Don't roll back Zionism's finest moments

I had the privilege of covering Operation Solomon in May 1991. I witnessed the intense two days when 14,320 of our Jewish brothers and sisters from Ethiopia were airlifted to Israel. The operation represented Zionism at its finest.

I had been in Ethiopia for nearly a month before the operation. Like many others, I wept when the operation came to fruition. Soviet air crews there were awed by Israel's efforts to evacuate the Jews after President Mengistu Haile Mariam fled the country and rebels took over the capital. I could not have been prouder of my country.

I was on board the last C-130 plane to land in Israel. Like many of my Israeli friends flying with me, I knew that the new olim had a treacherous road ahead of them. Integration is no small feat. Sometimes, the last group to arrive does not get the same treatment as those who came earlier. That's just the way life is. It is for this reason that the famous Uri Zohar and Arik Einstein sketch from 1973 about the woes of newly minted Israelis has been such a huge success. In fact, it has an almost mythical component to it. Come to think of it, virtually all immigrants encountered racism in one form or another. Jews are not immune to racism and human nature is not perfect; there is no way to shed this awful and painful tendency.

In case you forgot, Israel was founded for the sake of the Jewish people, white, red, yellow, or black. The immigrant from Gondar or Gojjam is as entitled to live here as the descendants of the First or Second Aliyahs. That is what makes the Zionist enterprise so special. Watching the older Ethiopian Jews on the plane, I could not help but feel sorry for the almost insurmountable challenges they would face trying to integrate. I was comforted by the fact that the next generation would feel at home in Israel. Or so I thought.

But the violent protest in Tel Aviv on Sunday -- which followed another protest in Jerusalem on Thursday -- proves that the Ethiopian immigrant community is still struggling. For some, the plight is exacerbated by the fact that they came here with limited economic resources. The state was duty-bound to bring them here and to help them navigate their way in the new country. But its efforts have fallen short. Frankly, there is always more to be done. Just days before tempers flared on Jerusalem's streets, riots broke out in Baltimore over the death of an African-American. Several other U.S. cities experienced similar riots over the past several months. The racially charged atmosphere is a throwback to 1967-1968. This feeling was neatly captured by the cover of Time Magazine's latest issue.

Some in Israel would like to draw parallels between events in the U.S. and events here. The Baltimore riots followed a spate of police killings of young African-Americans. Similar to in the U.S., it was police brutality that triggered the riots in Israel. The footage showing two officers allegedly beating Ethiopian-Israeli Damas Pakado shocked many, and rightly so. They were immediately suspended.

The African-American community in the U.S. still believes it is being discriminated against. Martin Luther King? His rallies took place only yesterday, historically speaking, even though the racism he successfully fought against smacked of the Middle Ages.

But here, unlike in North America, the black community did not experience 300 years of slavery. Yes, Israel has had its shortcomings on race matters. The Ethiopian Jews had poor timing, too. Their arrival coincided with the rise of illegal immigration from Africa. There is no shortage of fools who conflate the two groups. I am not saying that undocumented African migrants should be picked on or humiliated; far from it. What I am saying is that Ethiopian Jews should be treated as equal citizens, and not, as some Israelis would have it, cast as infiltrators. This disparaging treatment was also evident Sunday in the way critics characterized the protests.

I was very saddened by the riots on Sunday. The tears of joy from 1991 had become tears of sadness. Some would obviously like to use this to impeach the entire country. Say what you want about how we got here, the Ethiopian aliyah --- through Operation Moses in 1984, Operation Solomon in 1981, and other efforts -- represents one of the most amazing chapters in the history of the Zionist movement.

We must treat every human being, every citizen, with respect. Our Ethiopian brothers and sisters must always keep in mind that Israel went out of its way to bring them here. Too bad some have used the legitimate protest as a means to incite. We have enough extremists of all stripes and colors.

Israel is no Baltimore. Neither is it Ferguson. Israel is Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. You can protest, you can lament, and you are encouraged to show your disdain for disgusting racism in our society. But there is no need to add a violent component, because we are all Ethiopians. Why? For the simple reason that they are us.

טעינו? נתקן! אם מצאתם טעות בכתבה, נשמח שתשתפו אותנו