JERUSALEM -- Several hundred Ethiopian black Jewish immigrants known as 'Falashas' staged a demonstration Wednesday calling for Israel's chief rabbinate to drop requirements they submit to ritual conversions to affirm their Judaism.
The 300 Ethiopians, who held a daylong protest in front of the headquarters of the Israeli rabbinate, charged the two chief rabbis were not honoring a compromise worked out by Prime Minister Shimon Peres allowing Falashas to forego any conversions.
'We got the OK from Peres that everything would be easier for us,' said a spokesman. 'But things have not changed.'
The spokesman, who asked no to be indentified, said Ethiopians wishing to marry still were being asked to undergo a symbolic ritual immersion. He explained that if they refused, their children would be considered illegitimate in Israel, where the rabbinate rules on marriage and divorce.
The rabbinate claims the conversions are necessary because of numerous intermarriages between Ethiopian Jews and gentiles during the 2,500 years the Falashas were isolated from the rest of the Jewish world.
'I'm tired and disappointed,' said a young Ethiopian, who also asked not to be identified. 'We're out here today to ask the rabbinate to let us get married.'
Shouted another wearing a baseball cap and sneakers: 'We'll sleep here until we get an answer.'
Many of the demonstrators arrived last November aboard 'Operation Moses' airlift flights that brought 7,325 Falashas to Israel from famine-ridden Ethiopia. About 15,000 Ethiopian Jews live in Israel.
'We've come here from all over the country asking to be treated like all other Jews,' said one young Ethiopian. 'But they keep pointing out the differences between Ethiopians and other Jews.'
The protesters demonstrated in front of one of Jerusalem's fanciest hotels, the Plaza, from where they were watched by curious tourists.
'We'll wait and wait for an answer,' said a protester, a student at Hebrew University. 'We want to live freely in our country. I'll stay till next week if I have to.'
Some demonstrators hoisted a placard in large letters, reading, 'The rabbinate puts emphasis on color.'
The Falashas claim to be one of the lost tribes of Israel and trace their history to the Queen of Sheba.
