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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.

Israel To Launch Investigation Into Forced Birth Control Allegedly Given Ethiopian Women

The investigation is being conducted by the Ministry of Health itself and headed by acting Health Minister Rabbi Yaakov Litzman, a haredi rabbi whose hasidic sect is hostile to the Ethiopian Jewish community and which does not recognize as valid the conversions to Judaism the Falash Mura underwent as a condition of their immigration to Israel.

Ethiopian Students Reportedly Face Segregation At Leading Zionist Orthodox Boarding School

Ethiopian students at the Zionist Orthodox boarding school in the Kfar Hasidim Youth Village near Haifa are reportedly being segregated. “It is something we have become used to; that those students who are considered the best, the Israelis, receive the best education. [We don’t.]”

Ethiopian Jew Wins Miss Israel Contest

Yityish Titi Aynaw won the Miss Israel 2013 title Wednesday night. The 21-year-old resident of Netanya on Israel’s Mediterranean coastline is the first Ethiopian-born contestant to win the title.

Israel Orders Doctors To Stop Administration Of Depo-Provera Shots To Women If There Is Any Doubt That They Do Not Understand Their Purpose

It isn’t an apology or an acceptance of responsibility. But for the first time, an Israeli government official has told doctors to stop injecting Ethiopian women – or any other women – with long-acting birth control medication known as Depo-Provera without the informed consent of the women. The effect of the shots lasts for months and the practice effectively sterilizes women for that period of time. Many Ethiopian women have reportedly received these shots for years with little or no say in the decision to receive them.

A Bleak And Humiliating Wedding Illuminates What Will Probably Be The Future Of Israel

The first phase is the study of Judaism for 500 hours a year, which includes basic knowledge such as praying, saying the blessings, and knowledge of Jewish holidays. In the end, they are tested. The younger ones pass fairly easily, but the middle-aged and older converts, some of whom are illiterate and have never studied before, not even in their own language, fail the tests again and again. Those who pass move on to the final phase: full or symbolic circumcision, a dip in the mikvah, and a wedding ceremony—all done in one day. The men have to pass a thorough circumcision test…The Falashmura whom I met considered it a horrible humiliation, and on more than one occasion their voices cracked and they bowed their heads when recounting the events.

Profile Of First Female Ethiopian Member Of Knesset

At the age of eleven she started working at odd jobs but hid that from her parents. She says she was often mistreated by her employers, which helps shape who she is today. "Looking back, I think it just made me stronger – being part of the low class, witnessing discrimination. I learned early on to fight for my own rights. That biography has made me who I am today."

First Female Ethiopian Jew Elected To Knesset

A female Ethiopian Jew, Pnina Tamano-Shata, was elected to Knesset yesterday as number 14 on the Yesh Atid Knesset list. She is the first Ethiopian woman to be elected to serve in the Knesset.

3,000 Haredim Get Active Duty Draft Notices

3,000 haredim have now received draft induction orders and will be inducted into the IDF for active service by August 2013, the IDF announced today.

Video: Ashkenazi Haredi Rabbi Bans Ethiopian Boy From School Because Child Really Isn't Jewish Enough

Israel's Channel 2 documents the case of a studious Orthodox Ethiopian boy who has been banned from his school by the schools Ashkenazi haredi principal. Why? The principal has decided that the boy needs to convert to Judaism. The boy has attended Israeli schools for years, and is very religiously observant as is his family. They are accepted as Jews by Sefardi haredi leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef and by hundreds of other Sefardi and Ashkenazi rabbis without controversy. Yet he is now banned from school because he is a "doubtful" Jew.

JDC's Ethiopia Medical Director Denies Forced Sterilization

Dr. Rick Hodes denies an Israel Educational Television report that alleged that Falash Mura women were forced to take shots of the long-acting birth control drug Depo-Provera by the Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) and the Government of Israel in order to be cleared for immigration to Israel. IET also claimed that the women were forced to continue the shots once they arrived in Israel and were housed in JDC-run absorption centers.

Forced Sterilizations? Ethiopian Women Claim The Joint Distribution Committee And The Israel Health Ministry Forced Them To Receive Sterilization Shots

Falash Mura women who immigrated to Israel from Ethiopia eight years ago reportedly told Israel Educational Television’s investigative show Vacuum yesterday that they were forced to receive injections of Depo-Provera, the long-lasting birth control drug, as a condition to allowing their immigration.

Exploitation In Sefat

Ethiopian Jewish children as young as 10-years-old are skipping school to work illegally in the city's open air market. They're paid much less than minimum wage, and sometimes work the whole day for a half empty box of leftover fruits and vegetables to help feed their families.

School Bus Rage: Racist Attack On Ethiopian Bus Guard In Northern Israel

A parent in the northern Israeli city of Kiryat Bialik allegedly assaulted an Ethiopian school bus guard yesterday, breaking her nose.

Haifa Sexual Predator Allegedly Molests At Least 7 Ethiopian Boys

A Haifa sexual predator who was recently arrested allegedly assaulted at least seven teenage Ethiopian boys over a three-year period, carefully selecting and grooming them before raping them.

Rescued From Slavery

Judie Oron knows the price of freedom. So does her daughter Wuditu: $111. That's the price Oron paid to free the 17-year-old Ethiopian Jew from a life of slavery and forced prostitution.

Report: New Genetic Study Shows That Ethiopian Jewish Community Is Ancient, Long Pre-Dating The Destruction Of The Jerusalem Temple

The study reportedly shows that a few Jews started the Ethiopian community thousands of years ago, that they married local women (as was the Biblical practice), that they are a distinct population that did not have much intermarriage with non-Jews, and that sociologists who claimed the community came from Ethiopian Christians who "Judaized" approximately 500 years ago were wrong.

Ethiopian Jew Allegedly Beaten And Electric Shocked By Israeli Cop Who Told Him To Go Back To Africa

An Ethiopian Jew claims he was pepper sprayed and electric shocked by a cop in the Israeli city of Haifa who told him to “go back to Africa.”

Kashering Yitzhak Shamir

Stephen Spector, an academic who wrote a well-reviewed book on Operation Solomon, the 1991 airlift was supposed to rescue the last of Ethiopia's Jews, omits facts and shades the truth in order to make Israel – and Yitzhak Shamir, who died Saturday – look as if saving Ethiopian Jews was a high priority for them. But that is an absolute, demonstrable lie – and Spector must know it.

Ethiopian Jewish Leaders Object To Anti-African-Refugee Racism

“When I think how people are treating the Sudanese and of how [the Sudanese] treated us when we passed through as refugees, I am ashamed. When we arrived there, they brought us water and helped us find work so that we could make enough money to live. [They were] difficult times.”

And Finally They Came

Israel’s leaders finally honor the thousands Ethiopian Jews who died on the way to Israel.

Ethiopian Jews Tried To Rescue European Jews During The Holocaust

In 1943 an Ethiopian Jewish leader appealed to Ethiopia's Emperor, Haile Selassie, to take in Jewish refugees from Europe and allow them to settle in Ethiopian Jewish towns and villages. But it was too late.

Ethiopian Jews Say Jerusalem Government Discriminates Against Them

The tent camp activists say the municipality's demand to evict them contradicts its treatment of other movements that have protested there. They note that on this stretch of sidewalk, at the corner of Gaza Road and Balfour Street, the Shalit-family protest movement set up its tent about two years ago. And several other protest camps have called the intersection home without city interference – until now.

In Israel, Black Has Never Been In Fashion

Albeit full of good intentions, Israel made every possible mistake when it came to integrating the Ethiopians. True, they weren't placed in transit camps or sprayed with DDT (like Yemen's Jews were when they came to Israel); but dumping villagers in urban neighborhoods with no regard for how they'd earn a living, and all the while trampling the honor of their community leaders, quickly turned them into society's weakest group - weaker even than Israeli Arabs. The very bottom.

Photo Of Naked Ethiopian Woman Taken At Suggestion Of NACOEJ Aid Worker, Photographer Says

Ziv Koren published a picture of a Falash Mura woman immersing in a mikva. A firestorm of criticism erupted. But Koren now says the picture was taken at the suggestion of a staff member of the North American Conference on Ethiopian Jewry.

Porn, Art Or Journalism?

Is a photographer’s photo of a naked Ethiopian woman immersing in a mikva kosher? And was the photographer within his rights to post that naked picture online?

More Defacto Israel School Segregation Surfaces

In Netanya, from 2 Motzkin Street to 20 Motzkin Street, where residents are mostly from the Ethiopian community, children are registered at the nearby Rambam School. Those living in numbers 22 through 28, the newer houses on the block and heavily white, are registered at the much more desirable Uziel School some 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) away.

Racism In Israel

Ethiopian Israelis are often considered less desirable neighbors, and frequently have a harder time finding a job. They are perceived as a poor, underprivileged community and face the stigma of lacking the capability to contribute equally, even if this myth is belied by reality. While some of this is outright racism, the rest is symptomatic of a deeper and far more widespread prejudice – indirect or concealed racism.

Jewish Federations Won't Intervene In Anti-Ethiopian Discrimination

“The relationship between American Jewry and Israel is very delicate. Our role is not to lobby the Israeli government but to create and support initiatives that indicate a commitment to a particular issue. The difference may be subtle and nuanced, but we are cautious about getting involved in internal issues such as these, just as we would not want the Israeli government to get involved in the internal issues of the organized Jewish community in America.”

Video: Cops Bust 18 In Israeli Anti-Racism Demo

Several dozen people, many of them Ethiopian Jews, protested anti-Ethiopian racism last night near the Tel Aviv Museum. Police reportedly arrested 18 demonstrators after they tried to block a public street.

Ethiopian Jews Have Post Traumatic Issues Similar To Holocaust Survivors, But Israel's Government Does Not Help

Ethiopian Jews who suffered to reach Israel have more in common with Holocaust survivors than veteran Israelis can imagine. Although many of the former immigrants suffer from psychological trauma reminiscent of concentration camp “veterans,” only one non-profit organization is systematically relieving their anguish with help from professionals of the same background. And the Government of Israel has done nothing.

The Story Behind Knesset Row Over Censored Report On Ethiopian Jews Wife Murders

"The successes are fabulous," she says. "We have a lot of Ethiopian students at the university level, and they are coming out working in free professions, particularly law and now teaching." She also points to Ethiopians in the Knesset, singers, actors, cinematographers and producers, as well as "A Star is Born 9" winner Hagit Yaso and soccer player Baruch Dego. She says statistics can be confusing because it is unclear which groups people are talking about - new immigrants [i.e., Falash Mura] or veterans.

Israeli Builder Allegedly Refuses To Sell Apartment To Ethiopian IDF Commander

Avi Tesera, 35, a university student and a company commander in the Paratroopers Corps, told the lawmakers he tried to buy an apartment in a new housing project some five months ago. "The contractor said, 'You can't afford the price, leave it alone,' even before quoting any price or knowing what I had," Tesera said. "When I insisted, he said NIS 980,000. I spoke to neighbors who had already bought an apartment and are not from Ethiopia and they said they paid NIS 740,000 for the same apartment. I realized he simply didn't want to sell me an apartment."

Israeli School Bus Driver Recorded Spewing Racist Slurs At Ethiopian Jewish Kids

“People tell you that you smell bad, deal with it. Put on deodorant every day. You’ll smell better,” the driver was heard saying in the recording. “You need to respect us. We were living here before you, our lives are much more modern.…I get along fine with Israelis, but with you I have yet to get along … You will never change, you stay the same shit all the time.”

Israeli Government Stalls On Bringing Ethiopian Jews To Israel

The government is bringing just 110 Ethiopian Jews into the country per month, 90 fewer than the agreed figure, despite recognizing that the official reason for the reduced intake no longer exists.

Video: 5,000 Ethiopian Jews Demonstrate Against Racism

5,000 Ethiopian Jews demonstrated against racism in front of the Knesset Wednesday.

Government Withholds Report On Ethiopian Murders

Israel's Immigration and Absorption Ministry has withheld a landmark research project documenting the murder of women in Israel's Ethiopian community. Only sections of the report, completed in 2009, are now coming to light – after Ethiopian Jews forced their release.

Chief Rabbis Try To Force End To Traditional Ethiopian Jewish Religious Leaders

Nearly three decades after Israel began airlifting Ethiopia's ancient Jewish community out of the Horn of Africa, Israel's rabbis are now working to phase out the community's white-turbaned clergy, the kessoch, whose unusual religious practices are at odds with the rabbinate's Orthodox Judaism.

Knesset Members Attack Ethiopians For Complaining About Racial Discrimination

In response to anti-Ethiopian housing discrimination uncovered in Kiryat Malachi and other similar incidents, Ethiopian Jewish activist Gadi Yiberkan called MKs hypocrites and said, "You have created a 21st Century version of Apartheid in Israel." MK Sofa Landver replied, "While you hand out marks you need to understand that the State of Israel invests a lot in this matter – say thank you for what you got [from us]!" And haredi MK Rabbi Moshe Gafni screamed at Yiberkan, "When they were speaking against haredim no one said a word, I wish I was Ethiopian!"

Video: Ethiopian Jews Protest Racism In Kiryat Malachi

Channel 2 exposed an agreement signed by residents of an apartment complext in Kiryat Malachi that forbade the sale or rental of apartments to Ethiopian Jews – even if the potential renter was an exemplary Israeli citizen, and thier decision was extensively backed by a Chabad neighbor who wrote an essay defending the racism. Today Ethiopian Jews protested this racism in front of those buildings. Here's video:

Secret Agreement Prevents Renting Apartments To Ethiopians

An apartment complex in Kiryat Malachi illegally refuses to rent or sell apartments to Ethiopian Jews. The Lubavitcher Rebbe said not to let any Ethiopians into Chabad schools, one nearby Chabad resident wrote, because they might be bastards (mazerim), and their behavior is so bad, who would want to live next to them anyway? And the fact that this racism was exposed for all to see? That's the fault of the Nazi-like Israeli press and the Nazi-like leftists who control Israeli society, the Chabad follower says. Others who spoke to the press also described Ethiopians using vile racist language and made the point that they would refuse to rent or sell even to an Ethiopian IDF officer, because the refusal isn't based on the individual who wants to rent or buy – it is based on the overal Ethiopian community and its problems of racial origin.

Memorial Service For Ethiopian Jew Who Saved His People

Baruch Tegegne saved dozens of Ethiopian Jews with his own hands, and his escape routes and his lobbying saved thousands more. The first anniversary of his passing is coming up, and the Ethiopian Jewish community in Israel is holding a memorial gathering to remember a man who spent almost his entire life helping others.

An Ashkenazi Zionist Orthodox Rabbi Who Devotes His Life And Career To Ethiopian Jews

For Rabbi Chananya Blumert - who threw in his lot with Ethiopian Jewry 20 years ago, married a woman from the Ethiopian community and, with her, is raising their six Ashkenazi-Ethiopian children - his appointment as rabbi of an Ethiopian community is perfectly natural. He sees himself as the "white kes," who represents the rabbinical Jewish law the Ethiopians never knew, but also the Ethiopian heritage that many of them have cast aside. "If I do good work and can be of benefit to the community, what difference does it make what my skin color is?""

Israel's Foreign Affairs Ministry Names First Ethiopian Jewish Ambassador

Rachamim Elazar has been named by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Israel's next Ambassador to Ethiopia, making him the first Israeli of Ethiopian descent ever to serve as an Ambassador for the State of Israel.

Operation Solomon 20 Years Later

Despite impressive initial achievements, Ethiopian immigrants lag behind immigrants from other countries who arrived here at the same time, according to a study by the Brookdale Institute published in 2010. The report found that after making great strides in employment, income, housing, education and other areas in the 1990s, their progress slowed around a decade ago.

Israeli Society Racist, Zionist Orthodox Rabbi Says

Rabbi Amiel Keinan says 'great honor' to teach children from the now-closed, predominantly Ethiopian school Ner Etzion; Keinan enrolled his own son in Ner Etzion as the only white student, because 'it's an excellent school and we're against racism.'

Ethiopian Kids Blocked From School, Government Sued

Three weeks into the school year, 70 students of Ethiopian origin from the shuttered Nir Etzion school in Petah Tikva are still at home, despite the city's assertion that all of the children have been assigned to other schools. The High Court of Justice is scheduled to hear a petition this morning against Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar, his ministry and the city. Nir Etzion was branded an Ethiopian ghetto by Sa'ar because over 90% of its students were of Ethiopian origin.

New Volume Of Responsa From Rabbi Moshe Feinstein Includes Responsa Published Here 5 Years Ago

The particular teshuva (answer to a query about Jewish law) was written in response ot a question I asked Rabbi Feinstein through his son-in-law Rabbi Moshe Tendler. The question was asked in early Winter of 1984, and answered orally after Passover and in writing not long after.

Chabad School Bans Ethiopian Jews

"We don't take in Ethiopian children. We don't think you match our lifestyle and we're not sure about your Jewishness either." This is what five young girls of Ethiopian descent were told when they arrived with their parents at the "Or Chaya" school in Petah Tikva.

Schools In "Chaos" Over Absorption Of Ethiopian Students

Petah Tikva schools are in chaos over the struggle to absorb Ethiopian children, The city has failed to place all 160 children from Ner Etzion school, which was shut down last week because it had become a virtual ghetto of Ethiopian students; the city says reassignment of pupils is almost complete, but most of the children are still at home even though school started Sunday.