Israel's Ministry of immigrant Absorption and the Jewish Agency are launching a 1.3 million shekel advertising campaign to bolster the image of Ethiopian Jews. The creative work for the campaign was donated by the BBDO agency, and media outlets are donating time and space.
The campaign appears to be similar to a project I have had in development. Thankfully, I'm in the early stages and have not invested much in it.
This type of campaign is long overdue. Perhaps it will help rectify some of the major problems with Ethiopian absorption as noted by the Jerusalem Post:
Idzik Dessie, who heads the Tebeka Center for Legal Aid and Advocacy for Ethiopian Jews, welcomed the campaign. He said members of the Ethiopian community needed to see positive role models.
"The image of success is the most important thing," he said. "Until now the picture [of the Ethiopian community] that has been shown has been negative."
He added, however, that the campaign "is not enough."
He said that Ethiopians need to be in positions of influence in business, academia, and other sectors of the society. According to Dessie, 60 percent of Ethiopians with academic degrees are unable to find posts in their professions, and must work as security guards and in other blue collar jobs.