Ethiopian Jews Demand Compensation For Israel’s Botched Rescue Attempt That Killed Thousands

The Organization for the Memory of Jews who perished in Sudan on their Way to Zion, a group representing Ethiopian Jews who were brought to Israel during 1984’s Operation Moses rescue, has filed a petition with Israel’s High Court of Justice demanding that the state pay compensation to those Jews because of the high number of their family members who died after Israel leaked news of the rescue, causing Sudan’s leader, Jaafar Nimeiry, to call a halt to the clandestine rescue flights.

 

Ethiopian Jews Demand Compensation For Israel’s Botched Rescue Attempt That Killed Thousands
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com

The Organization for the Memory of Jews who perished in Sudan on their Way to Zion, a group representing Ethiopian Jews who were brought to Israel during 1984’s Operation Moses rescue, has filed a petition with Israel’s High Court of Justice demanding that the state pay compensation to those Jews because of the high number of their family members who died after Israel leaked news of the rescue, causing Sudan’s leader, Jaafar Nimeiry, to call a halt to the clandestine rescue flights.

According to the petition, the rescue of Ethiopian Jews in the beginning of the 1980s was undertaken under the auspices of the state and the state is therefore responsible for its sloppy execution, Ynet reports. Therefore the state should compensate the families for their losses, and offer them support and assistance "in wake of the harsh scars they carry with them as a result of the death of their loved ones on the way to Israel."

The petition also demands that the state recognize the relatives of the approximately 5,000 Ethiopian Jews who died on their way to the camps, in the camps themselves, or trying to flee the camps after the Israeli government’s leaks scuttled the rescue as "persons imprisoned for their Zionism, martyrs or those who perished on their way to Israel" – which would entitle them to state support.

It took more than 20 years for the state to hold a formal memorial ceremony for those Ethiopian Jews who perished during their escape to Israel, and in 2007 it belatedly unveiled a monument on Mount Herzel in their memory.

Ethiopian Jews walked for days, fleeing famine and persecution, until they reached UN refugee camps in southern Sudan. The camps, already overfilled with Ethiopians and other refugees fleeing famine and war, were hellholes. One of the largest, Um Raquba, was described by observers as hell on earth. Some of the refugees were openly antisemitic and some were affiliated with various Islamic and PLO factions.

The Jews had been told by Mossad agents sent to their Ethiopian villages that the messiah awaited them in those Sudanese refugee camps. Get there however you can, they were told, and he will fly you on the wings of eagles to safety in Israel.

But what the Jews found in those camps was disease, famine, and often hatred.

As Jewish babies began to succumb to dysentery and disease they were often buried in the mud huts the Jewish (and all other) refugees lived in. Staging a Jewish funeral in public was considered to be too dangerous. Many mothers slept for months on the fresh-packed earth of their children’s graves.

All the while, the Government of Israel dragged its feet and delayed rescue. Some Ethiopian jews who served as Mossad agents complained bitterly of the delays and the deaths and torture the delays caused, but the government did not step up its efforts. It was only after American Jews led by the American Association for Ethiopian Jews and, to a lesser extent, by the North American Jewish Students Network (the North American arm of the World Union of Jewish Students) convinced the American government to act that a rescue took shape and was launched under the auspices of the US and Israel.

But from the beginning, factions in the Israeli government worked to scuttle the rescue.

Yehuda Dominitz, a senior official with the Nation Religious party and the editor of a West Bank settler publication, published news of the airlift despite the supposed government news blackout.

Then senior lay leaders affiliated with various North American Jewish Federations tried to leak the airlift to the news media, first to the New York Times and the Boston Globe.

Both papers, realizing that publicizing an ongoing airlift of this nature would almost certainly kill it, informed senior US Department of State officials about the leaks. Those officials asked both papers to hold the story until after the airlift was complete. Both agreed to do so.

The Jewish Federations' leaders then leaked the story to the Washington Jewish Week, which published the story despite being warned that publication could end the airlift and almost certainly would kill Jews.

Throughout the time these leaks took place, the US Government was forced to up the amount of money it was paying Sudan and its leader, Jaafar Nimeiry, to allow the rescue to take place. It also had to calm Nimeiry, who became increasingly agitated as the leaks increased.

Several weeks after the Washington Jewish Week published its story on the ongoing airlift, the World Zionist Organization’s leadership issued a press release acknowledging the rescue was taking place. Shortly after, the co-leader of Israel’s government, Shimon Peres spoke at a press conference. He acknowledged the airlift was, in fact, taking place but urged the press and others to keep the information low key.

Peres' press conference was televised worldwide with the knowledge and permission of the State of Israel.

The WZO’s action followed by Peres’ press conference killed the airlift. Nimeiry refused a US offer of even more money, citing among other things the danger he and his government were now in for being seen as cooperating with Zionists. He agreed to allow planes that were already on their way to Sudan to land and take as many Jews out as they could hold. But no more planes would be allowed to land after that.

It was the first Friday in January 1985. The last plane left Sudan later that weekend.

Thousands of stranded Ethiopian Jews tried to walk back to Ethiopia in hopes that they could rebuild their lives there. Already weakened and ill, thousands died on the way. More died in the refugee camps.

While those Jews suffered and died, Israel and the North American Jewish Federations trumpeted the “Israeli” rescue of Ethiopian Jews, the first time in history, they claimed, that Blacks had been taken out of persecution in Africa to freedom elsewhere.

In March, the US arranged Operation Joshua, which rescued the remaining Jews in the refugee camps.
 
"Those responsible have not internalized their responsibility for the failures that led to a tragedy for the Ethiopian Jewish community attempting to make it's dream come true," the petition to the High Court reportedly notes.

"The tragedy is seared into the hearts of tens of thousands relatives and survivors in both Israel and Ethiopia,” the petition says.

It also reportedly notes that all attempts to achieve state recognition for the survivors have been unsuccessful.

Comments

[Such stupidity]

Whoa!! This is unbelievably ridiculous. Their claim involves an intervening intentional act of another. Additionally, these people would be dead without Israel and Israeli help. Quit bitching and be happy we saved your asses.

[Shmarya Rosenberg]

Whoa!! This is unbelievably ridiculous. Their claim involves an intervening intentional act of another. Additionally, these people would be dead without Israel and Israeli help. Quit bitching and be happy we saved your asses.

Lets be clear. YOU saved no one and your rebbe saved no one.

[uncle joe mccarthy]

if there were any questions if the ethiopians are jews, its pretty much settled now.

this is an absurd suit

[Dovid]

"if there were any questions if the ethiopians are jews, its pretty much settled now"

what are you talking about?

[dh]

Such stupidity @ 10:28, it was a foreseeable intervening act - intention had nothing to do with it. Foreseeable intervening fact = liability.

[gopjew]

Israel did as best as it can to save the Ethiopians, no? On top of that Israel wasn't the ones who actually committed the crimes against the Ethiopians. They should stop acting like niggas and sue the real cause of their problems, Ethiopia. Oh wait, no money there.

[Such stupidity]

TO DH and Shmarya:

Israel is liable because they could foresee that A) the Ethiopian Jews would take their offer of freedom (they didnt have to...they could have stayed behind) and B) that Ethiopia would react in the way they did.

Thats dumb and wrong.

Shmarya, I dont know why you brought the rebbe into this at all. I personally never saved an Ethiopian Jew...that much is true. Then again, neither did you. So whats your idiotic point?

[Tigrya]

you falashas are traitors.You sold your country Ethiopia for a piece of bagel.enjoy slaving for the Ruski baboons.Ethiopia is growing fast.I am glad they took you from Ethiopia because we do not need uncle Toms here.

[gopjew]

What does Chicago and Ethiopia have in common? answer: lots and lots of black on black crap.

The falashas have every moral imperative of getting the f### out of that hell hole; this frivolous hustle of a lawsuit notwithstanding.

[Yosef ben Matitya]

It is a good thing that Israel is a wealthy country and has spare funds to hand out.

indeed, D.,
Israel, no different than Sodom, is a country with a very wealthy class that looted the country resources (including but not limited to the compensations of the holocaust victims).
a class of poors that puts the whole country to shame & a thriving shnorr industry run by the government, the jewish agency, and many many rabbis of all stripes.

[Yosef ben Matitya]

actually, I tend to believe that there were several nasty characters that blew the whistle on the operation to make it fail as they couldn't bear the thought of seeing black jews landing in israel. many of those are bearded chassidic jews that still treat to these days, ethiopian jews with great cruelty more suited to the wicked sodomites .

[Yosef ben Matitya]

Such stupidity

Funny, I never heared or read that any Mr or Ms Stupidity
saved anybody's ass never mind life.

[splisner]

Shmarya has always had a strong interest in the welfare of Ethiopian Jews and for that he should be credited. Hakarat hatov. Israel has not treated them aswell as they could have over the years after their Aliya. However this is no different from how the Moraccan, Tunisian, Iraquian and other Asian/African aliyot were treated.

Not withstanding, their claim will only result in poorer treatment as they alianate those Isralies who were in their corner. It is not even a viable leagle claim. If they have a lawyer he or she should be disbarred for incompetence.