Subscribe to Print Edition | Sun., March 30, 2008 Adar2 24, 5768 | | Israel Time: 02:44 (EST+7) web haaretz.com   Back to Homepage Rosner's Domain Diplomacy Defense Jewish World Opinion National Print Edition Advertising Books Arts & Leisure Business Real Estate Easy Start Travel Week's End Anglo File

Rest of Falashmura must be brought to Israel, protests group By Anshel Pfeffer The Public Council for Ethiopia's Jews held an emergency meeting in Jerusalem yesterday, announcing it would fight the government's intention to stop bringing Ethiopian Jews to Israel. "It's the state's duty to bring the remaining Jews from Ethiopia to Israel. It's a question of Zionist and Jewish vision, not cost. In 1948 they brought half a million Jews to Israel, hundreds of thousands of them from problematic countries. Now seven million Jews cannot absorb a few thousand?" Meir Shamgar, the council's honorary head and former Supreme Court president, told the meeting. Advertisement The government plans to end the Falashmura aliyah in three months time, after the immigration of 800 of the community's members. Organizations working to bring the remaining Falashmura to Israel report that at least 8,000 additional Falashmura that qualify for citizenship under Israel's immigration criteria remain in the former Ethiopian capital of Gondar. "The state is not the property of those who live in it today; they are just the beginning of the message of the children of Israel's redemption," Shamgar said. The meeting was also attended by former Canadian justice minister Irwin Kotler, Harvard law professor and author Alan Dershowitz, and the chief rabbi of Haifa, Rabbi Shear-Yashuv HaCohen. The council decided, among other things, to organize protests against ending the Falashmura immigration to Israel, to petition the High Court of Justice on behalf of the Falashmura awaiting aliyah, and enlisting the aid of Jewish communities around the world in pressuring the government over the issue. The council will also act through political channels. On Tuesday, MK Michael Eitan (Likud) submitted a bill obligating the state to bring Falashmura with family members in Israel to the country. It was signed by 46 MKs spanning the political spectrum. Shas chair Eli Yishai intends to submit a resolution to the cabinet obligating the Interior Ministry to check 8,000 more Falashmuras' eligibility to immigrate to Israel. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Terror online Israel posts clips on YouTube of J'lem yeshiva terror attack. Remembering Gaza Knesset approves bill to commemorate the Jewish settlements of Gush Katif.

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