28 Friday, July 29, 1983
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Report Israeli Efforts Resulting in Stepped-Up Falasah Exodus
NEW YORK (JTA) —
The plight of Ethiopian
Jewry appears to have
demonstrated some im-
provement in recent months
as an "unprecedented
number" of Falashas have
succeeded in illegally leav-
ing Ethiopia to go to Israel,
according to an activist
familiar with Ethiopian
Jewry.
But at the same time,
while there has been an im-
provement as a result of the
efforts of the Israeli gov-
ernment, the severe
drought in North Africa,
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said to be the worst in more ply criticized by many
than a decade, has created groups working with
new hardships. The drought Falashas for failing to take
has triggered a famine appropriate action to secure
which the activist said is re- the release of the Falashas.
sulting in the deaths of
But as Rep. Green noted,
some 50-100 children each the efforts by Israel and the
day in the northern Ethio- United States are hindered
pian province of Tigray, a because the Reagan Ad-
heavily populated Falasha ministration has little
region.
capacity to influence the ac-
The activist, Barbara tions of the Ethiopian gov-
Ribakove, president of the ernment. Since the over-
North Aemrican Confer- throw of Emperor Haile
ence on Ethiopian Jewry Salassie in 1972, the
(NACAEJ), provided this Falashas, who reside in the
assessment to the more northwest of Ethiopia, have
than 300 persons who been geographically located
gathered Monday at the in the center of a civil war.
Lincoln Square Synagogue
The Falashas number
here. Ms. Ribakove, who about 20,000 today and
last visited Ethiopia in have reportedly been sub-
1981, was one of several jected to cruel and harsh
speakers addressing the treatment, such as torture
issue of Ethiopian Jewry.
and slavery, by the present
When asked specifi- Communist government. In
cally for the number of 1972, Israel's two chief rab-
Falashas who have suc- bis recognized the Falashas
cessfully made it to Is- as Jews. But today, rela-
rael, Ms. Ribakove de-
clined, saying that the
figures were provided in
confidence. But her
claims were supported
by Rep. Bill Green (D-NY)
GENEVA (JTA) — Reli-
who also said there ap-
able Swiss sources said this
peared to have been some week that Swiss authorities
success by the Israelis to have decided to bar entry to
make it easier for certain Switzerland to any Palesti-
groups to leave Ethiopia. nian terrorist, or other ter-
The tone of the meeting,
rorists sought by police, who
despite the information of seeks to attend the Confer-
the drought and its hard-
ence on Palestinian Rights
ships, was markedly differ-
in Geneva.
ent than past rallies for
Muammar Qaddafi, the
Ethiopian Jews. The Israeli
Libyan head of state, has
government has been shar-
said he would issue dip-
lomatic passports to all
Palestinian terrorists who
want to come to Geneva to
participate in the conclave
scheduled for the end of
August. Officials of Vienna
SYNAGOGUE OPEN HOUSE
Sun., Aug. 7th, 2-5 p.m.
Congregation Beth Achim is a traditionally conservative syna-
gogue. Our full family service includes active programs in the
Men's Club, Sisterhood, U.S.Y. Affiliated Youth Groups, Mr. &
Mrs. Club, Havurot and a branch of the United Hebrew Schools
located in our building.
JOIN
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352-8670
Rabbi Milton Arm
Rabbi Emeritus Benjamin Gorrelick
Cantor Max Shimansky
Reverend Joseph Baras
Gerald Lasher, President
Nevertheless,
the
Ethiopian government
has just recently opened
its doors to visitors to
view first-hand the status
of the Falashas. Dr. Jay
Luger, a member of the
steering committee of the
NACAEJ presented a
brief slide presentation
of his trip to three
Falasha villages last
May. He, along with 11
others, made a 12-day
visit to Ethiopia.
Dr. Luger's slides pre-
sented a view of the hard-
ships and primitive life-
style of the Falashas. One
slide, showing the Falashas
in prayer in the synagogue
in the village of Walleca,
outside the city of Gondar in
Swiss Plan to Bar Terrorists
from Palestinian Conference
CONGREGATION BETH ACHIM
cordially invites you and your family
to join us for the community-wide
tively little is known about
how the Falashas reach Is-
rael. For practical and polit-
ical reasons, it is not a
widely publicized subject.
Student Political
Leaders Embark
on Israel Tour
NEW YORK (JTA) — A
bi-partisan group of student
political leaders from across
the country left last Thurs-
day on a two-week tour to
learn first-hand about Is-
rael.
The five Democrats and
five Republicans were
"drawn specifically from
areas where there are no
large Jewish constituen-
cies," said Shabsa Lis, coor-
dinator of the tour and a
representative of the North
American Jewish Students'
Network, which is sponsor-
ing it for the second year in
a row.
The students, all of whom
are visiting Israel for the
first time, expressed sup-
port for Israel and for the
continuation of a strong al-
liance between it and the
United States.
While in Israel, the stu-
dents are scheduled to meet
with President Chaim Her-
zog, Labor Party leader
Shimon Peres, several
members of the Knesset,
Director General of the Jus-
tice Department Simha
Dinitz, Bethlehem Mayor
Elias Freij and Israeli stu-
dent leaders.
Milton Berlinger is the
real name of comedian Mil-
ton Berle.
and Paris refused to allow
the conference in their
cities, citing security prob-
lems.
Concern reportedly had
been expressed by official
sources in Geneva over the
prospect of terrorists
wanted by Interpol, moving
about freely in Geneva
under diplomatic immun-
ity. Such fears, according to
the report, led Swiss offi-
cials to decide that even if a
terrorist had a diplomatic
passport, he would not be
admitted.
Some Swiss authorities
indicated they thought PLO
chief Yasir Arafat plans to
come to Geneva to attend
the conference, asserting
Arafat would be "almost ob-
liged" to be present, unless
the current fighting within
the PLO makes that im-
possible.
the province of Gondar,
indicated the Western
influence on the Falashas in
the past years.
The huts in the town of
Wolleca are constructed of
wood and mud. But the
Western influence was
demonstrated according to
Dr. Luger, by the Western-
style prayer-shawls which
the Falashas wore in the
synagogue and by the
mezuza on the entrance to
some homes.
In Ambober, the village
referred to as the "showcase
village," the slides depicted
some of the structures re-
maining from the combined
ORT-American Jewish
Joint Distribution Commit-
tee relief program which
began in 1976. In 1981, the
governor of the Gondar
province, Maj. Malaku, re-
voked the permission for the
operation of the program.
In the third village vis-
ited, Abas Antonias, the
small synagogue used by
the Falashas did not have
a Torah. Dr. Luger said
the visit was sponsored
by the NACAEJ and was
primarily a fact finding
mission.
Rep. Ted Weiss (D-NY),
who also addressed the
meeting, said that the Sub-
committee on Africa, of
which he is a member, has
urged the Reagan Adminis-
tration to help provide aid
to Ethopia. He said mem-
bers of the subcommittee
will be going to several Af-
rica nations in August and
will, during the course of a
stopover in Ethiopia, un-
derscore the concern for the
fate and future of the
Falashas.
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