Anti-Israel sentiment growing in Ethiopia

Many Ethiopians, particularly in central and northern regions, are developing deep anti-Israeli sentiments by the day and it is not because they support palestine Arabs. Nor is it because these Ethiopians support any opposing sides of the Middle East quagmire. However, as the various operations that airlift Ethiopian Jews to Israel increased, the atmosphere continued to become more tense as non-Jew Ethiopians living mostly in cities like Gondar perceive the immigration as Jewish superiority and Jewish exclusivity.

Ethiopian Jews, also known as Falasha, have been living in northern parts of Ethiopia for centuries. Since the state religion of Ethiopia was "Ethiopian Orthodox" for more than a Millenium, most of these Ethiopians of Jewish ancestry have been converting to Christianity. However, more than 100 thousand of these Ethiopian Jews have already left the country and more are pleading daily to vacate Ethiopia and live in Israel.

In response, some of the non-Jew Ethiopians, especially in the northern areas, often develop animosity against those Ethiopian Jews who they portray as unpatriotic. A typical discussion in the public about the Ethiopian jewish movement indicate bitterness. For instance, filled with anger in his tone, Daniel in Addis Ababa says "why don't Jews of western nations like America also leave their residence or leave their country and go to Israel too?" According to the claims of various Ethiopians, the economical problems of Ethiopian society is why these Ethiopian Jews are thirsty to "abandon" their country and move to Israel. In 2005, hundreds of Ethiopian Jews (Falashas) went on hunger strike to protest against a delay in their relocation to Israel. After a recent Falasha demonstration to leave Ethiopia, Mariam, another furious Ethiopian said "All of their [Falasha] grand mothers and their great grand mothers are all born in Ethiopia. All of us Ethiopians are a mixture of many ethnic and religious groups that have immigrated up & down throughout history."

Despite all of this sentiment, most of the Ethiopian Jews don't fare well in their new life in Israel as well. Some of the issues they face include discrimination in Israel, problems with finding a fair settlement and various health issues due to the drastic change in diet. Many Studies showed there was a very high level of modern illnesses like diabetes from Ethiopian Jews compared to the average Jewish citizen born & raised in Israel. Since 2005, more and more Ethiopian Rabbis living in Israel have also been complaining for equal right & equal wages comparable to that of raddis who are not from Ethiopia. Also most of these Ethiopian Jews face forced conversion to Judaism and begin their life at a disadvantage because of religious and language issues. Under the "Law of Return," the Ethiopian Jews must undergo a process of conversion to Judiasm in order to receive all the financial benefits of new immigrants. In addition, there has been a higher level of suicide reported among Ethiopian Jews in Ethiopia due to the hardship of making the big transition and because of the continuing discrimination. Some children of Ethiopian Jewish families were kicked out of municipal kindergardens because the school believed "too many Ethiopian Jews are in the kindergardens." Many Ethiopians were also denied entrance to some programs in Tel Aviv University (TAU) because of their origin and there were many incidents where Israeli policemen physically harrassed Ethiopian Jews and called them racist anti-black insults.

Still more than a thousand Ethiopian Jews hold demonstrations in Ethiopia wanting to leave their country and be taken to Israel. Most of them often declare the poverty in Ethiopia as a reason and use offensive languages to describe the poor situation in Ethiopia to effectively anger various Ethiopians who accuse the Ethiopian Jews (Falasha) as being "self-righteous and condescending." Most historians say the Ethiopian Jews have lived in Ethiopia and along the Red Sea regions for more than 2,500 years. However Shimon, one of the Ethiopian Jews waiting to be taken out of Ethiopia said, "My application to leave Ethiopia has already been approved. Once i go, i don't want to ever see Ethiopia again."

Since January 2007 many leaders of the Jewish community are asking for the halt of more Ethiopian Falashamura aliyah because of the fear that some of the Ethiopian immigrants are Christians, not Jews. Yesterday, Israel's Interior Ministry reversed and rejected the application of more than a 1,500 Ethiopian Jews.