu put it ?
Chapter: 40 Verse: 3
" The voice of one crying in the wilderness...."
what can I tell you ? Keep @ it ! good luck !

[Yochanan Lavie]

One of the main things that disillusioned me from Orthodoxy is the racism in the frum community. I never heard the word "nigger" or "shvartze" (both) said in anger until I became a BT. Full disclosure: I am not a bleeding heart liberal. I am a libertarian conservative. But I believe in Tzelem Elohim. BTW, how do the Ethiopians know that WE (whites) are Jewish?

[shmary (the other one)]

Sad, there is no racism. There is nothing wrong if these blacks are not Jewish, they are all in the image of God. However, do not portray them as Jews, when they themselves know that they are not Jewish.

It is sad

[C-Girl]

Shimon Peres, 1-8-85:
http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Foreign%20Relations/Israels%20Foreign%20Relations%20since%201947/1984-1988/33%20Statement%20in%20the%20Knesset%20by%20Prime%20Minister%20Pere

[Treifalicious]

Dammit - Didn't Rav Ovadia Yosef rule in the 1970s that Ethiopians Jews were just that - Jews - and eligioble for aliyah under the Law of Return?!?!?!

Moreover - are some of you telling me that because someone is of African descent or is from sub-Saharan Africa and have dark skin that no matter what they do (aside from formal conversion and even then...)they could never ever possibly be Jewish?!?!?

Maybe there should a a "Whites Only" sign over the entrance to shuls or better yet, over the Aron Kodesh. It seems this would clearly be a better reflection of reality.

[nachos]

Can I please have my foreskin back. I don't want to belong to this racist club!!

[Shep]

sh'chora ani v'nava

Counting from the back:

Blacks aren't really Jewish.

North Africans were living in tents, they should be thankful to be brought to Yisrael to work for very little money.

The Yemens look and sound an awful lot like Muslims... except for them there payees.

Hashem didn't send the Besht to the Italians!

[Neo-Conservaguy]

If you're going to troll, at least get the insults correct, you pasty white son of a convert. North African Sephardim are usually slandered by calling them cave dwellers; it's some of the Temani that were tent dwellers. The Temani look like the local Muslims for the same reason you look like Boris Yeltsin, but at least they still speak something close to biblical Hebrew, unlike the pidgin Hebrew/Yiddish from your parts of the world.

[mibessarekha al titaallam]

hear , hear ,
Neo-Conservaguy ,
yehei shemei rabba mevarakh !

Actually, I was being facetious, but perhaps I made my point better through misunderstanding.

[ben matityah]

oy oy oy
those lilywhite neshomos ,
diamonds in the rough true yidden
white white white , almost aryans
white almost like the beard of the rebbe .
and the love of science !!! what a dear authentic yidden , what did we say ? a diamond in the rough :
19-year-old convicted of murdering his mother for not buying him a PC
The Tel Aviv District Court on Thursday convicted Yivgeni Selastihin, 19, for murdering his mother for refusing to buy him a computer, as well as other items....
oooh yea , we need more of those dear yiddens

[Amanda Rush]

"Son of a convert"? Is that supposed to be an insult, because I'm a convert.
Seriously though, I don't see how racism like this can be condoned by the same people who tell those of us who aren't Orthodox that we should join the fold because it would be better for us.

Once the Falash Mura have underfone geirus al pi halacha and prove that they're continuing to observe the mitzvos, there's no query about their Jewish status.

About the Falashas though, because most never underwent geirus, thanks to left wing anti-Torah activist Israeli chilloni subvert filth in the 80s, they still have the status of "sofek yehudim", in the Ashkenazi world at least ie can't be counted for a minyan etc, a rachmonus on the poor black sods.

[Ethiopian JEW]

You F*king Assholes!! Shame on you for writing these kinds of remarks about us. YOU are nothing but stupid, Charah, flithy, NAZI cowards!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Adam]

They are Jews. Every rabbinical authority that matters has ruled that they are Jews. This matter should have been settled a long time ago. It's bad enough that the blasted orthodox rabbis forced these people, who practice a form of Judaism that's older than what adherents of rabbinical Judaism themselves practice, to go through the farce of the mini-conversion. Ultimately, what the rabbis say is, of course, irrelevant. These people will be finally be accepted as Jews primarily if the community of world Jewery accepts them - and it seems that, except for a small group of people who still live in the shtetl, this has happened.

[Azaria]

Who said Jews are whites in the first place?? Didn't Hitler select the jews in Europe by steriotyping and looking on facial features? Weren't jews considred to be less than a human because of the color of their eyes, hair and the structure of the nose etc..?
Why do you do the same thing to us?(Ethiopians and Arabic jews)? Why do you categorize us? Why do you call us names? Even the Temani call us Kushim now a days! (one wonders where they got that from!)
It's so sad and such a shame!

IT might have been better if Chabad and Haredim stayed in Europe or where ever the hell they came from!

[Tovala]

Wow,
How people think is amazing to me. It is funny how the Arabic and Ethiopian Jews even the bloody Lemba tribe in S. africa have more of a genetic marker of the original yehudim from Israel whereas the ones who discriminate the most against these two groups do not. Half cannot even prove they are jewish.
I think it is said how this issue exist. It is a religion and a people and we should be accepting of each other. There is no way Jews will be unified in this life time for the Moshiach to come if we don't get it together and not care what skin color each individual has, but of their kevana.. Thanks for the article.. Got to blogroll you
T

[NYC]

Looks Like you guys need an Ethiopian jewish martin luther king

[why Lord Elohim why?]

Let's see who descended out of these four sons of Ham. The Cushites name were changed by the Greeks to "Ethiopia," which is translated from the word "Athiop" which means "burnt-faced."
Mizraim's name was changed by the Greeks also to Egypt. Egypt means "black." Present day Egypt have been comprised of mostly Arabs since they conquered the land in the sixth century. This is how the Hamites (African people) became Islam. Most black Muslims refuse to accept this fact. The descendents of Phut are the ancient Libyans. Libya now is also an Arab-dominated land. The Caananites land is the Promised Land given to the Israelites.

And Cush begat Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one in the earth...And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel.

Yahweh has given the seed of each of the three sons of Noah, a time to rule. The Hamites ruled first, beginning with the Ethiopians. Nimrod, as stated earlier, was an Ethiopian.

Unto Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber,...

(Why was Eber, the great grandson of Shem, singled out here?)

...the brother of Japheth the elder, even to him were children born.
The children of Shem;...

(ALL of the descendents of Shem are called SEMITIC.)

...Elam, and Asshur, (the father of the Assyrians) and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram...
...And Arphaxad begat Salah; and Salah begat Eber.
And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg; for in HIS DAYS WAS THE EARTH DIVIDED; and his brother's name was Joktan.

Now we see the significance of Eber. Eber was alive during the scattering of the nations at the Tower of Babel. The name "Eber" means "to pass over" and it is translated to "Hebrew." Eber is the father of the Hebrews, not Abraham, as many people think. God gave Eber the tongue that was spoken by his descendents, and that is the Hebrew tongue. In Genesis 11 we see that Abraham descended from Eber. Abraham's seed includes the Ishmaelites, the Midianites, the Edomites, and the Israelites.

Abraham begat Isaac, and Isaac begat twins Jacob (Israel) and Esau. The birth of the twins were on "this wise."
(I always wanted to say that)

Genesis 25:21-26 And Isaac intreated Yahweh for his wife, because she was barren: and Yahweh was entreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.
And the children struggled within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to inquire of Yahweh.
And the Lord said unto her, TWO NATIONS are in thy womb, and TWO MANNER OF PEOPLE shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.
And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb.

Now remember, Elohim told Rebekah that there were two nations and two manner of people in her womb. We are about to read the first difference between these twins.

And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau.
And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau's heel;...

Esau looked different from the rest of Isaac's family. We know this because Jacob's features were not described. And for him to be the first-born, Esau had to have been a sight for him to have had to be described. At this time, I won't get into what went on between Jacob and Esau, and their eternal battle, but I will sum it up to present day.

The Edomites, (descendents of Esau) converted to Judaism in 125 BC by the Maccabees. They eventually formed their own religious sect called the Herodians. The Pharisees (to their own destruction) conspired with the Herodians regularly, to tempt Yahshuah. (Mark 12:13) At that time, the region of Judaea was ruled (thanks to the Romans) by the Herods. When the Romans laid seige to Jerusalem in 67-70 AD, King Herod Agrippa II, and his kinsmen, the Edomites (Idumeans), no longer called themselves by their name. They have been known as the Jews, since. But now that we see that Israel looked totally different from Esau, lets see if we can see who the Israelites looked like. In Exodus we read about the time when Pharaoh commanded that all newborn male Israelites be cast into the river. One Levite (a tribe of Israel) woman bore a son and she hid him as long as she could until she eventually obeyed Pharoah. She put her son in the river, but she put him in an ark first. This child was put in the river among flags so that it wouldn't move so that Miriam, his sister, could see what would become of him.

Pharoah's daughter found him where Miriam put him among the flags and SHE called his name MOSES, and she raised him as her own son. Moses lived as an Egyptian until he killed an Egyptian and fled Egypt. He came to a well in Midian, and defended the daughters of Reuel, the priest of Midian. When Reuel asked his daughters how they happened to water the flock so soon.

Exodus 2:19 And they said, An EGYPTIAN delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds,...

Now if Moses was white, or any other color than black, would Reuel's daughters thought that Moses was an Egyptian?
Of course not.

Now after Yahweh instructs Moses concerning his mission to deliver Israel out of Egypt, the Lord give Moses powerful signs whereby he would cause the Israelites to believe that Yahweh sent him. One of the two signs was featured in the movie "The Ten Commandments." The greater of the two signs was not.

Exodus 4:2-3,6-8 And Yahweh said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, a rod.
And he said, Cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent...

(This sign was in the movie(s), the next sign was not)

...And Yahweh said furthermore unto him, Put now thine hand into thine bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom: and when he took it out, behold his hand was leprous as snow.

Now why didn't Charlton Heston perform THIS sign?

And he said, Put thine hand into thy bosom again. And he put his hand into his bosom again...
...and, behold, it was turned again as his other flesh.

So neither Jacob, nor Joseph, nor Moses, looked "red" like the Jewish (Edomites) people, or white like the Gentiles, they were all black like the Egyptians.

Moses sister, Miriam, spoke out against Moses because he had married an ETHIOPIAN woman. This is what Yahweh did to Miriam.

Numbers 12:10 And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle; and behold, Miriam became leprous, white as snow...

Now if Miriam was white or "red," why did he turn her white. Why not turn her the same color as the Ethiopian woman since she made herself to be better than her. Miriam was ALREADY the same color of the Ethiopian woman, so he turned her white instead. Leviticus 13, mentions two kinds of leprosy, clean and unclean. Leprosy, is a skin disease, and the unclean leprosy is when blotches appear on the skin. Clean leprosy is when your skin turns white. On this note, I have to ask the Mormons, how in the world can Israelites, like the so-called Lamanites could have been cursed with dark skin when the only skin color curse that any Israelites experienced according to the Bible, was the turning of their skin white? Joseph Smith had a WILD imagination!

In Matthew 2, Joseph, Miriam, and Yahshua, fled from Herod, the Edomite king of Judaea and hid in Egypt among other black people, just as Moses "hid" from death in Egypt. Even the apostle Paul was mistaken for an Egyptian. An Israelite have never been mistaken for any other nationality that wasn't black.

Acts 21:37-39 And as Paul was to be led into the castle, he said unto the chief captain, May I speak unto thee? Who said, Canst thou speak Greek?
ART NOT THOU THAT EGYPTIAN, which before...
...But Paul said, I am a man which am a Jew...

When the evil and diabolical Hitler had the "jewish" people in the concentration camps, many of them were in a famine. Their skin was a pale white. When the Babylonians laid seige against Israel, the Israelites were also in a famine. This is how the prophet Jeremiah described it.

Lamentations 5:9-10 We gat our bread with the peril of our lives because of the sword of the wilderness.
OUR SKIN WAS BLACK LIKE AN OVEN BECAUSE OF THE TERRIBLE FAMINE.

When brown or black people get sick, or don't eat for a long time, they get darker. When white or "red" people get sick or don't eat... they get pale.

This historical chronology, as well as the entire Topic was not meant to offend anyone and I'm sorry if it does. only purpose was to help shed light on a subject that has shamefuly been a subject of debate in these modern times Israel.

like we forgot when Elohim told the profet Jeremiah that the kingdom of Judah were being punished for taking fellow jews as slaves.
well may be not in the right term of the word but history repeats itself once again,

[NYC]

This is the most pettiest thing I have ever heard..
"When brown or black people get sick, or don't eat for a long time, they get darker. When white or "red" people get sick or don't eat... they get pale.
OUR SKIN WAS BLACK LIKE AN OVEN BECAUSE OF THE TERRIBLE FAMINE."
--What??? You think Ethiopians got dark because they starved? I am a man of Ethiopian origin, and I never got darker during sunlight or hunger.
As for the ethiopians, there are many Ethiopians, both jews and christians who believe that they are Israelite tribes. And Yes, there is evidence to all that. There are many ethiopians that are very light, but not necessarily Semites or sons of Ham or whatever.

[Abel 11]

>>> why lord elohim why?

..... your take on this article was very insightful.

I think a lot Jews in the present day have a VERY DISTORTED VIEW OF JUDASIM or Jewishness.
I woder what Moses or any one from the past...........would have said, if he or she was alive today?????

when I see some members of the so called jewish population infected by the same ideological *DISEASE* which brought HITLER and his likeness to power ..... its dispicable, I cant find a word to describe it..