Sydney Wolf Blog 1

When watching the documentary on Russian Israelis, I was very surprised that the interviewers chose to focus on just the struggles of Russian immigrants and did not feel that the struggles of other immigrants were worth mentioning. When thinking of immigrants that struggle the most in Israel, the first group of people that come to my mind are Ethiopians.

            The first time I came to Israel I spent a day at a kibbutz for Ethiopian refugees that had just been brought out of Ethiopia and into the land of Israel. These people were so excited to be in this new land and so grateful to Israel for taking them in even though they were coming into the country with nothing. Most of them could barely speak Hebrew or English and only knew the language of their homeland. Many of them were in poor health and had little to no belongings but what people had donated to the refugee camp. However, they were some of the happiest people I have ever seen in my life.

They knew they were different and that they were not Israelis, but strangers in a new land. They would do anything to adapt to the country and help make it a better place since it brought them to freedom. However, Israeli society and culture is not very accepting of new Ethiopian refugees as they feel they are of a lower class and are not capable of contribute anything to society.

I think the Ethiopians deserve to have a documentary made about them and their struggles of coming to a new country with nothing but passion for the land of Israel. Even though they are not accepted, they are willing and capable to do what is necessary to better Israel, even serving in the Israeli Defense Force. One should not have to be an Israeli to be accepted into Israeli society, an undying love for Israel should be enough.