on Earth. This was the only way we
could survive. When we walked, the
whole time we had hope that beyond
the horizon and the mountains ... we
would find Yerusalem:'

The Arrival

Uness' family settled in Gedriff, a
Sudanese village where Osnat took
work as a housekeeper for a Muslim
family. It took three years, but she
found safe passage to Khartoum for
the clandestine airlift.
Uness said the integration, or culture
shock, started immediately. Having
never seen one an airplane, he could
hardly ponder how this contraption —
a long shiny bird with wide, immobile
wings — could carry them over land.
Then he saw his first white person.
"We thought that he has a very big
problem; that his color was drained
from his body," he says, laughing in
fluid English, his fourth language.
But the confusion turned to antici-
pation and sheer joy upon landing.
The tears on everyone's faces flowed
freely, he said, cementing for him the
happiest memory of his life.
Uness' family first lived in an
absorption center in northern Israel,
where he was schooled primarily
in Hebrew, Torah, mathematics and
Israeli history.
They settled in Rehovot. At 14,
Uness moved to a boarding school in
Haifa.
He graduated and began his manda-
tory three-year Israeli army term in
the infantry, stationed often along the
Israeli border and in the Palestinian
territories. Within a year, he was select-
ed for special command training; he
served in the military court in Lod, the
primary location for terrorist trials.
Uness entered the University of
Haifa after the army; his interest in
politics and diplomacy flourished.

The Message
Uness' first foray into public speaking
started in 2005, when he joined actors
of Live and Become in promoting the
critically acclaimed film at Jewish film
festivals, synagogues, and universities
across the country.
Though the storyline follows a non-

Jewish boy rescued among the thou-
sands of others by Operation Moses,
Uness said his story relates.
In direct, typical Israeli fashion,
Uness said that his purpose in giving
the talks is clear: He probably wouldn't
not have survived the famine, much
less be educated and able to travel the
world, had it not been for visionary
and determined Zionists.
It's an achievement lost on an
entire generation of Jews who he now
encounters living in Queens, New York.
"I can feel it. I can feel it when I talk
with them:' Uness said. "Jews in the
United States need to appreciate that
at some point, God allowed us to have
a Jewish state, and we are now in very
dangerous times with Iran, Hamas,
Hezbollah. We need to create a stron-
ger Israel and not be dependent on
other nations to make Israel greater."
His uplifting tone left the crowd
impressed.
"He's obviously a brilliant young
man for coming through that expe-
rience like he has, but he's also
an authentic voice and a symbol
about what Israel is supposed to be:
the ingathering of the exiles," said
Beverly Baker, new president of the
Bloomfield Township-based ZOA
Michigan Region. ❑

Answering
Israel's Critics

Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital

6777 West Maple Road

West Bloomfield, MI 48322

Evening features
exclusive tours of the new hospital,
a delectable strolling dinner,
and entertainment by the Simone Vitale Band,
dancing and much, much more!

For ticket or sponsorship information,
call (313) 8764031
or visit henryford.com/giving

The Charge

Officials in Dubai claimed this
month that they barred Israeli
Shahar Peer from playing there in
a World Tennis Association (WTA)
tournament to protect her and
fans from anti-Israel protests.

The Answer
Peer called the ban an injustice
and discrimination. Her view
was publicly supported by
WTA chairman Larry Scott and
American star Andy Roddick.

— Allan Gale, Jewish Community

Relations Council

of Metropolitan Detroit

© February 26, 2009 Jewish Renaissance Media

February 26 • 2009

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