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

Quoting Steg Belsky <draqonfayir@...>:


> 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.
Thanks for claring that up. It must surely been a confused account of the
Falash Mura affair I'd heard.

                                                        Andreas