Can the Ethiopian change his skin? The beta Israel (Ethiopian Jews) and racial discourse

African Affairs

Volumn 98, Issue 393, 1999, Pages 535-550

  Kaplan, Steven ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

CULTURAL IDENTITY; ETHNICITY; IMMIGRANT POPULATION; SOCIAL BEHAVIOR;

ISRAEL;

EID: 0033395559     PISSN: 00019909     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.afraf.a008066     Document Type: Article

References (84)

1. The reasons behind the use of quotation marks in designating the terms 'black' and 'white' will become apparent from the discussion below.
2. For comprehensive listings see Steven Kaplan and Shoshana Ben-Dor, Ethiopian Jewry: An annotated bibliography (Ben Zvi Institute, Jerusalem, 1988), and Hagar Salamon and Steven Kaplan, Ethiopian Jewry: An annotated bibliography 1987-1997 (Ben Zvi Institute, Jerusalem, 1998), which together list almost 2,400 items.
3. For comprehensive listings see Steven Kaplan and Shoshana Ben-Dor, Ethiopian Jewry: An annotated bibliography (Ben Zvi Institute, Jerusalem, 1988), and Hagar Salamon and Steven Kaplan, Ethiopian Jewry: An annotated bibliography 1987-1997 (Ben Zvi Institute, Jerusalem, 1998), which together list almost 2,400 items.
4. Michael Banton, Racial Theories (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1987), pp. 196-235.
5. Robert Miles, Racism (Routledge, London, 1989), p. 70.
6. James C. King, The Biology of Race (University of California Press, Berkeley, CA, 1981), p. 158.
7. Michael McGiffert, 'Editor's preface' to 'Constructing race: differentiating peoples in the early modern period', The William and Mary Quarterly, 54, 1 (1997), p. 3.
8. Cf. Saul Dubow, Scientific Racism in Modern South Africa (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1995); N. L. Stepans, The Hour of Eugenics: Race, gender and nation in Latin America (Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, 1991); Anthony W. Marx, Making Race and Nation: A comparison of the United States, South Africa, and Brazil (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1998).
9. Cf. Saul Dubow, Scientific Racism in Modern South Africa (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1995); N. L. Stepans, The Hour of Eugenics: Race, gender and nation in Latin America (Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, 1991); Anthony W. Marx, Making Race and Nation: A comparison of the United States, South Africa, and Brazil (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1998).
10. Cf. Saul Dubow, Scientific Racism in Modern South Africa (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1995); N. L. Stepans, The Hour of Eugenics: Race, gender and nation in Latin America (Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, 1991); Anthony W. Marx, Making Race and Nation: A comparison of the United States, South Africa, and Brazil (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1998).
11. See for example, Hagar Salamon, 'Slavery among the Beta Israel in Ethiopia: religious dimensions of inter-group perceptions', Slavery and Abolition, 15, 1 (1994), pp. 72-88; 'Reflections of Ethiopian cultural patterns on the Beta Israel absorption in Israel: the "Barya" case', in Steven Kaplan, Tudor Parfitt, and Emanuela Trevisan Semi (eds), Between Africa and Zion (Ben Zvi Institute, Jerusalem, 1995), p. 129; 'Judaism between race and religion: the case of Ethiopian Jews', in Harvey Goldberg (ed.), The Life of Judaism (University of California Press, Berkeley, CA, forthcoming). Haim Rosen, 'Working as a government anthropologist among Ethiopian Jews in Israel', Israel Social Science Research, 10, 2 (1995), pp. 59-61; and, more generally, A. P. Vassilevich, 'Colour names in Amharic', Proceedings of the Ninth International Congress of Ethiopian Studies (USSR Academy of Sciences African Institute, Moscow, 1988), pp. 142-8.
12. See for example, Hagar Salamon, 'Slavery among the Beta Israel in Ethiopia: religious dimensions of inter-group perceptions', Slavery and Abolition, 15, 1 (1994), pp. 72-88; 'Reflections of Ethiopian cultural patterns on the Beta Israel absorption in Israel: the "Barya" case', in Steven Kaplan, Tudor Parfitt, and Emanuela Trevisan Semi (eds), Between Africa and Zion (Ben Zvi Institute, Jerusalem, 1995), p. 129; 'Judaism between race and religion: the case of Ethiopian Jews', in Harvey Goldberg (ed.), The Life of Judaism (University of California Press, Berkeley, CA, forthcoming). Haim Rosen, 'Working as a government anthropologist among Ethiopian Jews in Israel', Israel Social Science Research, 10, 2 (1995), pp. 59-61; and, more generally, A. P. Vassilevich, 'Colour names in Amharic', Proceedings of the Ninth International Congress of Ethiopian Studies (USSR Academy of Sciences African Institute, Moscow, 1988), pp. 142-8.
13. See for example, Hagar Salamon, 'Slavery among the Beta Israel in Ethiopia: religious dimensions of inter-group perceptions', Slavery and Abolition, 15, 1 (1994), pp. 72-88; 'Reflections of Ethiopian cultural patterns on the Beta Israel absorption in Israel: the "Barya" case', in Steven Kaplan, Tudor Parfitt, and Emanuela Trevisan Semi (eds), Between Africa and Zion (Ben Zvi Institute, Jerusalem, 1995), p. 129; 'Judaism between race and religion: the case of Ethiopian Jews', in Harvey Goldberg (ed.), The Life of Judaism (University of California Press, Berkeley, CA, forthcoming). Haim Rosen, 'Working as a government anthropologist among Ethiopian Jews in Israel', Israel Social Science Research, 10, 2 (1995), pp. 59-61; and, more generally, A. P. Vassilevich, 'Colour names in Amharic', Proceedings of the Ninth International Congress of Ethiopian Studies (USSR Academy of Sciences African Institute, Moscow, 1988), pp. 142-8.
14. See for example, Hagar Salamon, 'Slavery among the Beta Israel in Ethiopia: religious dimensions of inter-group perceptions', Slavery and Abolition, 15, 1 (1994), pp. 72-88; 'Reflections of Ethiopian cultural patterns on the Beta Israel absorption in Israel: the "Barya" case', in Steven Kaplan, Tudor Parfitt, and Emanuela Trevisan Semi (eds), Between Africa and Zion (Ben Zvi Institute, Jerusalem, 1995), p. 129; 'Judaism between race and religion: the case of Ethiopian Jews', in Harvey Goldberg (ed.), The Life of Judaism (University of California Press, Berkeley, CA, forthcoming). Haim Rosen, 'Working as a government anthropologist among Ethiopian Jews in Israel', Israel Social Science Research, 10, 2 (1995), pp. 59-61; and, more generally, A. P. Vassilevich, 'Colour names in Amharic', Proceedings of the Ninth International Congress of Ethiopian Studies (USSR Academy of Sciences African Institute, Moscow, 1988), pp. 142-8.
15. See for example, Hagar Salamon, 'Slavery among the Beta Israel in Ethiopia: religious dimensions of inter-group perceptions', Slavery and Abolition, 15, 1 (1994), pp. 72-88; 'Reflections of Ethiopian cultural patterns on the Beta Israel absorption in Israel: the "Barya" case', in Steven Kaplan, Tudor Parfitt, and Emanuela Trevisan Semi (eds), Between Africa and Zion (Ben Zvi Institute, Jerusalem, 1995), p. 129; 'Judaism between race and religion: the case of Ethiopian Jews', in Harvey Goldberg (ed.), The Life of Judaism (University of California Press, Berkeley, CA, forthcoming). Haim Rosen, 'Working as a government anthropologist among Ethiopian Jews in Israel', Israel Social Science Research, 10, 2 (1995), pp. 59-61; and, more generally, A. P. Vassilevich, 'Colour names in Amharic', Proceedings of the Ninth International Congress of Ethiopian Studies (USSR Academy of Sciences African Institute, Moscow, 1988), pp. 142-8.
16. Jacques Faitlovitch, 'The Black Jews of Abyssinia', The American Hebrew 2 (1915), pp. 3-15.
17. Yael Kahane, Achim Shechorim [Black Brothers] (Am Oved, Tel Aviv, 1997).
18. Balson Printing, Brooklyn, NY, 1982. See also Messing's article, 'Journey to the Falashas, Ethiopia's black Jews', Commentary, 22 (July-December, 1956), pp. 28-40, and for colour categories in Ethiopia see his dissertation ' The Highland Plateau Amhara of Ethiopia', Ph.D. thesis, University of Pennsylvania, 1957, p. 566.
19. Balson Printing, Brooklyn, NY, 1982. See also Messing's article, 'Journey to the Falashas, Ethiopia's black Jews', Commentary, 22 (July-December, 1956), pp. 28-40, and for colour categories in Ethiopia see his dissertation ' The Highland Plateau Amhara of Ethiopia', Ph.D. thesis, University of Pennsylvania, 1957, p. 566.
20. The Scarecrow Press, Lanham, MD and London, 1998. It is curious that a work written from an Afro-centric perspective and claiming (p. xiv) to study 'the Ethiopian immigrants through their own perceptions' assumes that they perceive themselves as blacks (pp. 58-62). Cf. Yosef Ben-Jochannan, We the Black Jews (Black Classic Press, Baltimore, MD, 1993).
21. Wolf Leslau, 'The black Jews of Ethiopia: an expedition to the 'Falashas', Commentary, 7 (January-June 1949), pp. 216-224; Louis Rapoport, 'Falashas: a black holocaust looms', New Republic, 180 (24 February 1979), p. 17; Chaim Rabin, 'The black Jews of Ethiopia', The Jewish Review, 6 (28 November 1952), p. 3.
22. Wolf Leslau, 'The black Jews of Ethiopia: an expedition to the 'Falashas', Commentary, 7 (January-June 1949), pp. 216-224; Louis Rapoport, 'Falashas: a black holocaust looms', New Republic, 180 (24 February 1979), p. 17; Chaim Rabin, 'The black Jews of Ethiopia', The Jewish Review, 6 (28 November 1952), p. 3.
23. Wolf Leslau, 'The black Jews of Ethiopia: an expedition to the 'Falashas', Commentary, 7 (January-June 1949), pp. 216-224; Louis Rapoport, 'Falashas: a black holocaust looms', New Republic, 180 (24 February 1979), p. 17; Chaim Rabin, 'The black Jews of Ethiopia', The Jewish Review, 6 (28 November 1952), p. 3.
24. Roberta Fahn-Reisman, 'Guidelines for Communities' Organized Activity for Ethiopian Jewry (The Falashas)', undated, Community Relations Committee, Jewish Federation Council: 'There is a need to explore the obvious and natural linkage that we might have on this issue with the Black community in America. This can build a new bridge between our two communities that extends beyond the questions of Israel and bussing.' (Emphasis added.)
25. Sara Munitz, Beatrice Priel and Avishai Henik, 'Color, skin color preference, and self color identification among Ethiopian and Israeli born children', Israel Social Science Research, 3 (1985), pp. 74-84. Cf. K. B. Clark and M. K. Clark, 'Racial self identification and preference in negro children', in T. Newcomb and E. Hartly (eds), Readings in Social Psychology (Holt, New York, 1947), pp. 169-78.
26. Sara Munitz, Beatrice Priel and Avishai Henik, 'Color, skin color preference, and self color identification among Ethiopian and Israeli born children', Israel Social Science Research, 3 (1985), pp. 74-84. Cf. K. B. Clark and M. K. Clark, 'Racial self identification and preference in negro children', in T. Newcomb and E. Hartly (eds), Readings in Social Psychology (Holt, New York, 1947), pp. 169-78.
27. D. N. Onolemnhemhen and K. Gessese, The Black Jews of Ethiopia: the last exodus (Balsom Printing, Brooklyn, NY, 1982), p. 58, 'Ethiopian immigrants were asked about their experiences as blacks in Israel and how this had affected their lives'. Cf. Amith Ben-David and Avital Tirosh Ben-Ari, 'The experience of being different: black Jews in Israel', Journal of Black Studies 27, 4 (1997), pp. 510-27; Albert Goldenberg and Allen Kirschenbaum, 'Black newcomers to Israel - contact situations and social distance', Sociology and Social Research, 74, 1 (1989), pp. 52-57.
28. D. N. Onolemnhemhen and K. Gessese, The Black Jews of Ethiopia: the last exodus (Balsom Printing, Brooklyn, NY, 1982), p. 58, 'Ethiopian immigrants were asked about their experiences as blacks in Israel and how this had affected their lives'. Cf. Amith Ben-David and Avital Tirosh Ben-Ari, 'The experience of being different: black Jews in Israel', Journal of Black Studies 27, 4 (1997), pp. 510-27; Albert Goldenberg and Allen Kirschenbaum, 'Black newcomers to Israel - contact situations and social distance', Sociology and Social Research, 74, 1 (1989), pp. 52-57.
29. D. N. Onolemnhemhen and K. Gessese, The Black Jews of Ethiopia: the last exodus (Balsom Printing, Brooklyn, NY, 1982), p. 58, 'Ethiopian immigrants were asked about their experiences as blacks in Israel and how this had affected their lives'. Cf. Amith Ben-David and Avital Tirosh Ben-Ari, 'The experience of being different: black Jews in Israel', Journal of Black Studies 27, 4 (1997), pp. 510-27; Albert Goldenberg and Allen Kirschenbaum, 'Black newcomers to Israel - contact situations and social distance', Sociology and Social Research, 74, 1 (1989), pp. 52-57.
30. Onolemhemhen and Gessesse, Black Jews of Ethiopia, p. 58, 'The experience of other black peoples (e.g. African Americans) in predominantly white societies has been one of prejudice and discrimination exhibited by the dominant group'. An article in The Jerusalem Post alluded to James Baldwin's classic work, The Fire next Time, in headlining a story about Ethiopians 'The Fire Next Time May be Hotter', cited by Don Farrell Seeman in 'One People, One Blood: religious conversion, public health, and immigration as social experience for Ethiopian Israelis',. Ph.D., Harvard University, 1997, p. 233.
31. Onolemhemhen and Gessesse, Black Jews of Ethiopia, p. 58, 'The experience of other black peoples (e.g. African Americans) in predominantly white societies has been one of prejudice and discrimination exhibited by the dominant group'. An article in The Jerusalem Post alluded to James Baldwin's classic work, The Fire next Time, in headlining a story about Ethiopians 'The Fire Next Time May be Hotter', cited by Don Farrell Seeman in 'One People, One Blood: religious conversion, public health, and immigration as social experience for Ethiopian Israelis',. Ph.D., Harvard University, 1997, p. 233.
32. The Ministry of Immigrant Absorption, 'The Absorption of Ethiopian Immigrants in Israel: the present situation and future objectives' (Jerusalem, 1996), p. 2. 'The Ministry of Absorption and the Israeli government have established a number of principles: 1. The adoption of a clear policy of preferential treatment (affirmative action) for the Ethiopian population with regard to housing, education and integration into employment . . .'
33. Jerusalem Post, 3 March 1993, p. 14, 'Ethiopian ghettos', an article concerning Minister of Absorption Yair Tsaban. Of course, given the origins of the term 'ghetto' in Jewish history, the migration of this term from group to group over time is particularly interesting.
34. Israel Association for Ethiopian Jews, The Making of an Underclass (IAEJ, Jerusalem, 1995).
35. Steven Kaplan and Hagar Salamon, Ethiopian Immigrants in Israel: Experience and prospect (Institute of Jewish Policy Research, London, 1998), pp. 8-11.
36. Michael B. Katz, The Undeserving Poor: From the war on poverty to the war on welfare (Parthenon, New York, 1989), pp. 185-235; Michael B. Katz (ed.), The 'Underclass' Debate: Views from history (Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, 1995), p. 23; David Theo Goldberg, Racist Culture: Philosophy and the politics of meaning (Blackwell, Oxford, 1993), pp. 168-75.
37. Michael B. Katz, The Undeserving Poor: From the war on poverty to the war on welfare (Parthenon, New York, 1989), pp. 185-235; Michael B. Katz (ed.), The 'Underclass' Debate: Views from history (Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, 1995), p. 23; David Theo Goldberg, Racist Culture: Philosophy and the politics of meaning (Blackwell, Oxford, 1993), pp. 168-75.
38. Michael B. Katz, The Undeserving Poor: From the war on poverty to the war on welfare (Parthenon, New York, 1989), pp. 185-235; Michael B. Katz (ed.), The 'Underclass' Debate: Views from history (Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, 1995), p. 23; David Theo Goldberg, Racist Culture: Philosophy and the politics of meaning (Blackwell, Oxford, 1993), pp. 168-75.
39. For additional discussion of this factor, see the final section of this article.
40. Although 'racism' and 'racialism' are often assumed to be universal and inevitable, this is by no means certain. See Frank M. Snowden Jr., Before Color Prejudice (Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1983); Ivan Hannaford, Race: The history of an idea in the west (Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD, 1996). For a useful survey of this debate in the context of North American history see Theodore W. Allen, The Invention of the White Race, Vol. I (Verso, London, 1994), pp. 3-21.
41. Although 'racism' and 'racialism' are often assumed to be universal and inevitable, this is by no means certain. See Frank M. Snowden Jr., Before Color Prejudice (Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1983); Ivan Hannaford, Race: The history of an idea in the west (Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD, 1996). For a useful survey of this debate in the context of North American history see Theodore W. Allen, The Invention of the White Race, Vol. I (Verso, London, 1994), pp. 3-21.
42. Although 'racism' and 'racialism' are often assumed to be universal and inevitable, this is by no means certain. See Frank M. Snowden Jr., Before Color Prejudice (Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1983); Ivan Hannaford, Race: The history of an idea in the west (Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD, 1996). For a useful survey of this debate in the context of North American history see Theodore W. Allen, The Invention of the White Race, Vol. I (Verso, London, 1994), pp. 3-21.
43. Of course, such comparisons also serve by implication to categorize other Israelis as 'white'.
44. Jerusalem Post, 15 June 1992, p. 12. One group of Ethiopian Israeli youth were actually in the city of Los Angeles at the time of these riots, while a few years later another group visited the United States only days after the verdict in the O.J. Simpson trial. Ethiopians are, of course, not the only group influenced by such models. A political grouping of Jews from Asian and African countries active in Israel in the 1970s called themselves the 'Black Panthers'.
45. Jerusalem Post, 9 April 1992, p. 14.
46. Ha-aretz, 11 September 1998, Section B, p. 2.
47. Tanya Schwarz, 'Ethiopian Jewish Immigrants in Israel: Living well and "becoming deaf" in the homeland', Ph.D. thesis, London School of Economics, 1998, pp. 129 and 141. See also Hagar Salamon, 'Passage from Ethiopia to the Promised Land: racial consciousness in transition', Jerusalem Studies in Jewish Folklore, 10 (1999) pp. 125-46. Several detailed studies of this phenomenon have yet to be published.
48. Tanya Schwarz, 'Ethiopian Jewish Immigrants in Israel: Living well and "becoming deaf" in the homeland', Ph.D. thesis, London School of Economics, 1998, pp. 129 and 141. See also Hagar Salamon, 'Passage from Ethiopia to the Promised Land: racial consciousness in transition', Jerusalem Studies in Jewish Folklore, 10 (1999) pp. 125-46. Several detailed studies of this phenomenon have yet to be published.
49. Dubow, Scientific Racism in South Africa, p. 17.
50. Edward Ullendorf, Ethiopia and the Bible (Oxford University Press, London, 1968), pp. 5-15.
51. Rosen, 'Working as a government anthropologist', p. 61. And see note 8 above. Although these authors have all commented on the Ethiopian Jews' objections to being designated as cushim, they have not considered the significance of the continued usage of this term for other black groups.
52. Cf. The following from Jerusalem Post, 30 October 1998, p. 18: 'He [Jerusalem mayor, Ehud Olmert] also evaded a question from his good friend, building contractor, Kushi Barashi . . .' [bold in original].
53. Thus, in the subtitles of the film Jerry McGuire, 'When you were talking to that black man', 'black man' is translated as 'cushi', and in the subtitles to the television series Moisha, starring the actress-singer Brandy, 'Look at that fine piece of chocolate' is translated as 'Look at that handsome Cushi'.
54. Kol Ha'ir, 2 October 1988, Section 2, p. 12.
55. For a more detailed discussion of this incident, see Menachem Waldman, Beyond the Rivers of Kush (Department of Defence, Tel Aviv, 1986), p. 125 (in Hebrew).
56. Waldman, Beyond the Rivers of Kush, p. 140. (All translations from the Hebrew are my own.) It is probably significant that Schwartz, who sought to distance himself from the Falasha, mentions their blackness.
57. Waldman, Beyond the Rivers of Kush, p. 141. As in most chance encounters between Ethiopian Jews and their foreign counterparts, we do not know the questions he posed to them. Given the fact that Horzdorf's comments on the Beta Israel's attitude to the commandments are inaccurate, it is difficult to know how to evaluate his testimony on the 'White Falasha'. Daniel may simply have misled his host. On the other hand, if he were asked the apparently straightforward question as to whether most of the Jews in Ethiopia were black, relying on indigenous categories his negative answer might have been understood as a claim that they were in fact white.
58. Waldman, Beyond the Rivers of Kush, pp. 142-3.
59. Waldman, Beyond the Rivers of Kush, p. 154.
60. Cf. John Black Friedman, The Monstrous Races In Medieval Art and Thought (Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1981).
61. When the Jewish convert and Protestant missionary Henry Aaron Stern introduced himself as a 'White Falasha', he was fully aware that he was, as it were, one of a kind. And when, a few years later, Joseph Halevy described himself similarly (much to the amusement of his hosts), he was trying to express a sense of commonality with his Ethiopian brethren rather than identifying himself with an existing community of light-skinned Ethiopian Jews.
62. Henry Aaron Stern, Wanderings among the Falashas in Abyssinia (Frank Cass, London, 1968), p. 197.
63. Jacques Faitlovitch, 'Les falachas d'après les explorateurs, notes apologétiques', Rivista Israelitica 4, 3 (1907), p. 4.
64. A. Z. Aescoly, Sefer Hafalashim (Ruben Maas, Jerusalem, 1973), p. 5.
65. Michael Cornalid, Ethiopian Jews: Identity and tradition (Ruben Maas, Jerusalem, 1990), p. 151.
66. Faitlovitch, 'Black Jews', p. 4.
67. Aescoly, Sefer, p. 5. This view continues to be common in popular belief to this day. Cf. Salamon, 'Passage from Ethiopia to the Promised Land'.
68. Aescoly, Sefer, p. 5. This view continues to be common in popular belief to this day. Cf. Salamon, 'Passage from Ethiopia to the Promised Land'.
69. Letter from Nathan Shapiro, President of the American Association for Ethiopian Jewry, 27 November 1985. In fact, Shapiro has selectively quoted from the Jewish historian Salo W. Baron, who himself Quoted from a study published in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology. Shapiro ignores Baron's statement that some 'Falasha revealed a greater frequency of other "African" biological characteristics' or the original study's claim that 'The Falasha [are the group] with the broadest noses, thin lips and are not remarkable in skin color or hair form'. Salo Wittmayer Baron, A Social and Religious History of the Jews, vol. 18 (Columbia University Press, New York, 1983), p. 368.
70. David Chelouche, Nidehai Yisra'el Yechanes [The Exiled Of Israel will be Gathered in] (Ahva, Jerusalem, 1988), p. 20.
71. Yehuda Azrieli and Shaul Miezlish, Mission Ethiopia (Elinor Press, Jerusalem, 1989), p. 6.
72. Ha-aretz, 15 June 1993. Racial differences are not, and indeed never have been, understood as merely evidence of physical distinctions. Inevitably, visible features are seen as markers of much deeper differences in character, mortality and intelligence. Such a connection was implicitly drawn by Halévy in his report to L'Alliance Israélite when he noted that 'if their colour distinguishes them from those of us who were born under more clement skies, their beautiful feelings and their virtues must make us proud of our kinship with them'. Faitlovitch was even more explicit in making the connection between physical and moral attributes: 'The Falasha are morally and physically superior to Ethiopians', quoted in Daniel P. Summerfield, 'From Falashas to Ethiopian Jews: the external influences for change, c. 1860-1960', Ph.D. thesis, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, 1997.
73. Ha-aretz, 15 June 1993. Racial differences are not, and indeed never have been, understood as merely evidence of physical distinctions. Inevitably, visible features are seen as markers of much deeper differences in character, mortality and intelligence. Such a connection was implicitly drawn by Halévy in his report to L'Alliance Israélite when he noted that 'if their colour distinguishes them from those of us who were born under more clement skies, their beautiful feelings and their virtues must make us proud of our kinship with them'. Faitlovitch was even more explicit in making the connection between physical and moral attributes: 'The Falasha are morally and physically superior to Ethiopians', quoted in Daniel P. Summerfield, 'From Falashas to Ethiopian Jews: the external influences for change, c. 1860-1960', Ph.D. thesis, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, 1997.
74. Although such descriptions are usually intended to compare the negative aspects of the Ethiopians' experience with those of other black groups, several authors described in romantic terms the unprecedented character of the Ethiopians' arrival in Israel, contrasting it with that of those blacks brought to other countries in earlier periods as slaves.
75. Cf. Noel Ignatiev, How the Irish Became White (Routledge, London, 1995); Allen, Invention of the White Race; and Eugene J. Cornacchia and Dale C. Nelson, 'Historical Differences in the Political Experiences of American Blacks and White Ethnics: Revisiting an unresolved controversy', Ethnic and Racial Studies, 15, 1 (1992), pp. 101-24.
76. Cf. Noel Ignatiev, How the Irish Became White (Routledge, London, 1995); Allen, Invention of the White Race; and Eugene J. Cornacchia and Dale C. Nelson, 'Historical Differences in the Political Experiences of American Blacks and White Ethnics: Revisiting an unresolved controversy', Ethnic and Racial Studies, 15, 1 (1992), pp. 101-24.
77. Cf. Noel Ignatiev, How the Irish Became White (Routledge, London, 1995); Allen, Invention of the White Race; and Eugene J. Cornacchia and Dale C. Nelson, 'Historical Differences in the Political Experiences of American Blacks and White Ethnics: Revisiting an unresolved controversy', Ethnic and Racial Studies, 15, 1 (1992), pp. 101-24.
78. Ha-aretz, 11 February 1997.
79. In recent years such jobs have also been performed by a growing number of foreign workers from countries such as Ghana, Nigeria, Thailand, and Romania who have been brought in to replace Palestinian workers. Ethiopian Jews (but not other Ethiopians) have generally not been encouraged to take such jobs, despite their high unemployment. As the inclusion of groups from the Far East and Eastern Europe indicates, one does not need to be of African origin to do 'black work'.
80. Seeman, 'One People', p. 198 and more generally pp. 194-233. Note that the Hebrew word 'am' translated here as 'people' can also mean 'nation' and is generally used to refer to the Jewish people and not all Israeli citizens.
81. Quoted by Seeman, 'One People', p. 197 and Cf. Ha'aretz, 29 January 1996. As Seeman notes (p. 217), while there has been at least one attempt by a Palestinian Israeli to link the situation of the Ethiopians with that of the Palestinians, this is a 'different context of conflict than that which the demonstrators themselves actually chose to emphasize'. For strong anti-Arab feelings expressed by some Ethiopian immigrants, see Schwarz, 'Ethiopian Jewish Immigrants', p. 124.
82. Quoted by Seeman, 'One People', p. 197 and Cf. Ha'aretz, 29 January 1996. As Seeman notes (p. 217), while there has been at least one attempt by a Palestinian Israeli to link the situation of the Ethiopians with that of the Palestinians, this is a 'different context of conflict than that which the demonstrators themselves actually chose to emphasize'. For strong anti-Arab feelings expressed by some Ethiopian immigrants, see Schwarz, 'Ethiopian Jewish Immigrants', p. 124.
83. Quoted by Seeman, 'One People', p. 197 and Cf. Ha'aretz, 29 January 1996. As Seeman notes (p. 217), while there has been at least one attempt by a Palestinian Israeli to link the situation of the Ethiopians with that of the Palestinians, this is a 'different context of conflict than that which the demonstrators themselves actually chose to emphasize'. For strong anti-Arab feelings expressed by some Ethiopian immigrants, see Schwarz, 'Ethiopian Jewish Immigrants', p. 124.
84. These instances do not, of course, contradict the claim that Ethiopians are often discriminated against on an institutional and particularly on an individual basis. Kaplan and Salamon, Ethiopian Immigrants in Israel, pp. 19-21. They do, however, contradict the claim sometimes put forward that Ethiopians were brought to Israel to replace Palestinian workers, particularly those from the occupied territories.