The International Political Ramifications of Falasha Emigration

In: The journal of modern African studies: a quarterly survey of politics, economics & related topics in contemporary Africa, Band 29, Heft 4, S. 557-581

Abstract

The term Falasha is derived from the Ge'ez or Amharic word maflas, 'to remove', and denotes people without land or roots, strangers, and will be used in this article because of its wide international recognition, although most Ethiopian Jews now prefer to be known as Beta Israel. According to their tradition, the Falasha have lived in Africa for more than two-and-a-half millennia, for the most part unaware of the existence of other Jews in the world. In recent years, an increasing number have felt impelled to seek a permanent home in Israel, and by June 1991 as many as 43,000 had managed to achieve this goal. Although most of these Ethiopian Jews must have anticipated that emigration would not be easy, it is very unlikely that they, or anyone else, could have known just how difficult would be their ordeal.