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The Rescue
Of Ethiopian Jews

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There were numerous incidents of anti-Semitic cemetery desecrations in Europe, most
notably in France, where the mutilation of a body led to a huge protest rally in Paris.

Anti-Semitism On The Rise

nti-Semitism was on the rise
this past year. Jewish
cemeteries were desecrated,
most notably in France,
Poland, Italy, the United
States and Canada. And the fear of
pogroms in the Soviet Union helped
convince Jews there to flee.
The irony is that an increase of
democracy in the USSR and a
number of Eastern European coun-
tries allowed hate-groups to speak
out more vocally and publicly than
in the past. And in America,
skinheads and neo-Nazi groups
disseminated anti-Semitic hate
material, including the "Protocols of
the Elders of Zion."
Perhaps the most shocking single
incident took place in a cemetery in
Carpentras, France, where the body
of an elderly Jew was removed from
its grave and mutilated. Outraged,
tens of thousands of Frenchmen and
women took to the streets of Paris in
silent protest, led by the leaders of
the government. But the growing
power of Jean-Marie Le Pen's racist
National Front Party, a strongly na-
tionalistic and anti-immigrant mood,
and longstanding feelings of anti-
Semitism convince some observers
that the cemetery desecration was
not just an isolated event.
Helen Davis, our foreign correspon-
dent, recently noted that the 1990s
presents a confusing picture: the
death of communism, the reunifica-
tion of Germany, the integration of
Europe and the dilution of national-

50

FRIDAY._SEPTEMBER 21, 1990

ism "have contrived to remove vir-
tually all the anchors of certainty
that governed European life in both
East and West, for better and for
worse, over the past 50 years."
The one common thread that
appears to bind the continent is anti-
Semitism, she concludes, and Euro-
pean Jewish leaders are unsure as to
how to respond, whether to publicize
incidents or hide them.
In America, national Jewish
organizations continue to seek to
identify and document anti-
Semitism, to talk about it and
stigmatize it rather than hide it or
attempt to eradicate it entirely. Anti-
Semitism has become more political,
whether it be from black extremist
Louis Farrakhan or white extremist
David Duke, now running for the
U.S. Senate in Louisiana.
Anti-Israel pronouncements con-
tinue to mask anti-Semitic beliefs
among some people, a fact com-
plicated by the growing criticism
among Americans of Israeli policies.
But the overall view is that while
anti-Semitic incidents are shocking
and abhorrent — like swastika-
sprayed synagogues and gravestones
defaced — they are isolated to
adolescents and extremists. For the
most part American Jews continue
to be increasingly accepted by the
majority culture.
Perhaps these incidents serve as a
warning against complacency, a
reminder to be ever-vigilant against
age-old bigotry. 11]

or a time, a ray of light shone
through the oppression faced
by Ethiopian Jews this year
and thousands were able to
leave for Israel.
Efforts to rescue Ethiopian Jewry
have always been shrouded in
secrecy. The fear is that any publici-
ty regarding how Jews are being
saved would embarrass the
authorities and call a halt to the
rescue operation.
Indeed, that is what happened in
early 1985, when Operation Moses
brought as many as 12,000 Ethio-
pian Jews to Israel — only to be
stopped when the press publicized
the story.
This past winter, after two years
of negotiations, six weeks after
Ethiopia restored relations with
Israel, the two governments were
reported to have finalized a com-
plicated deal with the Marxist
regime of Ethiopia to provide
military aid — the government is at
war with rebel forces — in exchange
for the freedom of 20,000 Jews who
remained trapped in Ethiopia after
Operation Moses was aborted.
For six months, about 500 Ethio-
pian Jews a month were allowed to
leave for Israel as part of the agree-
ment, calling for the reunification of
families on a humanitarian basis.
In July, the flow was suspended
shortly after Ethiopia's embattled
leader, Mengistu Haile Mariam, met

with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak
Shamir in Israel and reportedly
asked for weapons from Israel to aid
his regime.
Some say the flow stopped because
non-Jews were using the Israeli chan-
nel as a way of escaping Ethiopia.
Other maintain that Jews are being
held hostage to Ethiopian demands
for Israeli military equipment.
Israel has long been caught be-
tween the E thiopian dictator's
linkage of military cooperation to
Jewish emigration, on the one hand,
and Washington's revulsion at the
massive casualties the Mengistu
regime has been inflicting on the
civilian populations of areas con-
trolled by rebel forces.
Despite published reports of
Israel's sale of cluster bombs to
Ethiopia, Jerusalem denied that
there was any military cooperation
between Ethiopia and Israel.
Since July, the flow of Jews leav-
ing Ethiopia has diminished. Last
week, 71 were allowed to leave. But
as many as 20,000 Jews remain,
most of them living in miserable
conditions in Addis Ababa, having
fled their native Gondar region due
to heavy fighting. Their hope is to
be reunited with their families in
Israel and to lead lives free of pover
ty and persecution.
For now, they wait. And pray for
their deliverance. ❑

An Israeli rescue effort was made on behalf of about 20,000 Jews trapped in
Ethiopia when the Ethiopian government restored relations with Israel. But the
flow diminished this summer, reportedly after Ethiopia demanded more weapons.
This Ethiopian family escaped to Israel.

