Re: CHAT: Christians in the Holy Land (WAS: CHAT: Visible planets (was: Corpses))

On Wednesday, November 12, 2003, at 03:33  PM, Andreas Johansson wrote:
> Quoting Adam Walker <carrajena@...>:
>> Well, the government of Israel doesn't treat Jewish
>> Christians any better [than Palestinian ones].  They're even denied
>> the right
>> of aliyah, and are sometimes threatened with
>> deportation.
>
> I'v always found the concept of "Jewish Christians" hard to wrap my
> mind
> around.
> But I cannot see what's odd in denying them the right of aliyah, if we
> accept
> the concept of a Jewish state at all. Just go by the religious, not
> ethnic,
> definition of being Jewish.
> I've heard that aliyah is also denied to Ethiopian Jews. Can anyone
> confirm/deny, and if it's indeed so, what's the motivation?
>                                                        Andreas

Aliyá is not denied to Ethiopian Jews.  There were two major airlifts
of Ethiopians to Israel in 1984 and 1991, and now most Ethiopian Jews
live in Israel.  Those left in Ethiopia have problems making aliyá
because many of them are Falash Mura, whose ancestors converted to
Christianity during the last few centuries.  Like with the issue of
'Jews for Jesus', converting voluntarily to another religion is seen by
the Law of Return as a revocation of one's Jewish identity and
therefore of potential Israeli citizenship.  The controversy
surrounding the Falash Mura is that according to some, they converted
voluntarily, while according to others they are 'anusím' like the
Crypto-Jews of Iberia, Mašhad, and other places, who were forced or
semi-forced to convert due to persecution, or social, economic or other
pressures.


-Stephen (Steg)
  "azoi-dathab ya'dathab ja'jaur
   ga'yeishedh-a ooloi-daguptub-ad
   uhzoi-yeished i uhzoi-dadume sha'ilu yeished-adhm
   i elikuh-khadak uhzu-waz i uhza-waz i uhzii-waz
   sha'ilu waznm."
      ~ moshé bre'miimón rav-a datãv-a

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