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A Case of Mistaken Identity

Reader comment on item: How Ukrainian Refugees Could Inadvertently Erase the West

Submitted by Michael Greengard (Israel), Jul 10, 2022 at 06:02

The inclusion by Daniel Pipes in his article of the question of Ethiopian vs. Ukrainian immigrants to Israel is mistaken.
Israel's record on accepting Jews from Ethiopia is atrocious.

There was an Israeli embassy in Ethiopia from 1961 until 1974. The policy of this embassy was to grant entry visas to Israel to Christians, but not to Jews. When I read this in the early 1980s, I found it unbelievable, and said it must be an invention. An Ethiopian Jewish acquaintance said, "No, it's not an invention. It happened to me. I went to the embassy and pretended to be a Christian, but they unmasked me as a Jew, so I did not receive a visa." There is a Christian Ethiopian community in Israel that has often been free to travel back and forth between Ethiopia and Israel when Ethiopian Jews did not enjoy this freedom, and do not have it now.
Unlike many of the Ukrainian refugees entering Israel, the Ethiopians seeking immigration (aliya!) to Israel are Jews. What justification can there be for giving non-Jewish Ukrainians preference over Jewish Ethiopians in immigration, given that under Israel's Law of Return, every Jew is legally entitled to immigrate to Israel? This policy constitutes moral imbecility.

Submitting....

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Daniel Pipes replies:

What's mistaken? My only reference to Ethiopia reads like this:

"In Israel, the immigration and absorption minister, Pnina Tamano-Shata, who is of Ethiopian origins, called out colleagues for the "hypocrisy of white people" regarding the government's treatment of refugees from Ukraine versus those from Ethiopia."

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Reader comments (44) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
EU acceptance of Ukrainian refugees is not racism [110 words]Guy WillsonJan 18, 2023 20:53291226
Calling others racist is just a modern way to insult [172 words]PrashantJan 19, 2023 11:34291226
1Russian Genocide against Ukraine and Ukrainians [135 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
RobertOct 10, 2022 18:38287308
Easy Tendencies to Bloodthirstiness Always Associated with Ambitions of Empire - Tools of Modern Warfare Make it Easier [200 words]M ToveyOct 11, 2022 13:53287308
Ukrainian Saga - Vista Towards Its Completion Obscurred [135 words]M ToveyNov 9, 2022 16:58287308
2Anti-Colonialism and Polish Ukrainians [751 words]RobertSep 23, 2022 12:12286801
1what about the warm welcome 2015? [42 words]HerbertJul 25, 2022 12:37284130
Germany Still Caught Up in Not Being Able to Learn Not to Meddle in World Wide Causes - Marxism Never Teaches Stable Governance [189 words]M ToveyJul 26, 2022 00:49284130
1Re-Reading Hege (if not Marx) on (on former Greek) Dialetics [532 words]RobertSep 29, 2022 20:19284130
Secularism Reaching Beyond Reason to Reestablish That Which Religion Could Never Control. [444 words]M ToveySep 30, 2022 15:13284130
American Democracy is the Result of Understanding Freedom Worth Sacrificing for - Not in Appeasement [484 words]M ToveySep 30, 2022 19:21284130
1Constitutionalism & Separation of Church and State [302 words]RobertOct 1, 2022 06:30284130
1Belief is Always a Personal Choice - From the Beginning of Humanity When It All Started - And in Zion, the Endpoint [187 words]M ToveyOct 1, 2022 16:11284130
Differing View of Deity Requires Individual Belief - Church Does Not Govern State Any Better Than Individuals [197 words]M ToveyOct 6, 2022 13:52284130
1there should be no shame in providing more aid to fellow Westerners... [85 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
JeffJul 24, 2022 17:14284119
2Agree with Jeff [92 words]PrashantJul 25, 2022 09:26284119
Europeans know very well who is worthy of help [183 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
AndreaJul 22, 2022 06:10284034
cultural similarity expressed in visibility and signals [272 words]mythJul 19, 2022 14:48283939
3How about Vietnamese and Hong Kongers? [183 words]AnonJul 16, 2022 00:50283764
1Muslim's obsession with Islam is the problem. [81 words]PrashantJul 17, 2022 16:52283764
Real Reason For Ukrainian Conflict - Staging for the Greater Conflict - Migrant Refugees Casualties, Not Cause of Imperial Attitudes [240 words]M ToveyJul 18, 2022 16:52283764
Vietnamese refugees [218 words]JeffJul 18, 2022 22:40283764
1Obsession of Islamic Precepts Falls to Those Who Were Never Taught to Embrace Obedience in Love - A Sacrifice They Are Not Willing to Make [277 words]M ToveyJul 19, 2022 00:23283764
1There is in fact no double standard in favour of the Ukrainians [117 words]Amos ZotJul 15, 2022 14:47283746
1Re: There is in fact no double standard in favour of the Ukrainians [67 words]AnonJul 18, 2022 18:44283746
Culture is important [73 words]KephaJul 14, 2022 21:10283717
2"Critical Race Theory" [467 words]RobertJul 13, 2022 10:18283650
2I demur [111 words]KephaJul 14, 2022 21:18283650
Exercise in Futility - Determining Rationale of Basic Human Nature - And Why Mankind is its Own Worst Enemy [428 words]M ToveyJul 12, 2022 11:06283599
Destinies Determining Who is Driven to be Migratory [567 words]M ToveyJul 13, 2022 20:05283599
American Spectator title vs. yours [138 words]PeterJul 11, 2022 12:12283568
Thorough, Logical [98 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
David RyanJul 10, 2022 23:24283545
Culture vs. Race [352 words]RobertJul 10, 2022 23:10283543
The Bigger Picture [128 words]Johnny GJul 10, 2022 22:50283541
4Stating the obvious and feeling like a fool [154 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
PrashantJul 10, 2022 19:45283536
Modern Liberalism Does Not Seek Solutions for Equity or Peace - Causing Division for Exploitation is All They Know [192 words]M ToveyJul 11, 2022 14:43283536
what if leadership in Europe shifts to the East [106 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
mythJul 10, 2022 18:34283534
indeed, here's a particular example-- strange it is scarcely noticed [355 words]DavidJul 10, 2022 16:29283526
A Case of Mistaken Identity [205 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
Michael GreengardJul 10, 2022 06:02283507
1Polish love for Ukrainians is also an innovation [178 words]MalcolmJul 10, 2022 05:20283503
Football Eurocup 2012 [25 words]mythJul 10, 2022 18:08283503
BUT - [349 words]VCRAGAINJul 9, 2022 17:19283468
2How about some Ukrainian refugees in India [359 words]PrashantJul 10, 2022 15:16283468
1Putin's invasion gives meaning to "civilizational" [253 words]DaveJul 9, 2022 14:37283461

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