00:00:09.034 --> 00:00:11.784
(dramatic music)

00:00:19.104 --> 00:00:24.104
(dramatic music)
(people chattering)

00:00:52.141 --> 00:00:52.974
Man: We live in Ethiopia here,

00:00:52.974 --> 00:00:56.156
but we don't feel like it's our home here.

00:00:56.156 --> 00:00:58.906
(dramatic music)

00:01:02.220 --> 00:01:04.033
-: Always I dream about Israel.

00:01:07.710 --> 00:01:10.750
-: We Ethiopian Jews, we are Jewish as the Jewish

00:01:10.750 --> 00:01:13.017
in the rest of the world.

00:01:15.520 --> 00:01:18.447
So why we cannot go to Israel?

00:01:18.447 --> 00:01:21.197
(dramatic music)

00:01:24.004 --> 00:01:26.587
This place is temporary for us.

00:01:27.930 --> 00:01:32.930
We are just living as guests or as a passenger.

00:01:33.754 --> 00:01:36.504
(dramatic music)

00:01:54.107 --> 00:01:58.607
(people chatting in foreign language)

00:02:45.720 --> 00:02:48.343
We Ethiopian Jews are waiting for aliyah.

00:02:52.530 --> 00:02:53.380
That is our life.

00:02:54.269 --> 00:02:58.769
(people chatting in foreign language)

00:03:04.100 --> 00:03:06.830
Demoz: We hope tomorrow we'll go to Israel

00:03:06.830 --> 00:03:08.760
to live with our relatives.

00:03:12.015 --> 00:03:15.932
(speaking in foreign language)

00:03:23.552 --> 00:03:26.635
(people chattering)

00:03:50.316 --> 00:03:52.770
Gezi: Demoz and me, we are not just friends.

00:03:52.770 --> 00:03:53.603
We are brothers.

00:03:58.500 --> 00:03:59.750
We grew up together here.

00:04:03.850 --> 00:04:06.258
We have the same story.

00:04:06.258 --> 00:04:09.008
(dramatic music)

00:04:11.350 --> 00:04:13.050
Demoz: We met in the synagogue.

00:04:15.620 --> 00:04:19.133
We were participating in this drama group.

00:04:20.750 --> 00:04:24.112
We were best friends after that.

00:04:24.112 --> 00:04:26.862
(dramatic music)

00:04:30.047 --> 00:04:34.490
(speaking in foreign language)

00:04:34.490 --> 00:04:37.253
And one day we'll go to Israel together.

00:04:47.366 --> 00:04:50.324
(audience applauding)
(audience cheering)

00:04:50.324 --> 00:04:54.241
(speaking in foreign language)

00:04:56.817 --> 00:05:00.086
(audience cheering)

00:05:00.086 --> 00:05:04.003
(speaking in foreign language)

00:08:11.643 --> 00:08:15.243
(thunder rumbles)

00:08:15.243 --> 00:08:18.076
(rain spattering)

00:08:21.911 --> 00:08:24.078
-: We need to go to Israel.

00:08:25.488 --> 00:08:27.796
It doesn't mean, we want.

00:08:27.796 --> 00:08:30.267
I mean, we need to go to Israel.

00:08:30.267 --> 00:08:33.017
(dramatic music)

00:08:34.292 --> 00:08:37.292
(people chattering)

00:08:43.244 --> 00:08:47.161
(speaking in foreign language)

00:08:52.810 --> 00:08:55.040
-: We keep Sabbath, we keep kosher,

00:08:55.040 --> 00:08:57.500
and we celebrate Jewish holidays.

00:08:57.500 --> 00:09:00.250
(dramatic music)

00:09:02.591 --> 00:09:05.591
(people chattering)

00:09:07.380 --> 00:09:10.880
Gashaw: Most of this community have parents,

00:09:10.880 --> 00:09:13.033
sons, daughters in Israel.

00:09:15.070 --> 00:09:20.070
We need to be there with them, with our family,

00:09:20.670 --> 00:09:24.713
to reach the holy land of our ancestors.

00:09:27.420 --> 00:09:29.000
-: The Jews all over the world,

00:09:29.000 --> 00:09:30.653
they can get the visa easily.

00:09:31.521 --> 00:09:35.899
I mean, I don't have an idea why we cannot.

00:09:35.899 --> 00:09:38.649
(dramatic music)

00:09:47.900 --> 00:09:51.970
-: When the founders of the State of Israel sat down

00:09:51.970 --> 00:09:54.800
and devised their immigration laws,

00:09:54.800 --> 00:09:57.700
one of the things they came up with was the Law of Return.

00:09:58.850 --> 00:10:00.060
According to the Law of Return,

00:10:00.060 --> 00:10:02.240
anybody who is one quarter Jewish,

00:10:02.240 --> 00:10:04.040
that is, who has a Jewish grandparent,

00:10:04.040 --> 00:10:07.530
is eligible to become a citizen of the State of Israel.

00:10:07.530 --> 00:10:10.800
And it's no accident that they chose the quarter Jew.

00:10:10.800 --> 00:10:13.050
That was the same quality by which

00:10:13.050 --> 00:10:15.480
the Nazis determined that a Jew was a Jew

00:10:15.480 --> 00:10:18.743
and therefore subject to annihilation and extermination.

00:10:19.594 --> 00:10:22.344
(dramatic music)

00:10:25.179 --> 00:10:28.179
(people chattering)

00:10:31.860 --> 00:10:33.830
Ethiopian Jews were long regarded

00:10:33.830 --> 00:10:37.193
as a lower caste in Ethiopian society.

00:10:39.320 --> 00:10:42.550
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries,

00:10:42.550 --> 00:10:44.880
a group of Ethiopian Jews

00:10:44.880 --> 00:10:47.670
decided to convert to Christianity

00:10:47.670 --> 00:10:50.030
to escape economic pressure,

00:10:50.030 --> 00:10:52.103
social pressures, political pressures.

00:10:54.050 --> 00:10:55.240
They were known in Ethiopia

00:10:55.240 --> 00:10:56.560
as the (speaking in foreign language)

00:10:56.560 --> 00:10:58.573
or person from a foreign land.

00:11:00.370 --> 00:11:03.362
-: I don't like the word Falash Mura.

00:11:03.362 --> 00:11:04.945
But it is our name.

00:11:08.386 --> 00:11:10.740
Some generations converted to Christianity.

00:11:10.740 --> 00:11:12.543
But we have Jewish blood.

00:11:16.050 --> 00:11:18.970
Uriel: Even though they stopped practicing Judaism,

00:11:18.970 --> 00:11:21.467
Ethiopian non-Jews continued to ostracize them

00:11:21.467 --> 00:11:23.203
and to refuse to marry them.

00:11:24.120 --> 00:11:25.960
Many of these Falash Mura decided

00:11:25.960 --> 00:11:28.270
they wanted to return to Judaism

00:11:28.270 --> 00:11:31.053
and embraced Judaism and moved to Israel.

00:11:34.660 --> 00:11:38.907
Ethiopians began coming to Israel in the early '80s.

00:11:38.907 --> 00:11:41.657
(dramatic music)

00:11:47.222 --> 00:11:50.090
In 1991, the Israeli government actually believed

00:11:50.090 --> 00:11:51.760
that it was bringing the last plane load

00:11:51.760 --> 00:11:54.025
of the Ethiopian Jewish community.

00:11:54.025 --> 00:11:56.775
(dramatic music)

00:12:03.750 --> 00:12:07.970
What happens is the Falash Mura quickly left their villages

00:12:07.970 --> 00:12:10.953
and rushed to Addis Ababa in Gondar.

00:12:13.360 --> 00:12:15.710
Gezi: We sold everything in the countryside.

00:12:16.640 --> 00:12:18.330
Demoz: When we came to Gondar,

00:12:18.330 --> 00:12:20.813
we were thinking we'd enter Israel quickly.

00:12:22.024 --> 00:12:24.774
(dramatic music)

00:12:26.820 --> 00:12:29.420
-: It became apparent that there were thousands more.

00:12:35.280 --> 00:12:39.440
And then nothing, nothing happened.

00:12:39.440 --> 00:12:42.950
This is Israel, it's a government, politics.

00:12:42.950 --> 00:12:44.423
People drag their feet.

00:12:48.840 --> 00:12:51.635
-: Because of that, we are living here in Gondar

00:12:51.635 --> 00:12:55.369
and Addis, but our relatives are there.

00:12:55.369 --> 00:12:58.119
(dramatic music)

00:13:02.572 --> 00:13:06.489
(speaking in foreign language)

00:13:26.710 --> 00:13:31.710
-: My community is very worried because of many problems.

00:13:34.670 --> 00:13:38.637
We can't celebrate our holidays like Christians,

00:13:39.633 --> 00:13:40.633
as the Muslims here.

00:13:45.520 --> 00:13:50.520
Here have no peace, have no food, and have no property.

00:13:58.190 --> 00:14:00.830
In the countryside, our parents,

00:14:00.830 --> 00:14:02.610
they didn't get educational opportunities

00:14:02.610 --> 00:14:03.783
and they were farmers.

00:14:05.840 --> 00:14:09.073
Because of that, they don't have work or jobs in the city.

00:14:10.660 --> 00:14:13.310
Our livelihood here is just the money

00:14:13.310 --> 00:14:16.139
that comes from our relatives in Israel.

00:14:16.139 --> 00:14:18.889
(dramatic music)

00:14:31.330 --> 00:14:35.247
(speaking in foreign language)

00:15:08.880 --> 00:15:11.080
-: So an outcome is about

00:15:11.080 --> 00:15:14.170
substantive changes that take place.

00:15:14.170 --> 00:15:17.640
While we will be very excited to hear your impact

00:15:17.640 --> 00:15:19.530
or your goal, we're going to be very interested

00:15:19.530 --> 00:15:23.300
in what outcome it's going to have to show.

00:15:23.300 --> 00:15:26.660
So you start thinking about this.

00:15:26.660 --> 00:15:29.540
What really is it you're trying to accomplish?

00:15:29.540 --> 00:15:32.440
I teach organizing, I teach advocacy.

00:15:32.440 --> 00:15:36.924
I teach how public service organizations can do good.

00:15:36.924 --> 00:15:38.860
(dramatic music)

00:15:38.860 --> 00:15:40.970
In 2013, my wife Shira,

00:15:40.970 --> 00:15:42.700
and I went to Ethiopia to see

00:15:42.700 --> 00:15:46.373
the final aliyah of the Ethiopian Jewish community.

00:15:49.290 --> 00:15:51.610
We walked into this Jewish compound

00:15:51.610 --> 00:15:55.093
and it's almost impossible to describe.

00:15:56.150 --> 00:15:58.483
You walk in and you go, this is my people.

00:16:00.350 --> 00:16:02.730
I turned to the young man

00:16:02.730 --> 00:16:04.640
to the right of me and said in Hebrew.

00:16:04.640 --> 00:16:06.110
So when are you going?

00:16:06.110 --> 00:16:07.791
And he looked down and he said,

00:16:07.791 --> 00:16:09.530
(speaking in foreign language),

00:16:09.530 --> 00:16:11.410
I'm not on the list.

00:16:11.410 --> 00:16:12.543
And that was Demoz.

00:16:13.640 --> 00:16:14.500
I didn't understand,

00:16:14.500 --> 00:16:16.650
I turned to the other side asked the same question,

00:16:16.650 --> 00:16:17.853
got the same answer.

00:16:20.780 --> 00:16:22.903
We came home, deeply distraught.

00:16:23.920 --> 00:16:28.478
We began asking questions and that began our campaign.

00:16:28.478 --> 00:16:31.660
(dramatic music)

00:16:31.660 --> 00:16:35.080
We determined we're going to bring Ethiopian's

00:16:35.080 --> 00:16:39.593
to the United States and have them speak in their own voice.

00:16:40.530 --> 00:16:43.810
If major Jewish leaders hear this story

00:16:43.810 --> 00:16:46.380
they're bound to respond positively

00:16:46.380 --> 00:16:49.803
and hopefully engage in the campaign to bring them home.

00:16:59.383 --> 00:17:01.716
(cat meows)

00:17:02.971 --> 00:17:06.888
(speaking in foreign language)

00:17:52.910 --> 00:17:56.403
-: My father, he left because you don't want to go to Israel.

00:18:00.185 --> 00:18:02.906
And they're divorced now.

00:18:02.906 --> 00:18:05.906
(people chattering)

00:18:07.340 --> 00:18:09.270
We didn't talk for a long time.

00:18:12.420 --> 00:18:17.420
My father, if he sees, if he heard about this journey even,

00:18:17.480 --> 00:18:19.466
I think he will not be happy.

00:18:19.466 --> 00:18:22.216
(dramatic music)

00:18:24.760 --> 00:18:28.677
(speaking in foreign language)

00:18:29.713 --> 00:18:32.463
(dramatic music)

00:18:53.924 --> 00:18:57.841
(speaking in foreign language)

00:19:34.756 --> 00:19:37.506
(dramatic music)

00:20:06.110 --> 00:20:10.027
(speaking in foreign language)

00:20:18.103 --> 00:20:20.370
Demoz: The responsibility, it makes us feel

00:20:20.370 --> 00:20:23.343
pressure to speak with many people there.

00:20:24.988 --> 00:20:28.905
(speaking in foreign language)

00:20:40.241 --> 00:20:42.991
(birds chirping)

00:21:05.148 --> 00:21:09.065
(speaking in foreign language)

00:21:54.214 --> 00:21:55.820
-: Law of return doesn't say you have

00:21:55.820 --> 00:21:59.190
to be a jew to make aliyah and come to Israel.

00:21:59.190 --> 00:22:02.840
It says anyone who is born to Jewish grandparents,

00:22:02.840 --> 00:22:05.240
whether they themselves are Jewish or not,

00:22:05.240 --> 00:22:07.040
is eligible to come and make aliyah.

00:22:09.430 --> 00:22:13.010
These people, without a shadow of a doubt,

00:22:13.010 --> 00:22:16.540
do not meet the parameters of the law of return,

00:22:16.540 --> 00:22:18.290
they are not people who can show that

00:22:18.290 --> 00:22:20.293
they were born to Jewish grandparents.

00:22:28.910 --> 00:22:31.940
-: What do you do when two young men come from Africa,

00:22:31.940 --> 00:22:33.460
having never been in the United States

00:22:33.460 --> 00:22:35.833
and never really spoken in a public setting?

00:22:36.800 --> 00:22:39.101
So our first plan was to go to congregation,

00:22:39.101 --> 00:22:41.680
(speaking in foreign language), where Shira's the rabbi.

00:22:41.680 --> 00:22:43.233
Starting them off easy.

00:22:49.986 --> 00:22:52.233
-: We are glad to see with you.

00:23:04.710 --> 00:23:08.523
I was born in a small village called Chilga.

00:23:09.660 --> 00:23:11.643
When I was 11 years old,

00:23:11.643 --> 00:23:14.513
I came to Gondar to await the aliyah.

00:23:15.390 --> 00:23:18.527
-: Our life in Gondar Ethiopia is not as you think.

00:23:18.527 --> 00:23:20.990
It is not easy for us.

00:23:20.990 --> 00:23:24.627
It is so difficult for Jews to be there.

00:23:24.627 --> 00:23:26.560
They said always, you are not Jewish enough,

00:23:26.560 --> 00:23:29.170
I don't know why we are not Jewish enough.

00:23:29.170 --> 00:23:33.640
-: We come to ask one thing that we didn't get an answer to.

00:23:33.640 --> 00:23:35.033
When we go to Israel?

00:23:36.340 --> 00:23:37.240
Thank you so much.

00:23:39.422 --> 00:23:42.172
(dramatic music)

00:23:46.080 --> 00:23:48.030
David: This is an advocacy campaign.

00:23:49.940 --> 00:23:52.230
We're going to travel the country to try to connect

00:23:52.230 --> 00:23:55.035
with as many people as possible to gather support.

00:23:55.035 --> 00:23:57.785
(dramatic music)

00:23:59.820 --> 00:24:02.540
-: So first tell me, where do you live in Israel?

00:24:02.540 --> 00:24:04.670
-: Where in Israel do you live?

00:24:04.670 --> 00:24:06.080
-: No, we live in Ethiopia.

00:24:06.080 --> 00:24:07.190
-: Oh, you're still in Ethiopia.

00:24:07.190 --> 00:24:08.751
-: Yeah, that's why we--

00:24:08.751 --> 00:24:10.812
(dramatic music)

00:24:10.812 --> 00:24:15.812
(speaking in foreign language)
(dramatic music)

00:24:26.262 --> 00:24:27.095
-: There is discrimination there,

00:24:28.570 --> 00:24:30.650
especially for our community.

00:24:31.623 --> 00:24:35.540
(speaking in foreign language)

00:24:40.090 --> 00:24:44.170
We have different skin color, but we have the same blood.

00:24:44.170 --> 00:24:46.160
-: How is it possible that we would

00:24:46.160 --> 00:24:49.420
allow families to be torn apart this way?

00:24:49.420 --> 00:24:51.650
Start asking Israel to complete

00:24:51.650 --> 00:24:53.500
what it itself committed to do.

00:24:53.500 --> 00:24:57.060
We're not asking for a change in Israel policy,

00:24:57.060 --> 00:24:59.496
but rather fulfillment of Israel policy.

00:24:59.496 --> 00:25:02.246
(dramatic music)

00:25:03.510 --> 00:25:05.450
-: If it's a monetary issue, then why don't you just

00:25:05.450 --> 00:25:08.100
mobilize the Jewish community to raise money?

00:25:08.100 --> 00:25:10.390
And then the government has no excuse

00:25:10.390 --> 00:25:12.190
for saying that they can't take them in.

00:25:12.190 --> 00:25:13.850
-: What can we do in terms of advocacy

00:25:13.850 --> 00:25:15.620
and fundraising and where would money go?

00:25:15.620 --> 00:25:17.527
-: Is there like a realistic amount of money that

00:25:17.527 --> 00:25:20.630
you know, we can really figure out how to tackle?

00:25:20.630 --> 00:25:23.310
-: We're not raising, this is not a campaign to raise money.

00:25:23.310 --> 00:25:25.860
This is really an advocacy campaign that stands on its own.

00:25:25.860 --> 00:25:28.600
-: And BB made this a financial thing,

00:25:28.600 --> 00:25:31.740
which is pure, unadulterated bullshit.

00:25:31.740 --> 00:25:33.700
To say that we don't have the finance to

00:25:33.700 --> 00:25:35.300
take those that are really committed

00:25:35.300 --> 00:25:38.830
and really are ready and prepared to go home to Israel.

00:25:38.830 --> 00:25:41.830
(people chattering)

00:25:44.368 --> 00:25:47.118
(dramatic music)

00:25:52.880 --> 00:25:55.950
David: American Jews understand our obligation,

00:25:55.950 --> 00:25:59.260
an obligation of history, an obligation of the story

00:25:59.260 --> 00:26:01.210
of the creation of the state of Israel.

00:26:02.630 --> 00:26:04.790
What we do best is raise money.

00:26:04.790 --> 00:26:06.990
And you're not asking people to raise money.

00:26:07.860 --> 00:26:10.933
Israel has the funds, Israel has the resources.

00:26:12.440 --> 00:26:14.230
You're asking them to raise the voices

00:26:14.230 --> 00:26:16.440
to provide an impetus

00:26:16.440 --> 00:26:21.182
and an action to get Israel to change.

00:26:21.182 --> 00:26:23.932
(dramatic music)

00:26:32.924 --> 00:26:36.040
When operation Moses, American Jews helped thousands

00:26:36.040 --> 00:26:37.030
of Ethiopian Jews

00:26:37.030 --> 00:26:40.164
escape persecution and immigrate to Israel.

00:26:40.164 --> 00:26:42.914
(dramatic music)

00:26:48.120 --> 00:26:51.410
In 1991, Jewish leaders met to raise money

00:26:51.410 --> 00:26:55.330
for operation Solomon to bring 15,000 Ethiopian Jews

00:26:55.330 --> 00:26:58.821
to Israel over the course of just 36 hours.

00:26:58.821 --> 00:27:01.571
(dramatic music)

00:27:04.620 --> 00:27:07.900
It's indicative of just how much has changed over the years

00:27:07.900 --> 00:27:10.920
in the relationship between Israel and American Jews

00:27:10.920 --> 00:27:13.290
that we can't bring this last 9,000

00:27:15.404 --> 00:27:17.540
at least for the more progressive Jewish community.

00:27:17.540 --> 00:27:22.540
It's strange now, and Israel increasingly conservative,

00:27:22.630 --> 00:27:23.993
isn't really listening.

00:27:25.330 --> 00:27:27.690
-: There's an Israel, which is progressive

00:27:27.690 --> 00:27:32.460
and innovative, and daring, and open, and courageous.

00:27:32.460 --> 00:27:35.700
And there's an Israel, which is moving toward radicalization

00:27:35.700 --> 00:27:40.400
and fundamentalism, sort of the Iranization of Israel.

00:27:40.400 --> 00:27:43.550
And they really are at war within

00:27:43.550 --> 00:27:45.403
each other at Israel's core.

00:27:46.410 --> 00:27:49.230
-: What is the basis for your thinking

00:27:49.230 --> 00:27:51.510
that the American Jewish community

00:27:51.510 --> 00:27:54.580
on this issue will offer sufficient pressure

00:27:54.580 --> 00:27:56.393
to have Israel change its position?

00:27:58.630 --> 00:28:01.510
-: When advocates for these Ethiopians

00:28:01.510 --> 00:28:03.630
go around North America

00:28:03.630 --> 00:28:06.080
to try to drum up support.

00:28:06.080 --> 00:28:08.450
They're getting turned away

00:28:08.450 --> 00:28:11.900
by groups that may never have turned them away before,

00:28:11.900 --> 00:28:15.530
or people who may say I'd like to help you but I can't.

00:28:15.530 --> 00:28:16.380
-: We do not advocate,

00:28:16.380 --> 00:28:18.048
we're a non-political organization,

00:28:18.048 --> 00:28:18.881
(speaking in foreign language).

00:28:18.881 --> 00:28:21.313
-: The Federation doesn't ever take a political position.

00:28:21.313 --> 00:28:24.100
-: I mean, I had to push to even

00:28:24.100 --> 00:28:26.060
allow this meeting to happen.

00:28:26.060 --> 00:28:28.886
Man: So it's more of an uphill battle now.

00:28:28.886 --> 00:28:31.636
(dramatic music)

00:28:34.991 --> 00:28:38.908
(speaking in foreign language)

00:28:44.520 --> 00:28:47.800
-: Okay, we'll say that we need people, journalists,

00:28:47.800 --> 00:28:51.400
and we told our stories.

00:28:51.400 --> 00:28:54.423
And we hope to get a solution for us.

00:28:55.568 --> 00:28:56.947
-: No, I think I don't agree with Demoz.

00:28:58.772 --> 00:29:01.550
When we come back to Ethiopia

00:29:01.550 --> 00:29:05.830
we have to get some actions to show them.

00:29:05.830 --> 00:29:06.900
-: But that's up to Israel,

00:29:06.900 --> 00:29:08.850
it's not up to the people that you're meeting here.

00:29:08.850 --> 00:29:11.710
-: Yeah but through here maybe in Israel,

00:29:11.710 --> 00:29:13.840
will happen, something.

00:29:13.840 --> 00:29:15.480
David: And you'll tell them what?

00:29:15.480 --> 00:29:18.920
-: They expect a big thing here.

00:29:18.920 --> 00:29:22.373
I mean, they never give up hope.

00:29:33.900 --> 00:29:36.870
David say it's not a matter of money,

00:29:36.870 --> 00:29:41.090
it's a matter of interest in bringing Ethiopian Jews.

00:29:41.090 --> 00:29:45.730
He's right, but I agree with the guy who said

00:29:45.730 --> 00:29:49.797
just collect the money, and things will be easier.

00:29:50.650 --> 00:29:53.250
If people support financially,

00:29:53.250 --> 00:29:55.810
maybe the Israeli government will allow it.

00:29:55.810 --> 00:29:57.893
Will give permission.

00:30:00.531 --> 00:30:05.531
(speaking in foreign language)
(dramatic music)

00:31:22.070 --> 00:31:24.332
-: So this is where I grew up.

00:31:24.332 --> 00:31:25.170
Even if when I was a kid,

00:31:25.170 --> 00:31:28.040
this was all orchards and farms and dairies.

00:31:28.040 --> 00:31:30.153
So it was very, very pastoral in rural.

00:31:31.860 --> 00:31:34.663
Now it's just a suburban blight.

00:31:39.410 --> 00:31:42.293
I grew up in the most Zionist of household.

00:31:43.550 --> 00:31:45.920
If there was any faith that we had in our home,

00:31:45.920 --> 00:31:49.333
and it wasn't a religious observance, it was love of Israel.

00:31:51.490 --> 00:31:54.210
I went to Israel as a young teen

00:31:54.210 --> 00:31:56.380
and lived on a youth aliyah village

00:31:56.380 --> 00:31:57.980
with immigrants from all over the world.

00:31:57.980 --> 00:32:02.593
It was honestly a transformative experience.

00:32:03.800 --> 00:32:07.700
When I think about, about Ethiopian Jews

00:32:07.700 --> 00:32:10.360
who desperately want to get to Israel,

00:32:10.360 --> 00:32:12.160
my mother was in a program

00:32:12.160 --> 00:32:15.120
in Germany to prepare you for aliyah.

00:32:15.120 --> 00:32:16.660
And not only could she not do it

00:32:16.660 --> 00:32:19.000
and had to flee for her life to England,

00:32:19.000 --> 00:32:21.020
but most of her family was wiped out

00:32:21.020 --> 00:32:22.800
including the family members that

00:32:22.800 --> 00:32:24.750
were going to go with her to Palestine.

00:32:26.030 --> 00:32:29.140
Remember the first time you landed in 1967,

00:32:29.140 --> 00:32:31.970
when you went to Israel, how happy you were

00:32:31.970 --> 00:32:33.001
to finally be in Israel.

00:32:33.001 --> 00:32:38.001
-: I was not just happy, I was exuberant.

00:32:39.707 --> 00:32:40.540
-: Yeah

00:32:40.540 --> 00:32:44.200
You wanted to go in 1937, 1938.

00:32:44.200 --> 00:32:45.110
Woman: Oh yes.

00:32:45.110 --> 00:32:47.280
-: You didn't get there until 67.

00:32:47.280 --> 00:32:51.297
-: But now they're bringing them over much faster.

00:32:54.398 --> 00:32:55.829
Not faster?

00:32:55.829 --> 00:32:56.993
-: No.

00:32:56.993 --> 00:32:59.910
Demoz and Gezi, the two Ethiopian guys?

00:32:59.910 --> 00:33:02.653
They can't go to Israel, Israel's not bringing them.

00:33:05.320 --> 00:33:06.663
Hard to imagine, right?

00:33:10.490 --> 00:33:12.580
This is a similar story for me,

00:33:12.580 --> 00:33:17.420
the story of longing to to go home, the story of aliyah.

00:33:17.420 --> 00:33:19.193
That's my story too.

00:33:32.378 --> 00:33:35.000
-: I think one of the points that I'd like to pick up on

00:33:35.000 --> 00:33:39.310
is how you feel about all of this?

00:33:39.310 --> 00:33:44.310
I'm just wondering how you view your future

00:33:45.020 --> 00:33:47.900
when there seems to be one obstacle

00:33:47.900 --> 00:33:52.274
after another being put in front of you.

00:33:52.274 --> 00:33:56.191
(speaking in foreign language)

00:34:14.070 --> 00:34:17.213
David: I just want you to know the insanity of this,

00:34:17.213 --> 00:34:19.629
that they are speaking to you in fluent--

00:34:19.629 --> 00:34:20.462
-: Hebrew.

00:34:20.462 --> 00:34:23.432
-: Hebrew with kippahs on, arguing about whether

00:34:23.432 --> 00:34:26.932
or not they're should go to Israel or not.

00:34:28.375 --> 00:34:30.383
-: So let me ask you something.

00:34:30.383 --> 00:34:33.324
It seems that the Israeli government

00:34:33.324 --> 00:34:36.498
is using the excuse that it doesn't have the money,

00:34:36.498 --> 00:34:41.294
what role do you think race plays in this problem?

00:34:41.294 --> 00:34:45.211
(speaking in foreign language)

00:35:23.633 --> 00:35:26.853
-: Here is comments and likes from my friends.

00:35:31.198 --> 00:35:34.990
Many of our friends say just, we stand with you,

00:35:34.990 --> 00:35:38.513
behind you, and don't be afraid, keep it up, going.

00:35:39.360 --> 00:35:44.220
They make us strong and they make us speak

00:35:44.220 --> 00:35:46.787
more, and more about the community.

00:35:50.061 --> 00:35:53.978
(speaking in foreign language)

00:36:59.170 --> 00:37:01.670
-: Israel has not done the greatest job

00:37:01.670 --> 00:37:04.903
in integrating the Ethiopians into Israeli society.

00:37:06.852 --> 00:37:10.769
(speaking in foreign language)

00:37:45.671 --> 00:37:50.671
(people yelling)
(dramatic music)

00:38:17.998 --> 00:38:21.915
(speaking in foreign language)

00:39:13.929 --> 00:39:16.679
(dramatic music)

00:39:27.496 --> 00:39:28.329
-: When I wrote a column.

00:39:28.329 --> 00:39:31.610
I tried to talk about these Jews who are left behind

00:39:31.610 --> 00:39:33.620
and how important it is for the government

00:39:33.620 --> 00:39:35.330
to fulfill its promise

00:39:35.330 --> 00:39:36.280
and how important it is for

00:39:36.280 --> 00:39:38.730
the American Jewish community not to forget them.

00:39:39.950 --> 00:39:42.790
It just strikes me as being problematic

00:39:42.790 --> 00:39:45.880
that you would make a promise to bring a certain number,

00:39:45.880 --> 00:39:48.230
and then not fulfill that promise.

00:39:48.230 --> 00:39:50.410
-: I wasn't really sure where the article was going to go,

00:39:50.410 --> 00:39:53.530
and when it came out that headline

00:39:53.530 --> 00:39:56.483
Jane Eisner, No Jew Let Behind, Unless You're In Ethiopia.

00:39:57.760 --> 00:39:59.020
-: As with all headlines,

00:39:59.020 --> 00:40:01.243
it was a simplification of my argument.

00:40:02.610 --> 00:40:03.810
It got a lot of traffic.

00:40:04.730 --> 00:40:08.700
I felt like there were people who really responded

00:40:08.700 --> 00:40:13.700
and hadn't realized that this issue was still with us.

00:40:14.080 --> 00:40:16.830
(dramatic music)

00:40:19.640 --> 00:40:21.900
David: Now, perhaps since

00:40:21.900 --> 00:40:23.730
you've gotten more media coverage,

00:40:23.730 --> 00:40:26.590
I think people are taking this very seriously.

00:40:26.590 --> 00:40:28.980
I think that the tide is shifting here.

00:40:28.980 --> 00:40:31.184
(audience applauding)
(dramatic music)

00:40:31.184 --> 00:40:33.934
(dramatic music)

00:40:41.790 --> 00:40:43.120
Interviewer: Who are you going to see?

00:40:43.120 --> 00:40:43.953
-: Now?

00:40:43.953 --> 00:40:44.800
Interviewer: Yeah.

00:40:44.800 --> 00:40:47.290
-: I'm going, I'm going to see Obama.

00:40:47.290 --> 00:40:48.420
-: White house.

00:40:48.420 --> 00:40:52.683
-: Maybe let's ask him what he knows about Ethiopian Jewish.

00:40:54.334 --> 00:40:58.251
(speaking in foreign language)

00:40:59.580 --> 00:41:03.140
-: Our organization, I think I would love

00:41:03.140 --> 00:41:06.093
to try and figure out a way to do something.

00:41:07.460 --> 00:41:11.377
(speaking in foreign language)

00:41:13.760 --> 00:41:15.180
Gezi: They are are very interested

00:41:15.180 --> 00:41:16.970
to hear about our story

00:41:16.970 --> 00:41:20.290
and it seems like many people support us.

00:41:20.290 --> 00:41:22.287
-: At first they were tentative,

00:41:23.872 --> 00:41:26.713
they spoke but it wasn't really dramatic.

00:41:27.557 --> 00:41:32.020
And then you just saw the deepening,

00:41:32.020 --> 00:41:35.629
the understanding, the voice they need.

00:41:35.629 --> 00:41:39.546
(speaking in foreign language)

00:41:49.240 --> 00:41:50.130
-: Somebody called them badass,

00:41:50.130 --> 00:41:55.130
like they know how to go out there and connect to people.

00:41:55.370 --> 00:41:58.990
-: Why we ask permission?

00:41:58.990 --> 00:42:00.931
It is our right to be there.

00:42:00.931 --> 00:42:03.681
(dramatic music)

00:42:21.655 --> 00:42:25.488
(singing in foreign language)

00:42:30.887 --> 00:42:33.637
(dramatic music)

00:42:34.960 --> 00:42:37.257
David: He wants to sing (speaking in foreign language).

00:42:37.257 --> 00:42:38.509
-: (speaking in foreign language)?

00:42:38.509 --> 00:42:42.426
(singing in foreign language)

00:43:27.216 --> 00:43:31.133
(speaking in foreign language)

00:43:45.230 --> 00:43:49.880
-: C, G, E, and C.

00:43:49.880 --> 00:43:54.880
F, F, F, C, yeah, next C, G, and C.

00:44:00.010 --> 00:44:03.360
There's a beautiful poem by rabbi Larry Cushner.

00:44:03.360 --> 00:44:07.510
That talks about how we all are puzzles.

00:44:07.510 --> 00:44:09.430
And there are pieces of our puzzle

00:44:09.430 --> 00:44:10.887
that somebody else holds.

00:44:10.887 --> 00:44:13.720
(banjo strumming)

00:44:14.900 --> 00:44:16.820
They don't even necessarily know it,

00:44:16.820 --> 00:44:18.770
but they hold that piece of the puzzle.

00:44:21.020 --> 00:44:23.420
And in the mysterious way the world is,

00:44:23.420 --> 00:44:24.920
if you're lucky enough,

00:44:24.920 --> 00:44:26.160
you'll connect with that person

00:44:26.160 --> 00:44:29.283
and that piece of your puzzle will.

00:44:38.270 --> 00:44:39.150
If you're lucky enough,

00:44:39.150 --> 00:44:44.100
that piece of puzzle you'll get to experience in your life.

00:44:44.100 --> 00:44:45.110
And you may have a piece

00:44:45.110 --> 00:44:47.520
of that person's puzzle that you can share.

00:44:47.520 --> 00:44:49.303
That's really what this feels like.

00:44:50.700 --> 00:44:53.220
I feel blessed to have been to Ethiopia

00:44:53.220 --> 00:44:57.310
at a particular moment and meet, meet Demoz at that moment.

00:44:57.310 --> 00:44:58.300
And I fell in love with him

00:44:58.300 --> 00:45:00.450
pretty quickly and Gezi the same.

00:45:00.450 --> 00:45:02.303
It was, it's easy to love these guys.

00:45:04.450 --> 00:45:07.313
I'm so grateful that I got the chance to be with them.

00:45:08.630 --> 00:45:10.453
They feel like they're my boys.

00:45:12.730 --> 00:45:14.463
They should always feel that way.

00:45:18.600 --> 00:45:22.517
(speaking in foreign language)

00:45:39.353 --> 00:45:42.103
(people yelling)

00:45:49.794 --> 00:45:53.711
(speaking in foreign language)

00:47:12.062 --> 00:47:12.895
-: Hello.

00:47:12.895 --> 00:47:15.562
(phone beeping)

00:47:16.871 --> 00:47:19.621
(dramatic music)

00:47:36.670 --> 00:47:40.587
(speaking in foreign language)

00:47:42.492 --> 00:47:45.242
(dramatic music)

00:47:47.855 --> 00:47:51.772
(speaking in foreign language)

00:48:11.890 --> 00:48:12.920
David: It's so hard to know

00:48:12.920 --> 00:48:14.847
if our efforts are really paying off.

00:48:17.280 --> 00:48:20.250
Advocacy campaigns are always tricky,

00:48:20.250 --> 00:48:22.993
and it makes it even more complicated for the guys.

00:48:24.470 --> 00:48:29.470
I could feel this campaign slowly dropping lower and lower

00:48:30.000 --> 00:48:31.910
in the sights of our leaders

00:48:31.910 --> 00:48:34.210
on the agenda of Israel and the Jewish people.

00:48:37.495 --> 00:48:38.328
Woman: Look at the number of issues

00:48:38.328 --> 00:48:40.648
now dividing Israeli's and Americans.

00:48:40.648 --> 00:48:43.540
You know, I think it's a very challenging task.

00:48:43.540 --> 00:48:45.400
-: What I'm getting here is the exhaustion of American Jews.

00:48:45.400 --> 00:48:48.230
I feel like were fighting on so many fronts,

00:48:48.230 --> 00:48:50.920
that said, I don't wanna hear you talk this way.

00:48:50.920 --> 00:48:53.670
(dramatic music)

00:49:01.014 --> 00:49:04.931
(speaking in foreign language)

00:49:20.423 --> 00:49:24.400
-: I think what would be helpful for me is really

00:49:24.400 --> 00:49:29.400
to concretize what, what you're asking of the federations.

00:49:31.650 --> 00:49:36.130
What other federations, specific federations, and JFNA.

00:49:36.130 --> 00:49:40.174
What, because we've we want to work together.

00:49:40.174 --> 00:49:43.007
(dramatic music)

00:49:46.395 --> 00:49:50.312
(speaking in foreign language)

00:50:09.000 --> 00:50:12.463
-: It's hard for you guys because you feel so much pressure.

00:50:13.310 --> 00:50:14.630
You've got to deliver, you've got to deliver,

00:50:14.630 --> 00:50:17.883
you've got to deliver, and so I really, I feel for you,

00:50:19.664 --> 00:50:22.873
but I really, really, really think you couldn't do,

00:50:23.853 --> 00:50:26.733
you couldn't be doing more than you're doing,

00:50:28.530 --> 00:50:31.833
nobody can speak as powerfully as the two of you

00:50:32.900 --> 00:50:35.004
are speaking, I really believe that.

00:50:35.004 --> 00:50:37.754
(dramatic music)

00:50:46.000 --> 00:50:48.770
I can't imagine what it must be like

00:50:48.770 --> 00:50:52.670
to be too Jewish to be an Ethiopian,

00:50:52.670 --> 00:50:55.880
to be two plaque, to be a Jew.

00:50:55.880 --> 00:50:58.915
To be limbo, in purgatory.

00:50:58.915 --> 00:51:01.665
(dramatic music)

00:51:03.310 --> 00:51:05.580
-: Maybe in this process

00:51:05.580 --> 00:51:09.890
we didn't close as much as we needed?

00:51:09.890 --> 00:51:12.730
I mean, we didn't communicate a lot,

00:51:12.730 --> 00:51:17.730
we didn't communicate as much as possible.

00:51:25.108 --> 00:51:29.025
(speaking in foreign language)

00:55:38.490 --> 00:55:42.900
-: That's good to be starting the aliyah, of the journey.

00:55:42.900 --> 00:55:47.120
But for this we've heard many kinds of decisions.

00:55:47.120 --> 00:55:48.860
Next month it will be starting,

00:55:48.860 --> 00:55:51.300
this number, this number, like this.

00:55:51.300 --> 00:55:55.730
It takes money, it takes time, four or five years.

00:55:55.730 --> 00:56:00.623
People wait a long time, and they don't know who goes first.

00:56:01.710 --> 00:56:06.257
-: We heard many decisions before, but it doesn't help.

00:56:21.420 --> 00:56:26.420
-: It's all about being centered in your head, in your body,

00:56:28.850 --> 00:56:30.950
and the piece of clay you're working with.

00:56:36.020 --> 00:56:40.007
When you do ceramics, every step of the way,

00:56:41.703 --> 00:56:43.120
you can go wrong.

00:56:49.440 --> 00:56:54.440
You can't be a ceramicist if failure terrifies you.

00:57:05.740 --> 00:57:07.633
Because in ceramics you fail a lot.

00:57:14.370 --> 00:57:16.763
Even when you think you've done everything right.

00:57:33.741 --> 00:57:37.658
(speaking in foreign language)

00:59:52.388 --> 00:59:55.138
(dramatic music)

01:00:27.660 --> 01:00:31.577
(speaking in foreign language)

01:01:25.060 --> 01:01:28.560
-: I suppose there was a fantasy.

01:01:28.560 --> 01:01:32.770
The fantasy was that we bring Demoz and Gezi

01:01:32.770 --> 01:01:34.880
to the United States and they would speak

01:01:35.960 --> 01:01:38.160
and people would stand up and cheer

01:01:38.160 --> 01:01:40.060
and people would be part of the cause.

01:01:42.010 --> 01:01:44.737
And the council, general,

01:01:44.737 --> 01:01:47.160
and the ambassador would realize this

01:01:47.160 --> 01:01:49.510
and communicate with the prime minister

01:01:49.510 --> 01:01:51.053
to move it up on the agenda.

01:01:52.660 --> 01:01:56.813
I guess it was a fantasy to believe that two months later,

01:01:57.810 --> 01:02:01.083
Israel would say, that's it, we're bringing everybody home.

01:02:03.670 --> 01:02:08.670
But you know, advocacy campaigns often are built on fantasy,

01:02:09.670 --> 01:02:13.500
on the dream that change can happen,

01:02:13.500 --> 01:02:15.250
and that it's gonna happen rapidly.

01:02:19.030 --> 01:02:22.310
They're still believers, after all this,

01:02:22.310 --> 01:02:25.723
they really believe and that it has to happen soon

01:02:25.723 --> 01:02:27.403
because they need to come home.

01:02:41.153 --> 01:02:44.153
(people chattering)

01:03:07.052 --> 01:03:10.969
(speaking in foreign language)

01:03:44.541 --> 01:03:47.291
(dramatic music)

01:03:53.909 --> 01:03:56.742
-: Just would be better if together

01:03:59.761 --> 01:04:03.261
we receive the permission to go to Israel.

01:04:04.930 --> 01:04:07.313
Together, as our dreams.

01:04:08.460 --> 01:04:13.460
But hopefully, he will also be included

01:04:15.863 --> 01:04:20.090
on the list to go at a different time.

01:04:20.090 --> 01:04:22.840
(dramatic music)

01:04:24.232 --> 01:04:26.982
But, what shall, what shall I do?

01:04:28.493 --> 01:04:31.243
(dramatic music)

01:04:40.690 --> 01:04:44.690
(speaking in foreign language)

01:05:02.367 --> 01:05:07.367
(people chattering)
(dramatic music)

01:05:30.752 --> 01:05:35.752
(speaking in foreign language)
(dramatic music)

01:05:45.407 --> 01:05:48.157
(dramatic music)

01:06:08.265 --> 01:06:11.015
(dramatic music)

01:07:59.398 --> 01:08:02.148
(dramatic music)

01:08:59.043 --> 01:09:01.793
(dramatic music)