In the local Amharic language, the forgotten Jews of Ethiopia are called the Falash-Mura - the people without a land. Numbering around 5,000 families, many have been waiting to immigrate to Israel for decades. I had heard about their struggle long before travelling to Ethiopia. I’d been told that in the 19th century, their ancestors had converted to Christianity, and thus they were not welcomed to Israel like the rest of Ethiopian Jewry under the Right of Return. The logic seemed sound; if they had chosen to convert and turn their backs on Judaism, why should they be allowed automatic citizenship in the Jewish state? It was only when I set foot in Ethiopia that I understood how wrong I was. As soon as I arrived in the city of Gondar, I found myself in a Jewish island in the middle of Africa.
