In a dark hovel a family of 14 shows us how they sleep, the children on the dirt floor. In Addis, some large refugee families must put some members outside to sleep.
Many had anticipated the last immigration of Ethiopian Jews to Israel, as imminent. However, recently the situation in Ethiopia has deteriorated and there are a greater number of people still there than previously believed. Recently, in Gondar, a pogrom of sorts has taken place. Villagers have been burned out of their homes and well over 250 refugees have taken refuge in a nearby market town. To make matters worse, Jewish villagers from the remote Quara region have come to Gondar expecting to emigrate to Israel, but the aliyah has been officially called off. In Ethiopian society one someone has left their village they cannot return, another person moves in and takes over. These immigrants were previously unknown to organizations such as NACOEJ (North American Conference on Ethiopian Jews). They are barely subsisting now and in Addis Ababa there may be as many as 8000 waiting to be taken to Israel. The Israeli authorities are currently investigating if these people have relatives in Israel and how to absorb the additional immigrants. However, the Israeli government's record on efficiently processing Ethiopian Jews has not been good, and their survival while they wait is tenuous. The Joint Distribution Committee is offering some minimal help to the "worst case" families especially the children. You can assist NACOEF by contributing to 132 Nassau Street, 4th floor, New York, N.Y. 10038, or by writing to President Benjamin Netanyahu, c/o NACOEJ, urging the Israeli government to speed their efforts on behalf of Ethiopian Jews still left in the country who wish to emigrate to Israel.
We asked the Quara Jews. "Who had a relative in Israel?"
Every hand went up. Many had parents or spouses in the promised land - some had children serving in the Israeli army.
A family from Quara huddles together in front of their tiny hovel in Gondar. The blind grandmother holds their most precious possesion - photographs of their family in Israel
Some of the 250 Feles Mura from burned villages in front of the barn where they have taken refuge. Some left before their tuckels were burned because "we were afraid we would be next".
Every day Quara Jews in Gondar walk to a buiding used by the Jewish Agency and sit down on the road, waiting - waiting for help and for rescue.
The burned out circle where a Feles Mura tuckel once stood. The neighboring non-Jewish homes are untouched.
Close-up of a burned tuckel - nothing remains but a charred pottery storage bin.