Liqaye Posted January 14, 2004 against taking in their countrymen, contending many are charlatans whose claims of Jewish descent are a ploy aimed at getting out of famine-ridden MEVASERET ZION, Israel — The arrival of thousands more Ethiopians in Israel has run into increasing opposition amid suspicions that many of the would-be immigrants may not be the descendants of Jews who converted to Christianity as they claim. Some earlier Ethiopian-Jewish immigrants have cautioned the government against taking in their countrymen, contending many are charlatans whose claims of Jewish descent are a ploy aimed at getting out of famine-ridden Ethiopia. "More than 60 percent [of the Falash Mura] have no connection to Israel," said Dani Adeno Abebe, an Ethiopian-Jewish journalist. "They are a crowd of hitchhikers," he said, warning that the government could face an influx of hundreds of thousands with spurious claims to a Jewish past. Unlike the 80,000 Ethiopian Jews in Israel, whose Jewish roots go back centuries, the Falash Mura claim descent from a community of Jews forced to abandon Judaism in the 19th century owing to persecution. Yeshambel Kassel Alazebech, 36, an Ethiopian farmer, waited six years in an overcrowded holding camp run by American-Jewish activists in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, before getting permission to immigrate to Israel six months ago. During that time, he said, he embraced his Jewish roots. "When we waited in Addis Ababa, we left our old ways behind us and started to keep Jewish ways, even before coming to Israel," he said. Now he lives with other Falash Mura in government-subsidized immigrant housing, studying for his formal conversion to Judaism and trying to acquire skills. Since 1991 — when dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam fled Ethiopia — thousands of Falash Mura have left their villages to live in mud huts in crowded camps in Addis Ababa and the northern city of Gondar in hopes of immigrating to Israel. Israel allows 300 Falash Mura a month to come to Israel. Many of Israel's Ethiopian Jews were brought to Israel in massive airlifts during times of crisis in 1984 and 1991 and received automatic citizenship. Avraham Neguise, founder of South Wing to Zion, a Falash Mura advocacy group, said the community numbers no more than 20,000 people already living at holding centers in Ethiopia. Falash Mura in Israel have held street protests to decry the government's inaction on its decision last year to lift immigration restrictions, accusing it of discrimination. "Tzipi discriminates against black Jews," read a sign at a recent protest, referring to Immigration Minister Tzipi Livni. At a recent ministerial meeting, Mrs. Livni and Interior Minister Avraham Poraz, said they would oppose further Falash Mura immigration until extra funds are allocated. "She does not say there is no money for Jews who come from other lands — only for us," Alem Ferde said. In the last decade, Israel let in more than a million immigrants from the former Soviet Union. Many of them, while of Jewish descent, belong to other faiths. Immigration Ministry spokesman Arik Foder rejects the accusations. "Nobody can accuse us of racism. Our investment in the Ethiopians is higher than for any other group of immigrants," he said. Mr. Foder, however, added: "If the number of immigrants increases, we will not be able to afford it." Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom went to Ethiopia last week, the first visit by an Israeli foreign minister in more than a decade. On Wednesday, he met with Falash Mura, telling them that Israel could not afford to bring them all at once because the issue was complex "including matters the finance minister will have to decide." Source: Washington Post Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
