Violence and Identity: Zegeye's Impossible Return

Eastern African Literary and Cultural Studies, 2019

Historiography in impossible return This review is not intended to look at this impressive piece of scholarly work through a whole gamut of historiographical lenses. As the book exemplifies a multidisciplinary approach, my aim is to single out the role of historiography in this predominantly sociological research. History, by its very nature, deals with myriad past human accomplishments; but, this does not mean that it cannot contribute to examine and evaluate a wide-range of issues in the contemporary world. This is what the author tries to do. To construct the historical origin, culture, and collective identity of the Beta Israelis, he tapped centuries-old historical records and oral testimonies; by doing so, he has successfully demonstrated the problems the Beta Israelis have faced, and continue to face following their immigration to and settlement in the State of Israel. Proper reading of the past is key to understanding the present. George Orwell rightfully argued: 'He who controls the past, controls the future.' If the writer employed sociological data only, his analysis and inferences would obviously lack the level of insight, depth, and validity as expected. According to the author, 'a social historical approach is adopted because of its capacity to draw from diverse sources of evidence such as from the disciplines of history, linguistics, sociology, oral accounts and transdisciplinary forms of theoretical representations.' Having said this, let us look at the issues in relation to historiography. The first thing one easily observes is the absence of a time frame on the topic of the book. But, it can obviously be understood that there is huge historical data involved in its organization and presentation. The problem appears to have stemmed partly from the time, depth, and the divergent issues the topic tries to tackle. The study is in part a social history with lots of sociological data and analysis. In fact, the author uses historical data back and forth, which makes the narrative time sensitive and chronologically informed. It is an indispensable tool to reconstruct the Beta Israelis' history, including the myths and legends held by them as well as the accounts of foreign travelers who visited them at different times and wrote about their way of life, religious beliefs, and practices. In large measure, the author concentrates on the question of immigration and the various, complex issues of settlement and integration into the State of Israel. Capturing the story, when and how the Ethiopian Jews started their uphill struggle to be admitted as Israeli citizens, lay at the center of his discussion. The way in which the Israeli government finally ventured into a massive air transportation of the Beta Israelis with carefully planned secret operations in the last quarter of the 20th century puts the formal/official acceptance of the entire community into question. Why did the state of Israel engage itself in such massive movement of people surreptitiously? In fact, the author indicated that the 'Israeli Ministry of the Interior has intimated that the This article was originally published with errors. This version has been corrected. Please see Corrigendum (

2011

Theory & Event, 2019

of questions requiring further research: How much violence and dehumanization is strong enough to make the Beta-Israel lose their Ethiopian roots? Why do they persevere to maintain it? What does it take to maintain Jewishness without economic, educational and cultural resources? What sustains the Beta-Israeli identity as an unconditional way of being in the world as a Jew, despite such tribulations? In light of their strong attachment with Ethiopian identity, I can put forward a hypothesis. The strong bond can be considered as an indication of the powerful meaning of the Ethiopian identity not examined beyond mystic romanticism and political rhetoric. With further research, this proposition concerning the sense of Ethiopian identity of the Beta-Israel can be tested. On a more general and philosophical note, the Beta-Israeli perseverance and capability to love and nourish their old roots, and their strong will to become part of the Jewish World in their own way in the face of their e...

Religion and Theology, 2004

This article looks at the issue of the origin of the Ethiopian Jews and how they have survived the odyssey of their return to Yerusalem. The questions of how and when ancient Judaic influences entered Ethiopia remain the subject of controversy. Their impact on the last surviving Ethiopian Jews, the Beta Israel, and the Ethiopian Jews' right of return to modern Israel are of undoubted importance today. This raises the issue of whether the religious ideal and the automatic right of all jews to emigrate to Israel are equally applied. Furthermore, the concrete experiences of the Ethiopian Jews in Israel compel one to ask new questions about the possibility of the Beta Israel beginning to rethink their relationship with Ethiopian society.

wm.edu

Until the early twentieth century, in Ethiopia there lived a community of people practicing a form of pre-Talmudic Judaism in isolation from the larger Jewish world. Surrounded by the Ethiopian Christian ruling class since the fourth century, these people—who would later be known as the Beta Israel—faced constant pressure to convert and to dissolve their segregated, unified group. For the most part, however, they managed to resist and to preserve their adherence to the tenets of the Old Testament. Soon after the turn of the twentieth century, the Beta Israel confronted a similar tension from an altogether different source. Western Jews became aware of the plight of the Beta Israel and of their commitment to practicing Judaism despite centuries of what the West perceived as persecution. Part of the solution proposed by leaders of the global Jewish community was to educate the Beta Israel in contemporary Jewish practice to encourage assimilation. The Israeli government conducted two official operations—along with several covert ones—in order to move the entire Beta Israel population from Ethiopia to Israel by 1992. Nevertheless, the Beta Israel remain an identifiable and separate sect within Israel and the worldwide Jewish community. The process of identity formation for the Beta Israel has not, however, been a constant battle against forces attempting to coerce their dissolution. Instead, it has involved a continual re-definition of the Beta Israel as a group, a response to changing historical conditions sometimes favoring integration, sometimes isolation. Through determining the extent to which they located themselves within each sector defined on this matrix, the Beta Israel forged a sense of unity and a clear communal identity. Ultimately, the very act of group self-definition contributed to a sense of unity; in other words, as Beta Israel were forced to interact with the pressures outlined above, they drew together and forged a continually greater sense of community over the centuries. Consequently, an examination of the particular ways in which these pressures acted upon the Beta Israel—and the unique ways in which the Beta Israel responded—will form the basis for an understanding of the nature and source of the Beta Israel’s distinction as a group, a distinctiveness which remains independent and identifiable even today.