Federation Mission

The Jewish Federation mission trip arrived in Ethiopia yesterday. I was lucky enough to be invited to have dinner with them @ the Sheraton Hotel - delcious - and got to reunite with some greensboro folks. Great evening. Also got to tag along while Rick gave a tour of the JDC clinic in Addis; it was my first visit to that clinic. It is a small, well-staffed, clean clinic that is definitely one of the nicer medical facilities I've seen here. They are in a tough spot right now because they are charged with medically evaluating and treating anyone who has an open immigration file with the Israeli Embassy; all of the Falash Mura in Addis have been denied immigration by Israel. But the clinic still treats them and their role in the future is hazy as to whether or not they'll continue to see these people or how they will transition to their new role. It was also interesting to watch the 50+ gathered Ethiopians play their political games - they were all wearing their kippahs when the mission arrived (purely for the mission's sake accd. to Rick) and they handed out documents lamenting their plight and asking for help (I guess) from the mission in emigrating to Israel. Reminds me of many of the children beggars in the street - They're in the middle of a soccer game with friends, but once they see the faranji, they all put on this really sad, crying face and run up to us and say 'hungry, hungry, no mother, no father, bread, money, money', and once we turn them down, they go right back to smiling and playing their soccer game. Similar story with the Falash Mura in Addis. Gonder has some legit Falash Mura who are in the process of emigrating, but not Addis.

It is also interesting when you look at what has happened to most Ethiopians after moving to Israel. Going from a third world lifestyle (I think Ethiopia is ranked 170 of 177 in UN's world's poorest countries) to Israel is a dramatic change. Allegedly some Ethiopians, after moving to Israel, were getting nearly 1/3 of their calories from coca-cola! Diabetes, heart problems, obesity, high blood pressure, and other 'diseases of civilization' wreak havoc on the population. I wonder if most Ethiopians considered this before moving? I wonder if it would have made a difference?

(To Clarify - The Falash Mura who are trying to immigrate to Israel don't qualify under the "right of return" for Jews b/c Israel doesn't consider them Jewish. So their immigration process is regulated by some national agency in Israel that deals w/none Jewish immigration. Even the label of Falash Mura can be misleading - supposedly their ancestors were Jewish but at some point were forcefully converted to Christianity....but they still practice Christianity (except for when the JDC missions show up). Some of the claims are more legit than others, but in any situation with Falash Mura, you believe their Jewish claims based solely on their family's oral history. I'm not sure exactly what the Ethio-Israel politics are, but I think the Falash Mura's history and justification for wanting to emigrate are the main hurdles.)