Apartheid State Update XI
What was it you were saying about Israel being an apartheid state?
Whether out of apathy or racism, neither Israel nor the world Jewish community was eager at first to assist the Jews languishing in Ethiopia or even recognize them as members of the Jewish people. In his eloquent book Black Jews, Jews, and Other Heroes, Howard Lenhoff, longtime leader of the American Association of Ethiopian Jews (AAEJ), tells the story of how and why this changed. This important book on a unique chapter in Jewish communal history is testimony to the ability of the few to significantly alter the opinion, allocation of resources and decisions of the mighty.
I’m in no position to deny the apathy or the racism—but when was the last time another country said “I gotta get me some Africans”, however difficult the persuasion?