To a Green Land

by Levana Moshone

Twelve year old Azmara Solomon stood in the moonlight. For the last time she gazed at the village she called home, in the Gondar region of Ethiopia, and tears rolled down her cheeks. Her father lay buried in the cemetery beyond the hill. Azmara realized that she would never again return. She, her mother, her grandmother, her brothers and her baby sister were going to the Land of Israel where it was green and good to live. There she would not be ambushed by hungry refugees when she went to the well. There no one would beat her up because she was a Jew.

"Azmara, we're leaving," called her grandmother, Gesha, who was mounted on horseback. As preparation for the trip, the family had sold their cattle and bought a horse for the old lady and a donkey to carry the food. They traveled in a caravan of about a hundred people, including her uncles, and other relatives and neighbors. Their guide was an Arab who carried a rifle.

All night long they walked on narrow paths, and Azmara and the other children cried. Her mother carried the baby on her back, and her brother Ya'akov slept in his grandmother's arms, on the horse. At sunrise they hid in the bushes and they stayed there all day. They baked and rested their weary bodies. During the afternoon a shepherd passed with a few cows. The Jews froze with fear. At nightfall the caravan started off again.

For months they journeyed in this way. They marched by night and rested during the day. Their food supplies dwindled. Their ranks thinned as they buried their dead in the fields. The baby was hungry and cried all the time as her tiny body shank. Sometimes her grandmother would carry her and Ya'akov would walk. As her mother's strength began to fail, Azmara half-supported her, half dragged her along the path. The soles of Azmara's bare feet had hardened and split, and she was close to exhaustion. One day, as they rested in a hiding-place, they were discovered by a shepherd who decided to turn them into the soldiers. Azmara clutched Ya'akov tightly and silently whispered a prayer.

The soldiers forced them at gun point to climb into two waiting trucks. Grandmother Gesha held on to the horse for dear life, but a soldier hit her until she fell off. Azmara hurried to help her up. The trucks brought them to an unfamiliar city and they stopped at a large, empty house. The Arab guide persuaded the soldiers to let him go. Towards evening he returned with two strangers. For the first time, Azmara heard the name "Hamra." People said that Hamra was close to the Sudanese border, and from there they could get to Israel. The strangers had paid a ransom for their release. These two men had been sent especially from Israel to locate Jewish refugees and help them escape, but Azmara only learned this later.

The trucks let them off at a large refugee camp crowded with tents and huts. Shortly after their arrival in the camp, a smiling youth named Daniel came by and passed round tickets that would entitle them to flour. According to rumor, he came from "over there." One night the guides sneaked the people out of the refugee camp and led them on foot through swamps and lake country to Sudan. Daniel was with them, and he gave them confidence and hope.

Department of Education of the J.N.F. 1989
 
 
 

Operation Moses

For thousands of years, Jews have lived in Ethiopia, in scattered villages. Over the years some came to Israel. However, in the seventies, Ethiopia was hit by a severe drought, which caused widespread starvation and death to its people. Refugees from the drought-stricken areas raided Jewish villages, stole their food and made life miserable for them while the authorities turned a blind eye. In 1976, launched a secret rescue mission, which peaked in the early eighties. The Ethiopian Jews had to make their way through difficult country from their homes to the Sudan, in long treks which often lasted for months. In the Sudan they waited in refugee camps until they could be flown to Israel.

Between November 21, 1984 and January 5, 1985, some 8,000 Ethiopian Jews were airlifted to Israel in the legendary "Operation Moses." The airlift continued over a period of 45 days with the Israeli plane making 28 night flights with its human cargo. The operation came to the attention of the Sudanese government as a result of untimely press coverage and Arab countries pressured Sudan and Ethiopia to prevent any more Jews for leaving for Israel.. The 5,000 remaining Jews arrived in stages over the next few months, and only as a result of intense negotiation with the Sudanese government. Operation Moses was finally over.

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