2 00:00:00,733 --> 00:00:04,299 - Ethnic minorities in Israel, a case study.
(computer dial tones becomes upbeat hip-hop music)
- Hey!
- Hi.
- Hello.
- When you think of a Jewish Israeli,
what image comes to mind?
- I don't know, maybe this or this or this.
- Okay, okay, okay.
Well, for me, there's a particular Israeli story
that speaks to me.
This. The story of Ethiopian Jewry.
It's epic.
They've overcome adversity and challenges,
both in Ethiopia and in Israel, and helped make Israel
the multi-faceted, complex society that it is.
- Very nice, but who are they?
I've heard the terms Falashas and Beta-Israel,
but which is which, or are those the same thing?
- Ethiopian Jews traditionally refer to themselves
as Beta-Israel, however, some of Beta-Israel
were pressured to convert to Christianity
in the 19th and 20th centuries and they became known
as Falash Mura, or Falashas, a derogatory designation
in Amharic, meaning strangers or migrants.
They were given this pejorative name
because Beta-Israel no longer considered them
to be authentic Jews, but it's important to note
that Christian and Muslim Ethiopians refer
to all Ethiopian Jews, including Beta-Israel,
as Falashas because to the non-Jews,
they were all strangers.
- Yeah, that's not confusing at all.
So, who are they, where do they come from,
and how did they end up in Ethiopia?
- Well, there are approximately 144,000 Ethiopian Jews
living in Israel today, 1.6% of the population,
and their origins are from--
- Their tradition traced their roots
all the way back to the tribe of Dan,
one of the original 12 tribes of Israel.
- Is that the one that got lost?
- Well, them and nine others, but that's just one tradition.
Other traditions tie them to King Menelik,
the son of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba,
one of his 700 wives.
- Holy s***, that's a lot of wives.
- These Ethiopian Jews had been disconnected
from the rest of Jewish society for over 2,000 years.
- That's before the creation of the Mishnah, Talmud,
gefilte fish, some of the basics of Judaism today.
- They practiced a form of Biblical Judaism,
which has a lot of differences,
but also many similarities with the Jewish practices
we're familiar with today.
- They keep Kosher, have Shabbat, and holidays?
- Yes and no.
Before coming to modern Israel,
they kept a form of Kosher and the Sabbath
and kept the Biblical holidays,
like Rosh Hashanah, Passover, and Sukkot,
however, they did not celebrate holidays like Hanukkah,
which commemorate historical events
that occurred long after their community
became fragmented from the rest of the Jewish world.
Any Jewish laws or traditions that developed
after the destruction of the first temple
were unknown to them.
- Not only was it unknown to them,
but up until the 19th century, most of them hadn't heard
of Jews outside of Ethiopia at all.
They thought that they were
the last remaining Jews in the world.
- They must've been pretty surprised
to find out there were white Jews too.
- (giggles) Yeah...
- How did they end up back in Israel?
- Well, the Ethiopian Jews had dreamed
of returning to Zion for thousands of years,
but in the 1970s and early '80s,
Ethiopia found itself embroiled in civil war and famine,
which led to the deaths of thousands
and an increase in the persecution
the Ethiopian Jews already faced.
- (dramatically) So thousands of Ethiopian Jews began
the long journey north by foot
through desert and hostile territory
hoping to arrive in Israel.
- Northwest, actually.
Once they reached Sudan, they couldn't travel any further
and remained languishing in refugee camps.
It is estimated that as many as 4,000 died
from starvation and disease
during the nearly 750 mile trek through the desert
and during the years spent in the refugee camps, but then--
- Let me guess, Israel came to the rescue.
- Good guess!
Israel fulfilled the ancient prophecy
and flew them to the Holy Land on the wings of eagles.
- It wasn't that simple.
In the years leading up to this,
Israel had sent Mossad agents to smuggle smaller numbers
of Ethiopian Jews to Israel, but it actually took a lot
of pressure from Jewish advocacy groups
to get the government to begin a large-scale program.
- So it took a lot of nudging
to get the Israeli bureaucracy to get moving?
That sounds about right.
- Well, there was the need to keep the rescue
on the down low and on a small scale
to prevent the Sudanese and Ethiopian governments
from cracking down and preventing immigration,
so that slowed things down too.
- That sort of sounds like a cop out.
- It's a sticky subject.
Also, you have to remember that Israel
was a very small country and the government felt
that it needed to determine how to successfully integrate
the Ethiopian Jews into Israeli society
before bringing them en mass.
- Makes sense, right?
- But, part of the Israeli government's hesitancy
was that many weren't convinced that the Ethiopian Jews
were truly Jewish due to the uncertainty of their origins.
- Ah, and if they're not Jewish,
they're not eligible to immigrate under the Law of Return.
- Correct.
The Law of Return, enacted in 1950,
gives every Jew the right to live in Israel
and gain citizenship.
It subscribes to the notion of Israel as a safe haven
from the persecution Jews have suffered for 2,000 years.
- That's not to say that non-Jews can't gain citizenship
through naturalization, it's just not an automatic right.
- But, in 1973, when the Chief Rabbi of Israel ruled
that, according to Jewish law,
the Ethiopian Jews are, in fact, Jewish,
the government's policies began to slowly shift.
- So it took another 10 years for Israel to take action
and rescue them on a larger scale?
- Finally, in 1984, Operation Moses was born.
Over the course of seven weeks,
Israel secretly airlifted 8,000 Ethiopian Jews
from the Sudan to Israel, but when the secret became public,
Sudan, facing pressure from its Arab allies,
cut off the operation.
Thousands of Ethiopian Jews remained in war-torn Ethiopia
waiting for the day that they would join
their brothers and sisters in Israel.
But, seven years later, Israel launched a daring mission,
which they named Operation Solomon.
In a period of less than 36 hours,
Israel covertly airlifted 14,000 Ethiopian Jews to Israel.
156 00:06:19,566 --> 00:06:21,866 - 14,325.
- When all was said and done, Israel's Ethiopian population
went from a few hundred in 1983 to over 20,000 in 1991.
160 00:06:31,100 --> 00:06:33,733 - It bares mentioning that the process of integration
for Black Jews in Israel was quite different
from that of African-Americans in the American colonies.
- Yeah, in Israel, there was no slavery, no Jim Crow,
no legalized systemic racism.
The Ethiopian Jews came here
to join their Jewish brothers and sisters
as equal members of society.
That was the dream.
And as Herzl said, "if you will it, it is no dream."
- I knew we couldn't get through this
without you quoting Herzl.
- In America, our ancestors were brought as slaves
and were later segregated.
In Israel, Ethiopians were brought to freedom
and the goal was to integrate them.
- So what, is Israel free of racism?
- No, there is certainly some racism in Israel.
Racism is a global problem and Israel isn't spared from it.
- But overall, the integration of the Ethiopian Jews
into Israeli society was a big success.
Israelis welcomed the Ethiopians with open arms
and were really moved by their aliyah
because all the differences they had didn't matter.
What mattered is that they were Jews
and part of one big family.
- Still, many complained of lack of opportunity,
poverty, and police harassment.
- Yeah, I've seen news clips of protests about this.
- To prepare for the absorption of tens of thousands
of Ethiopian Jews, the Israeli government developed
an elaborate program covering issues of housing,
education, and employment, but its approach
did not sufficiently take into account
social and culture differences between the existing
and incoming Ethiopian population.
Unlike European immigrants, Ethiopians were coming
from remote, rural villages and were not prepared
to work and live in a modern, industrialized society.
This, despite Israel's efforts
at bridging the socioeconomic gap, resulted
in a strong social marginalization.
- But since then, they have come very far.
Ethiopians are in the highest levels
of government and industries.
The gap is shrinking.
Among young Ethiopians who were raised here,
the gap in education and employment is almost closed.
- Agreed.
Israel is a complex society and has its challenges,
but there's also a lot of acceptance
and respect for various cultures.
- It's rough, shifting terrain
that Israel will always struggle to navigate,
but it's important for Israel
to set its eyes on the final destination,
the Jewish values of equality and acceptance of others.
(upbeat music)
And one of the best examples of this challenge
is the story of the Ethiopian Jews.
(upbeat music)