A monument commemorating the more than 4,000 Ethiopian Jews who died in Sudan while attempting to reach Israel was dedicated at Mount Herzl cemetery in Jerusalem on Wednesday.

"Finally, we will have a place of mourning," said Uri Rada, who fought for years to have the monument erected. "We will be able to commune with the memories of our loved ones in a dignified place."

Thousands of Ethiopian Jews immigrated to Israel via Sudan in the 1970s. In 1984, Operation Moses airlifted thousands more who had been residing in camps in Sudan. However, that operation was halted after the fact that Jews were immigrating to Israel via Sudan was reported in the media.

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While residing in Sudan, the Ethiopians were robbed, murdered and raped, and suffered from hunger and disease. More than 4,000 died and were unable to obtain a Jewish burial.

Rada, a 40-year-old Kiryat Gat resident, moved to Israel in 1984 and began fighting for the establishment of the memorial the following year. "Many families were wiped out, and they have no memory in this world," he said.

In some cases, people disappeared during the trip through Sudan, and their relatives still do not know their fate. In other cases, children lost parents en route and arrived alone, or vice versa. "They received no psychological treatment in Israel, and they still walk about bearing the trauma, even though two decades have passed," Rada said.

The fact that the monument is located at the official state cemetery on Mount Herzl pleases him. "I think erecting the monument alongside the heroes of the nation and the man who envisioned the state, Theodor Herzl, honors the memory of our loved ones who died in Sudan," he said. "This is a thank you to the Jews of Ethiopia who died en route to Zion, while dreaming of Zion."

The dedication ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Absorption Minister Ze'ev Boim and Ethiopian kessim (religious leaders). The latter said prayers for the dead in Ge'ez, the Ethiopian language. Olmert and Boim praised the Ethiopian Jews for their devotion to the Zionist dream, noting that they often had to flee in the dead of night, leaving their property behind.

The annual state memorial for those who died in Sudan will take place this year on May 16.