Jews of Ethiopian descent, tracing
their roots to the biblical King Solomon, number about 105,000 among
Israel's 6 million people today. Most were flown in during huge
airlifts in the 1980s. Another 20,000 Ethiopians are expected through
2007 after a pledge to speed up immigration of the Falasha Mura, Jews
whose families converted to Christianity in the past 200 years and now
want to come to Israel. Nobody doubts that many of the Ethiopian Jews
were happy to leave Ethiopia not only because of their religion, but
also to escape one of the world's poorest countries and a land haunted
by war and famine. While they may be financially better off in Israel
than in Ethiopia, they are struggling compared to most other Israelis.
Some 60 percent are considered to be living in poverty compared to 20
percent of the general population, according to figures from
Meyers-JDC-Brookdale, a prominent Israeli social research institute. [more]
- Pictured above: Undated
file photo of Ethiopian Jewish religious leaders known as 'Kessim'
attending the funeral of Kes Menashe Zemro in Kiryat Gat, Israel. Tens
of thousands of Ethiopians have arrived in Israel in the past two
decades and complain of routine discrimination by fellow Jews.