Ethiopian keisim attending Monday's conference in Rehovot.
(David Bachar)
Last update - 22:22 05/02/2007
Ethiopian leaders urge end to Falashmura immigration to Israel
By Ayanawo Farada Sanbatu, Haaretz Correspondent
Ethiopian rabbis and spiritual leaders (keisim) called on the government
Monday to halt the Ethiopian Falashmura aliyah to Israel, citing concerns that
many of the Falashmura are engaged in Christian missionary activity.
The leaders made the call during a Rehovot conference titled "Defeating
the [Christian] mission manifestation in the community," in which hundreds of
Ethiopian Jews took part.
The keisim and rabbis called for establishing new rules for bringing
Ethiopian Jews to Israel, maintaining that in recent years many of the
Falshamura in Israel have resorted to Christianity and built missions in Jaffa,
Jerusalem, and Rehovot, as a result of their difficult financial situation.
The Falashmura claim Jewish ancestry, despite having converted to
Christianity over the years.
Community leaders see the missionary activity as a direct outcome of
bringing the Falshamura to Israel.
"We came [to Israel] to be Jews. In Ethiopia, we weren't different from
the Christians by skin color, we were different from them because of our
Judaism only," community members said at the conference. "The missionary
activities have crossed the red lines and could incite the community and cause
bloodshed."
Conference participants elected a keisim-led committee that will map out
the various missions in each city and prepare a list of missionaries, which
they will transfer to the Interior Ministry, requesting that they be barred
from marrying or being buried in a Jewish cemetery. In addition, the committee
will formulate a position paper on potential future Falashmura aliyah.
"The missionaries persecuted us in Ethiopia, and [we must] not permit
them to persecute us in the Holy Land," said the conference participants
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