Months after being shot and killed by an off-duty policeman, justice for Ethiopian Israeli teenager, Solomon Tekkah, is still being sought. FROM The Association of Ethiopian Jews - AEJ Together with young activists, the AEJ co-sponsored an important conference  on September 4th titled: "State Commission of Inquiry - Now!" to address the establishment of a state commission to investigate Solomon Tekah’s shooting and 12 other victims of Police violence. As Israeli elections are just days awa...

Demonstrations in Israel are still ongoing - 40 days after the killing of Solomon Tekah by police. Ethiopian Israelis are continuing to publicly protest police violence and racism, with members of the community holding vigils, staging peaceful protests and taking media action daily. The Ministry of Justice has yet to open an independent investigation or make public details of the internal inquiry. The police officer responsible for the shooting has been released on bail after being on hou...

You Have a Voice.  Now is the Time to Use it. Sign this petition and stand with Ethiopian Jews   The Ethiopian Israeli community took to the streets en mass this month after Solomon Teka, an unarmed 18 year-old, was shot and killed by a police officer in Kiryat Haim near Haifa.  This was the second such incident this year after 24 year-old Yehuda Biadga was shot dead by police in January. The police and justice system in Israel must be he...

Solomon Tekah, age 18, was shot and killed by an off-duty Israeli policeman on Sunday evening in Kiryat Haim, a Haifa suburb.     Protests about the shooting - which was unjustified according to witnesses - were being held yesterday and today all over Israel.   Read the report in the Times of Israel, here, and the Jerusalem Post, here. The Ethiopian Israeli community is angry, devastated and outraged.  Solomon was well-regarded in the Haifa neighborhood where he lived and participated in many...

Our beloved Kes (Jewish rabbi/priest) Yemanu Tamiat died on Friday June 7, 2019 at age 97  in Lod, Israel. Kes Yemanu was the religious leader of the village of Aba Antionius in Gondar, Ethiopia, one of the prettiest small Jewish villages in the foothills of the Simien Mountains.   Kes Yemanu was a staunch Zionist who led the efforts to go to Israel from the late 1970s from the Gondar region.  He was imprisoned by the Marxist military regime for his unrelenting push to fulfill the dream of 2,...

According to the most recent Myers-JDC-Brookdale report (click here for full report), employment rates for Ethiopian Israelis are now nearly equal with all Jewish Israelis.    Between 2000 and 2016, employment rates for Ethiopian-Israelis ages 22-64 rose from 37% to 74% for women, and from 62% to 80% for men (compared with the 2016 rate of 80% for all Jewish women and 81% for all Jewish men).   This represents strong and steady growth from 2000-2016. However, income is still about 40% lower –...

In the recent April elections, the Israeli Knesset received two new Ethiopian Israeli Members!  They are Gadi Yervarken and Pnina Tamano-Shata, both allied with the "Blue and White" Party.   Pnina was a MK from 2013-2105, so this is her second term.  Gadi, a captain in the reserves and former military intelligence officer, is a social activist and looks forward to serving the Israeli people and his community.   Pnina is a lawyer and journalist, who has been a community activist, spokesperson and...

The Heroic Ethiopian Jewish Women’s Conference was a huge success- inspirational, professional, well-organized and groundbreaking. On March 5th, organizer Shmuel Yilma welcomed over 400 people to celebrate the bravery of Ethiopian Jewish women, centered around the stories of 11 breakthrough women and 2 keynote heroes. The conference received wide media coverage and was lauded by the President of State, the new Ethiopian ambassador, and the Kessim.

Last month, FEJ held its Fifth Annual Conference for Ethiopian Israeli groups, programs and projects, at the Neot Kedumim conference center, set in a beautiful nature park. Twenty-six of the foremost Ethiopian Israeli leaders met for a day-long discussion of their programs, best practices and most urgent issues facing the community today, along with FEJ board members.  

Shlomit Bukaya is the new Director of AEJ, replacing Ziva Mekonen-Degu who has retired after eight years of impressive service as the leader of Israel's oldest Ethiopian Jewish advocacy organization. Shlomit is an attorney.  Her law practice has focused on civil and commercial litigation with special emphasis on complex litigation matters and class actions in one of Israel's largest law firms.  Shlomit received her LLB and her BA in Government, Diplomacy and Strategy from the Interdisciplinar...