The TuFTS Daily, March 11, 2011
A panel of Ethiopian−Israeli university students yesterday afternoon addressed students at the kickoff event for Israel Peace Week. The students, two of whom migrated to Israel from Ethiopia as children, spoke about the difficulties of assimilating to the culture in their new home and the discrimination they faced as minorities living in Israel.
One of the students, Assia Netaneal Avera, described his family's decision to move to Israel as a necessary one.
"It was hard to practice Judaism in Ethiopia because of the kings and political and government regulations," he said. "The move to Israel was important to my family for a sort of religious freedom."
Another panelist, Rachel Marsha, said she moved to Israel with her family as a small child.
"I don't remember much from the journey from Ethiopia to Israel because I was very young, three years old," she said.
"I remember that everything had to be done in secret when traveling," she said. "The government of Ethiopia at that time was a communist country, so everything needed to be done in secret in order to avoid being caught and put in prison or given a worse punishment."
Beyond the complexities of leaving Africa, she recounted her surprise at the Israeli reaction upon their arrival.
"The people in Israel were shocking because we thought everyone would look like us, black Jewish," Marsha added. "At first, I faced a lot of racism in the community and sometimes in school."
The students said a language barrier was another obstacle in their integration into Israeli culture.
"It is hard to adjust life from a third−world country like Ethiopia to a modern country like Israel," Marsha said. "I think it was more difficult for my parents to adjust than me, because I was very young at the time and grew up with the Hebrew language," she added.
A third panelist, Orly Tsegahun, spoke about her parents' migration to Israel from Ethiopia before she was born.
The students were at Tufts for the first in a series of events that the Tufts chapter of Friends of Israel (FOI) has planned to commemorate Israel Peace Week, an international student−led initiative that aims to inform people about Israel. They visited as part of their association with Israel at Heart, a nonprofit that brings Israeli students to U.S. colleges and universities.
FOI President Daniel Bleiberg, a sophomore, called the event a success.
"I think that this panel was a great opportunity for Tufts students to gain another perspective on the unconventional narrative of Ethiopian−Israelis," Bleiberg said. "I think students were able to relate to the speakers with similar experiences."
FOI Communication Chair Erica Feldman, a freshman, said that the Tufts' FOI chapter aims with the weeklong series to connect with the student body and bring more perspectives to the discourse about Israel.
"This is our first year bringing Israel Peace Week to Tufts, and we've really been trying to engage a large demographic of the student body," Feldman said, adding that the panel of Ethiopian students fit with that aim.
"We really wanted to inform the student body about the experiences of living as a minority in Israel, especially through the lens of Ethiopian−Israelis," she said, adding that the panel gave the audience a unique viewpoint.
"They immigrated expecting this place of milk and honey … but when they got there they realized they were set down in this place that was so foreign to them," Feldman said.
Throughout the rest of the weeklong event, FOI will sponsor a talk from a visiting professor from Denver and a film screening.
A panel of Ethiopian−Israeli university students yesterday afternoon addressed students at the kickoff event for Israel Peace Week. The students, two of whom migrated to Israel from Ethiopia as children, spoke about the difficulties of assimilating to the culture in their new home and the discrimination they faced as minorities living in Israel.
One of the students, Assia Netaneal Avera, described his family's decision to move to Israel as a necessary one.
"It was hard to practice Judaism in Ethiopia because of the kings and political and government regulations," he said. "The move to Israel was important to my family for a sort of religious freedom."
Another panelist, Rachel Marsha, said she moved to Israel with her family as a small child.
"I don't remember much from the journey from Ethiopia to Israel because I was very young, three years old," she said.
"I remember that everything had to be done in secret when traveling," she said. "The government of Ethiopia at that time was a communist country, so everything needed to be done in secret in order to avoid being caught and put in prison or given a worse punishment."
Beyond the complexities of leaving Africa, she recounted her surprise at the Israeli reaction upon their arrival.
"The people in Israel were shocking because we thought everyone would look like us, black Jewish," Marsha added. "At first, I faced a lot of racism in the community and sometimes in school."
The students said a language barrier was another obstacle in their integration into Israeli culture.
"It is hard to adjust life from a third−world country like Ethiopia to a modern country like Israel," Marsha said. "I think it was more difficult for my parents to adjust than me, because I was very young at the time and grew up with the Hebrew language," she added.
A third panelist, Orly Tsegahun, spoke about her parents' migration to Israel from Ethiopia before she was born.
The students were at Tufts for the first in a series of events that the Tufts chapter of Friends of Israel (FOI) has planned to commemorate Israel Peace Week, an international student−led initiative that aims to inform people about Israel. They visited as part of their association with Israel at Heart, a nonprofit that brings Israeli students to U.S. colleges and universities.
FOI President Daniel Bleiberg, a sophomore, called the event a success.
"I think that this panel was a great opportunity for Tufts students to gain another perspective on the unconventional narrative of Ethiopian−Israelis," Bleiberg said. "I think students were able to relate to the speakers with similar experiences."
FOI Communication Chair Erica Feldman, a freshman, said that the Tufts' FOI chapter aims with the weeklong series to connect with the student body and bring more perspectives to the discourse about Israel.
"This is our first year bringing Israel Peace Week to Tufts, and we've really been trying to engage a large demographic of the student body," Feldman said, adding that the panel of Ethiopian students fit with that aim.
"We really wanted to inform the student body about the experiences of living as a minority in Israel, especially through the lens of Ethiopian−Israelis," she said, adding that the panel gave the audience a unique viewpoint.
"They immigrated expecting this place of milk and honey … but when they got there they realized they were set down in this place that was so foreign to them," Feldman said.
Throughout the rest of the weeklong event, FOI will sponsor a talk from a visiting professor from Denver and a film screening.
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