INTERNACIONAL
Ethiopian Jews in dire need as Israel-Hamas conflict disrupts established aid, Jewish charity says
A Jewish humanitarian organization has completed an airlift of medical materials to enclaves of Ethiopian Jews as the ongoing Israeli conflict with Hamas has complicated established aid in the region.
Struggle to Save Ethiopian Jewry (SSEJ), a volunteer-staffed organization in the United States dedicated to the assistance of the Ethiopian Jewish community, airlifted the medical supplies over the course of weeks.
The aerial transport from the U.S. to the city of Gondar began on Mar. 9 and finished on Apr. 5, delivering 10 pallets of supplies to the community for use at the SSEJ medical clinic.
ISRAEL VOWS TO STRIKE BACK AFTER WARNINGS OF IRANIAN ATTACK, SAYS ENEMIES ‘WILL BE MET WITH A STRONG DEFENSE’
A photograph provided by SSEJ shows a portion of the medical supplies that were airlifted to Gondar, Ethiopia for the care of regional Jewish communities. (Struggle to Save Ethiopian Jewry)
SSEJ President Jeremy Feit spoke to Fox News Digital about the unique struggles facing Ethiopian Jewry and how they are hoping to help.
«Much of the support that the Jews in Ethiopia receive comes from remittance from relatives in Israel,» Feit explained. «When the war started, large sections of the Israeli economy shut down. As a result, the Israeli relatives of the Jews in Ethiopia are not in the financial position to send funds.»
SSEJ partnered with the Afya Foundation, an organization in New York that facilitates the redistribution of surplus medical supplies to care centers around the world in need of materials. The air transportation was provided by international humanitarian organization Airlink.
ISRAELI PM, MILITARY LEADERS HOLD EMERGENCY MEETING AMID POSSIBLE DIRECT IRANIAN ATTACK
Feit told Fox News Digital that their SSEJ clinics are intended to cater specifically to the Jewish enclaves, but that the majority of materials delivered there will then be redistributed by the Jewish clinic to other, secular care facilities in the region.
«Some of [the medical supplies] will remain at SSEJ’s medical clinics and assist the Jews, but much of it will go towards other local health clinics which are in dire need,» Feit told Fox News Digital. «We’re talking clinics where electricity goes down frequently in this region, and they don’t tend to have backup generators. The conditions are in vast need of improvement.»
A young Ethiopian Jewish child participates during a davening in this photo provided by SSEJ. (Struggle to Save Ethiopian Jewry)
«Supplies are hard to get. Funding is hard to come by,» he continued. «We cannot ignore the suffering of others around there — non-Jews, Christians, Muslims, others.»
The majority of Ethiopian Jews were airlifted to Israel via a series of covert evacuations undertaken by Israeli forces in cooperation with United States intelligence agencies.
IDF VETERAN TURNED NY GOP PICK TO REPLACE GEORGE SANTOS VOWS TO TAKE ON ‘SQUAD,’ SLAMS SUOZZI AS FAKE MODERATE
The most prominent of these evacuations were Operation Moses in 1984 and Operation Solomon in 1991.
The enduring Jewish community in Ethiopia consists of approximately 13,500 people largely concentrated around the cities of Gondar and Addis Ababa, where the Israeli consulate and embassy are respectively located.
«The Jews in Gondar and Addis Ababa almost all originated in small, little villages,» Feit said. «They left the villages to go to Gondar and Addis Ababa because that’s where the Israeli consulates […] are located.»
Ethiopian Jewry is further subdivided into demographics based on current geography and religious practices. «Beta Israel» is the name given to the ethnic group that made up the majority of those airlifted into Israel in the 20th century.
ALLEGED CIVILIAN MASSACRE REPORTED IN ETHIOPIA AS US CALLS FOR INVESTIGATION
«Falash Mura» refers to a cross-section of these same communities that converted — willingly and unwillingly — to Christianity in the 18th and 19th centuries. The nature and cascading ramifications of this mass conversion has complicated their right to Israeli immigration.
«The question is — are these people Jewish? Because any Jew anywhere on earth is eligible for Israeli citizenship and absorption,» explained Bonnie Glick, former deputy administrator for the United States Agency for International Development. «But if they’re not actually Jewish, and they’re economic refugees or asylum seekers, then technically under the Jewish law of return, they would not be eligible.»
Glick worked for the State Department during Operation Solomon in May 1991 and told Fox News Digital about the unprecedented nature of past evacuations.
Ethiopian Jews known as «Falashas» sit aboard an Israeli Air Force Boeing 707, during their transfer from Addis Ababa to Tel Aviv in 1991. (PATRICK BAZ/AFP via Getty Images)
«In 1991, a lot of the people who were airlifted out, very much like Operation Moses, had never been on an airplane before. They had never been in a city before, and they were airlifted throughout the 40-hour period.» Glick told Fox News Digital. «So they’re sitting on tarmacs in their traditional garb in the middle of the night. Everyone has a fluorescent sticker on their forehead to show that they’re eligible for transport. It was crazy.»
Beta Israel currently makes up just under 2% of the Israeli population, while those who remain in Africa are typically of the Falash Mura demographic.
Political and religious debate over who among those left in Africa has a legitimate claim to Jewish identity and Israeli emigration continues to decision-making on the issue.
TOP ETHIOPIAN BANK RECOUPS 80% OF LOSSES AFTER ‘GLITCH’ LET CUSTOMERS WITHDRAW MONEY THEY DIDN’T HAVE
While continued fighting between Israel and Hamas does not directly affect Ethiopian Jewry stuck in Gondar and Addis Ababa, the war has brought Israeli aid and political attention to a halt.
«While the war rages, it is hard for the government of Israel to focus on other issues,» said Feit. «As a result — while they appointed people to examine how many more Jews should be brought in and when — little progress has been made and, in the meantime, the Jews in Ethiopia suffer living in mud huts without running water, kitchens, bathrooms or electricity.»
However, Ethiopian Jews are not only concerned about themselves, but also their relatives who have gone to Israel ahead of them.
Israel Defense Forces troops cross the Gaza warzone accompanied by dogs from the Oketz unit. (IDF Spokesman’s Unit)
«Thousands of Jews in Ethiopia have relatives in Israel and the safety of their loved ones amidst massacres by terrorists and constant rocket fire from Hezbollah and Hamas is causing constant distress, Feit told Fox News Digital.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
He added, «Praying towards Jerusalem as they have for thousands of years, the Jews in Ethiopia now include in their daily prayers special prayers on behalf of the State of Israel and the IDF.»
British voters were picking a new government Thursday in a parliamentary election widely expected to bring the Labour Party to power against a gloomy backdrop of economic malaise, mounting distrust in institutions and a fraying social fabric.
A jaded electorate is delivering its verdict on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party, which has been in power since 2010. Polls opened at 40,000 stations, including churches, a laundromat and a crematorium.
«Nothing has gone well in the last 14 years,» said London voter James Erskine, who was optimistic for change. «I just see this as the potential for a seismic shift, and that’s what I’m hoping for.»
NIGEL FARAGE’S RETURN TO POLITICS CAUSES WRINKLE IN BRITISH ELECTION: WHY HAS HE PROVEN SO SUCCESSFUL?
While Labour’s steady and significant lead in the polls would appear to buck recent rightward electoral shifts in Europe, including in France and Italy, many of those same populist undercurrents flow in Britain. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has roiled the race with his party’s anti-migrant «take our country back» sentiment and undercut support for the Conservatives, who already faced dismal prospects.
Hundreds of communities were locked in tight contests in which traditional party loyalties come second to more immediate concerns about the economy, crumbling infrastructure and the National Health Service.
In Henley-on-Thames, about 40 miles west of London, voters like Patricia Mulcahy, who is retired, sensed the nation was looking for something different. The community, which normally votes Conservative, may change its stripes this time.
«The younger generation are far more interested in change,’’ Mulcahy said. «So, I think whatever happens in Henley, in the country, there will be a big shift. But whoever gets in, they’ve got a heck of a job ahead of them. It’s not going to be easy.»
Britain has experienced a run of turbulent years — some of it of the Conservatives’ own making and some of it not — that has left many voters pessimistic about their country’s future. The U.K.’s exit from the European Union followed by the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine battered the economy, while lockdown-breaching parties held by then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his staff caused widespread anger.
Johnson’s successor, Liz Truss, rocked the economy further with a package of drastic tax cuts and lasted just 49 days in office. Rising poverty and cuts to state services have led to gripes about «Broken Britain.»
Labour Party leader Keir Starmer and wife Victoria arrive at a polling station to cast their vote in London, Thursday, July 4, 2024. Voters in the U.K. are casting their ballots in a national election to choose the 650 lawmakers who will sit in Parliament for the next five years. Outgoing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak surprised his own party on May 22 when he called the election. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
The first part of the day was sunny in much of the country — favorable weather to get people to the polls.
In the first hour polls were open, Sunak made the short journey from his home to vote at Kirby Sigston Village Hall in his Richmond constituency in northern England. He arrived with his wife, Akshata Murty, and walked hand-in-hand into the village hall, which is surrounded by rolling fields.
The center-left Labour Party led by Keir Starmer has had a steady and significant lead in opinion polls for months, but its leaders have warned against taking the election result for granted, worried their supporters will stay home.
«Change. Today, you can vote for it,» he wrote Thursday on the X social media platform.
A couple of hours after posting that message, Starmer walked hand-in-hand with his wife, Victoria, into a polling place in the Kentish Town section of London to cast his vote. He left through a back door out of sight of a crowd of residents and journalists who had gathered.
Labour has not set pulses racing with its pledges to get the sluggish economy growing, invest in infrastructure and make Britain a «clean energy superpower.»
But nothing has really gone wrong in its campaign, either. The party has won the support of large chunks of the business community and endorsements from traditionally conservative newspapers, including the Rupert Murdoch-owned Sun tabloid, which praised Starmer for «dragging his party back to the center ground of British politics.»
The Conservatives have acknowledged that Labour appears headed for victory.
In a message to voters on Wednesday, Sunak said that «if the polls are to be believed, the country could wake up tomorrow to a Labour supermajority ready to wield their unchecked power.» He urged voters to back the Conservatives to limit Labour’s power.
Former Labour candidate Douglas Beattie, author of the book «How Labour Wins (and Why it Loses),» said Starmer’s «quiet stability probably chimes with the mood of the country right now.»
The Conservatives, meanwhile, have been plagued by gaffes. The campaign got off to an inauspicious start when rain drenched Sunak as he made the announcement outside 10 Downing St. Then, Sunak went home early from commemorations in France marking the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion.
Several Conservatives close to Sunak are being investigated over suspicions they used inside information to place bets on the date of the election before it was announced.
Sunak has struggled to shake off the taint of political chaos and mismanagement that’s gathered around the Conservatives.
But for many voters, the lack of trust applies not just to the governing party, but to politicians in general. Farage has leaped into that breach.
The centrist Liberal Democrats and environmentalist Green Party also want to sweep up disaffected voters.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
«I don’t know who’s for me as a working person,» said Michelle Bird, a port worker in Southampton on England’s south coast who was undecided about whether to vote Labour or Conservative. «I don’t know whether it’s the devil you know or the devil you don’t.»
El horóscopo de hoy: viernes 5 de julio
Las 27 tareas que tendrá el ministerio de Desregulación y Transformación del Estado a cargo de Federico Sturzenegger
Dos muertos y al menos nueve heridos luego de que un conductor atropellara peatones en Manhattan
Sturzengger ya es ministro y prepara un plan de fuertes reformas, mientras Caputo blinda su cartera
¿Fin de ciclo?: Daniel Garnero en la cuerda floja tras la eliminación de Paraguay
Britons cast their votes in heavily-anticipated UK parliamentary election
Cristina Kirchner reapareció y criticó al Gobierno: “El superávit fiscal es cada vez más trucho”
El presidente Javier Milei atacó al Foro de Periodismo Argentino y escala la pelea del gobierno contra los periodistas
El PRO publicó un duro informe y cuestionó el rumbo del Gobierno: “Hay más interrogantes que certezas”
La reacción del Gobierno ante la suba del dólar blue: “No vamos a devaluar ni a corrernos del plan de Caputo”
Los mercados castigan a Milei, la ayuda de los «dinosaurios» y una anomalía del Senado
El dólar blue rompe un nuevo record: se vende a $1.405
La inflación de junio rondaría el 5,2% según los analistas consultados por el Banco Central
Los consultores que participan en el Relevamiento de Expectativas de Mercado (REM) revelaron que el índice superará por un punto...
La UTA anunció un paro parcial de colectivos para este viernes por sueldos adeudados
La medida de fuerza afectará a las líneas que no cancelen los pagos pendientes en las próximas horas. Además, la...
Histórico: Franco Colapinto formará parte de un Gran Premio de Formula 1
El piloto argentino, que actualmente compite en la Formula 2, se subirá a un F1 para poder disputar una sesión...
-
POLITICA3 días agoLa reacción del Gobierno ante la suba del dólar blue: “No vamos a devaluar ni a corrernos del plan de Caputo”
-
POLITICA2 días ago
Tras la tensión diplomática, Lula quiere eliminar el acuerdo automotriz con Argentina
-
POLITICA3 días ago
Milei respondió el comunicado de Bolivia, insistió en que fue “un golpe montando” y criticó a Lula Da Silva
-
ECONOMIA3 días ago
Por la caída de la actividad económica, el superávit de Milei y Caputo está en riesgo
-
ECONOMIA2 días ago
Para el economista Orlando Ferreres, Luis Caputo anunció «un Plan Bonex con otro nombre»
-
POLITICA2 días ago
Gesto de Milei a Mauricio Macri: el Gobierno resigna su representante en la AGN y se lo cede al PRO
