The Story of Ethiopian Jews Israel Rarely Tells

All Western societies are anti-Black societies.

Israel is no different.

This is what the Jewish people want to believe, that Israel is a safe haven for Jews from around the world, but Ethiopian Jews were not accepted here.

You come to Israel, the Jewish country, the place that's supposed to be the most safe for Jewish people in the world, and suddenly people question your J- Judaism.

That's why I'm so triggered when people ta- talk about Operation Moses.

Right.

There were 20 years of creating networks and movements and connecting all the dots and collecting all the people who are supportive.

It's not the best place in the world, but I will fight for it like tooth and nail to make it better.

Israel is supposed to be the place where every Jew can come home.

So what happens when Black Jews get here and still have to prove they belong? For me, this is personal.

I'm an Israeli Jew.

I'm also Caribbean, brown-skinned, a Jew of color.

When I was younger, I thought that in Israel, none of that would matter.

I could just be Jewish.

But it's a little more complicated.

This episode is about Ethiopian Jews, Operation Moses, the challenges many Jews of color have experienced.

The Jewish state was built to be a homeland for the Jewish people.

So why have some Jews had to fight so hard to belong? This is Borderlines.

Dr. Efrat Yirdai.

Welcome to Borderlines with That Semite.

Thank you.

Thank you for having me.