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Israel Finally Says No To Racially Segregated Schools

The Education Ministry is beginning to close schools in which a significant majority of pupils are of Ethiopian origin, Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar announced yesterday.

A Black and White Issue: Ethiopian Jews Struggle To Integrate Schools

Only 1 of the 294 pupils at the Ner Etzion Elementary School in Petah Tikva is not of Ethiopian origin. As a result, the school has become a symbol of the difficulties involved in integrating the Ethiopian community in the city - and now the struggle has become even more acute.

Unabsorbed: Ethiopian Jews And Israel's Failure?

Ethiopian Jews have not easily adapted to life in Israel. Is this a failure on Israel's part? Or are the unique difficulties Ethiopian Jews have adapting to life in Israel unavoidable?

Knesset Research Center Finds Ethiopian Jews Trapped In Educational "Ghettos"

Committee Chairman MK Danny Danon (Likud) called the findings "insulting to Israeli society," adding that "this somber reality of 'ghettos' requires the attention of the government ministries and professional bodies, which must formulate a work plan for the proper integration of the Ethiopian community, instead of forcing it to the sidelines."

My Jerusalem Day

For most Ethiopian Jews, every day is memorial day, a day we remember the men and women who lost their lives: men murdered by Sudanese muggers, women brutally raped and left to die by the wayside, children who couldn’t survive the hardships of the journey and who were buried in unmarked graves, and people who died of starvation and sickness in refugee camps in Sudan, waiting to come to Israel.

Israeli Delusions Of Grandeur

Today is the 20th anniversary of Operation Solomon, the rescue brought 14,310 Ethiopian Jews to Israel in 36 hours as the communist government of Ethiopia collapsed. While the rescue was a tremendous achievement for Israel, it was negotiated by and made possible by the United States Government – a fact Israeli media, government and intelligentsia often ignores.

Shattering A Stigma

Last month, a 15-year-old Ethiopian Jewish girl (and math wiz) from Rehovot named Yifat Semaline won first place in the nationwide Young Speaker contest sponsored by Rotary Israel, a branch of the veteran international organization. Thousands of students from 120 schools nationwide competed in the contest; 17 reached the finals.

80 Falash Mura Wounded, 80 More Arrested At Protest

A Jewish group says that Ethiopian police injured 80 Ethiopian Jewish protesters and arrested 80 more during a demonstration near the Israeli Embassy in Addis Ababa.

Do Ethiopian Jews Fit In?

Israel has tried to assimilate Ethiopian Jews for two decades now, but it can’t quite fit them in. “I think Ethiopians have gone bad here. In Ethiopia they didn’t smoke, drink, steal, or anything.”

He Dedicated His Life To Saving Ethiopian Jews

The story of the dramatic rescue of Ethiopian Jewry is reasonably well known, chronicled over the past two decades in half a dozen books. Baruch Tegegne played only a minor direct role in those remarkable airlifts, but it's safe to say that no effort to save the long-lost remnant of Judaism would have been made were it not for him and his work.

In Remembrance Of A Gentle Giant

Former US Senator and Ambassador Rudy Boschwitz, a vice president of the World Jewish Congress, and a fellow at a Washington, D.C. think-tank remember Baruch Tegegne.

The Man Who Saved His People

Early one morning in the late 1940s, an elderly Ethiopian Jew stood with his young grandson at the top of a small mountain, waiting for sunrise. As the sun broke over the horizon, the old man, pointing toward the sun, said, “Remember, this is the way to Jerusalem.”

Refugee To Rescuer

Seventy-five years ago this month, 5-year-old Rudy Boschwitz, tightly gripping his mother’s hand, gingerly stepped down the gangplank of the S.S. Majestic and onto the dock at New York City. It was the third night of Hanukkah. After two years of wandering from country to country, the future United States senator and his family had finally found a place they could call home.

Baruch Dayan HaEmet: Baruch Tegegne, Rescuer Of Ethiopian Jews

UPDATED The Ethiopian Jew who may have done more than anyone else to save his people has just passed away.

9 Orthodox And Haredi Youths Arrested In Anti-Arab Gang Violence

Jerusalem Police arrest seven youths on suspicion of assaulting young Arab men in the capital after having a 14-year-old girl seduce them and lead them to meeting point. Police say the suspects admitted their acts were nationalistically-motivated.

The Passing Of A Champion Of Human Rights And Freedom

Solarz was instrumental in helping create the political climate to rescue the endangered Ethiopian Jewish community in Ethiopia and Sudan in the early 1980's and 90's and is perhaps the person most responsible for bringing down Filipino dictator Ferdinand Marcos. After leaving Congress in 1993, Solarz remained very engaged on issues affecting vulnerable populations, perhaps most notably reflected in the key role he played in the development of the International Crisis Group.

Racism In Bnei Brak: Ethiopian Jewish Boy Attacked At Mikvah

The worker verbally attacked the boy, saying "don't come in, you stink, you're a stinking kushi ["stinking n*%ger"". When the teen refused to back down, the man took hold of him and punched him in the face.

Domestic Violence: 3 Ethiopian Jewish Women Murdered, Many More Battered

At the age of three she watched as her mother lay in a pool of her own blood having been shot in her head and stomach by her father who also lay wounded on the stained floor. She sat beside them in the bloody floor, not crying or uttering a word. She watched as paramedics tried to save the two people who were meant to protect and raise her. Only when one of the police officers removed her from the house of horror she dared ask: "What happened to mommy?"

When Rabbis Don't Know Jewish Law

No one can rule that the Falah Mura members are Jews according to the Halacha, Eisenstein explained, as hundred and maybe even thousands of years have passed since this was a known fact in the families of origin. The rabbis have many reasons to oppose this immigration, which could cause "many genealogy problems among the people of Israel," but that they were not objecting because of the issue's current political aspect.     

Is Israel Insulting Its Ethiopian Community?

Yesterday's cabinet decision to "bring the last of the Falashmura to Israel" gives members of this community grounds to feel insulted. It is patronizing, even hostile. It demands that activists on behalf of the Falashmura cease their activities and sets a quota beyond which no additional Falashmura will be brought here - as if they were barrels of hazardous waste that had to be eliminated.

Dark-Skinned Soldiers Denied Entry To Israeli Nightclub

According to the Golani Brigade troops, two of the nightclub's bouncers allowed only those with an "Ashkenazi appearance" to enter, while soldiers of Ethiopian and Yemenite descent were kept out despite presenting invitations sent to them by the nightclub.     

The Names Ethiopian Jews Lost

“Ethiopian immigrants are different from other immigrants because their names are so laden with meaning. They are all named after important events or feelings and emotions, representing something that happened at the time of their birth; it is part of their identity.”

Ethiopian Rabbi Revitalizes Synagogue Of Holocaust Survivors

Zaoda Tapsai was the name his parents gave him when Rabbi Shalom Sharon was born in a small village in the Tigre area of Ethiopia where, in his own words, he was employed as "Assistant Shepherd."

Israel's First Ethiopian Fashion Designer

Avi Yitzhak is determined to be Israel's first Ethiopian fashion designer. From a tiny room in his parents' Ashkelon apartment, the former paratrooper sews dresses with splashes of embroidered fabrics he brings from his native country, and hopes to some day clothe Michelle Obama.

Ethiopian Bride Fights Rabbis For Four Years To Get Married As A Jew

Southern resident insists on being recognized as a Jew, refuses to undergo any conversion procedure after rabbis question her Jewish origins ahead of wedding. For four years she fights rabbinical establishment until she prevails.

Shocked Into Action, He Built A College

In 2003 Israel's high-tech industry had only four workers of Ethiopian origin. Even now, it has no more than 200. Asher Elias is determined to change that.

Ethiopian Soldier: Major Called Me An "Annoying Nigger, Was Not Disciplined By IDF

An Ethiopian soldier serving at an Air Force base in southern Israel petitioned the High Court of Justice Thursday over racial slurs hurled at him by a senior officer. The soldier asked the court to order IDF officials to explain why disciplinary action was not being taken against a major whom he claims called him an "annoying nigg*r."

A School Of 290 Students – 289 Of Them Black

Dozens of parents of Ethiopian origin have been blocked by the Petah Tikva municipality from moving their children from the majority-Ethiopian religious Ner Etzion elementary school to other schools in the city.

Video: Ethiopian Jews In Israel

A video slide show with commentary from Irene Fertik, a photographer who has been documenting Ethiopian Jewish life in Israel for the past 20 years.

Letter from Yemen? Al-Qaida Terrorists May Pose As Ethiopian Jews To Sneak Into Israel

In letter to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Yemen Islamists say they may send terrorists to Israel disguised as Ethiopian Jews.

Mel Gibson But With A Knife: Murder Of Young Israeli Mother Brings Issue Of Domestic Violence To The Forefront

Fearing for her life at the hands of her ex-husband, Almo Masarat went to the police last week. She waited around watching clerks shuffle her around like a paper clip on a desk. Eventually she gave up, telling family members that the police were not helping her. Half an hour later, her ex-husband, who was waiting in the shadows by the entrance to her apartment, allegedly killed her. She was found by neighbors in a pool of blood outside her apartment as her 3-year old son sat next to her, wailing.

Letter from Mississippi: Toward Creating An Ethiopian Jewish Peace Corps

As an activist on behalf of Israel and Ethiopian Jews since 1974, I propose that Israel build a sizable cadre of Ethiopian Jewish Israelis and train them for Peace Corps-type service in poverty-stricken African nations to help them develop schools, farms, irrigation systems, and paramedical and communication facilities.

Ethiopian Jew Sues Israeli Bus Driver For Racism

"These blacks. Who brought them to the country? Are you even Jews? All these blacks should be taken back to Ethiopia. I'll send them back to Ethiopia. You are a stupid people, you are damaging our country and don't even belong here."

The Unknown Hero Of The Secret Mossad Airlift Of Ethiopian Jews

The passengers traveled without passports. Many were sick and were reclining hooked up to infusions. Some died during the flight; there were also some babies born en route.

Teacher Who Called Ethiopian Officers Nazis Gets Probation On Appeal

A judge had originally sentenced the teacher to 180 hours of community service so as not to compromise his job as a teacher.

Today Is Both Ethiopian Immigrant Day And Yom Yerushalayim

Prime Minister Netanyahu says, "No day is more fitting for us to remember the members of the [Ethiopian] community who perished en route to Jerusalem."

BT Doctor Hailed In New Book, Film

Fulbright scholar's quest for fulfillment took him from med school to volunteering at a clinic in India to Aish HaTorah yeshiva in Jerusalem and, finally, to Ethiopia in 1990 on a six-week mission for the JDC. Two decades on, he’s still there.

Ethiopians Protest Racial Segregation

Ethiopian children are kept in a completely separate building from the "white" children, and have a separate staff attending to them at all hours of the day. Ethiopian children are forced to use separate cutlery from white pupils, and the building they are assigned to is in serious disrepair.

Making The Crooked Straight

HBO film documents the life of our friend Dr. Rick Hodes.

Koren Publishes Ethiopian Haggadah

The Haggada introduces Ethiopian customs into the traditional Haggada as it tells the story of the Ethiopian community’s aliya to Israel in the 1980s and 1990s.

The Unholy Battle For Ethiopia's Remaining Jews

Falash Mura fight among themselves as American and Evangelical aid groups and the Israeli government fight over aliya.

Israel's Newest National Holiday

Something old becomes something new.

Interracial Marriage Higher In Israel Than US, Report Finds

But Ethiopian Israelis still concentrated in urban ghettos in the country's central area – but not in Tel Aviv.

A Child Of Moses

Since she had no previous education, she had to start in first grade, even though she was almost 14. “What, you just came down from the trees?” a teacher said to her, in a mocking tone.

Former Jewish Agency Ethiopia Head: Falash Mura Aliyah A Scam

"They'll say I'm a racist."

Ethiopian MK Also Pocketed Donations From Orthodox, Conservative And Reform US Donors, Source Claims

The scandal widens.

Ethiopian MK Implicated In Embezzlement And Fraud

Shlomo Molla also raised money from Messianic Jews and skirted tax and campaign finance laws.

Swank Tel Aviv Nightclub Caught Discriminating Against Dark Skinned Jews

Yemenites win lawsuit against nightclub, Ethiopian and friends to file suit.

If A Marrano Comes To Your Synagogue, Should You Count Him In The Minyan?

A pesak din from Rabbi Aaron Soleveichik, ztz"l.

Letter from Tel Aviv:Ethiopians, Don't Convert!

"Those primarily to blame for the growing power of the Orthodox establishment are not the religious or the ultra-Orthodox, but the secular."