Background

The Ethiopian Jews or the Beta Israel, meaning the "house of Israel",(in Ethiopian works, they are often referred to as "Falasha" although the term is not used by most modern scholars as it's often seen by the Beta Israel as derogatory) are a community of Jews who practice a Torah-based non-Talmudic type of Judaism and historically lived in villages of the Gondar province, the Simien Mountains, Walkait and the Shire regions of Tigray. Although, nowadays most of them live in Israel. Depending on which part of Ethiopia they're from, they are divided into two linguistic entities, Amhara-speaking and Tigranian speaking. Many of the Ethiopian Jews were artisans, particularly potters, which was not considered to be a very prestigious occupation in highland Ethiopia and they were often looked down upon for this reason. The process of "aligning" the Beta Israel with the world Jewry began in the late 19th century, ironically, through a London Based Missionary organization that wished to promote Christianity among Jews. It was this group that simultaneously made the Beta Israel aware of the existence of an international Jewish identity and introduced the Beta Israel to the world's Jewry. In response to this missionary threat, various prominent Jews started lobbying for sending aid to the Ethiopian Jews. Although the first major steps wouldn't be taken till the early 20th century, particularly through the works of Dr.Jaques Faitlovich who dedicated his life to integrating the Beta Israel by selecting a few Ethiopian Jews and sending them to various Jewish communities in Europe and Palestine. He also introduced them to several religious traditions present in "mainstream" Judaism. After the independence of Israel this process was continued through the Jewish Agency who would help establish a network of schools in the Gondar region. Under the rule of Haile Selassie, a small number of Beta Israel went to Israel to study, but they all returned at the request of the Emperor to work in governmental and teaching posts. Israel did show interest in the Ethiopian Jews and during the 60s and 70s, several emissaries visited Ethiopia to encourage its Jews to emigrate to Israel. This interest would culminate in Sefardi Chief Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef's 1973 declaration(followed by a similar declaration by the Ashkenazi chief Rabbi in 1975) that the "Falasha" were Jews and therefore could come and live in Israel.

The Beta Israel and the Derg

When the Derg came to power in 1974, the group initially didn't have a well-defined ideology but would slowly started shifting towards the left and eventually would officially adopt Marxism-Leninism. This transition was codified in the creation of the National Democratic Revolutionary Program(NDRP), a document that outlined the regime's intended political program for the country. The NDRP also showcased the Derg's official policy towards religion and minority groups. It recognized "the right of every nationality to self-determination", stated that "there will not be any sort of discrimination among religion" and "No citizen will be accorded special political, economic and social privilege· on the basis of religion". Now, the Derg's policy towards different religious organizations and groups is an interesting topic, and I talk about it a bit here, but to give a brief overview, while state media would often portray religion in a negative light, in practice the Derg took no steps against individual believers(mostly), but they would frequently target religious institutions as potential threats. However, for most(but not all) such groups, the regime did not intend to abolish them, but, instead it preferred to bring them under the government's control, allowing the Derg to increase their influence within the general population(for whom religion remained an important aspect of their lives) through these institutions. This policy would apply to the Ethiopian Jews as well. As a result, most of the time, any steps taken by the government against Ethiopian Jews were a response to real or perceived opposition political movements in areas inhabited by Jews. And, like with most other religious groups, these steps primarily targeted Jewish institutions. The Derg were particularly interested in increasing their political influence over the Beta Israel for two main reasons. First of all, while the Derg allowed the self-determination of all nationalities in the country, this was on the presumption that these ethnic, linguistic or religious national identities would be part of a broader Ethiopian identity. The government was worried that the Judaism of Beta Israeli was part of a separate identity, distinct from Ethiopian. The Derg was particularly fearful of the role foreign Jews(who had helped build various schools and synagogues for the Beta Israeli in Ethiopia) played in the process by teaching the Ethiopian Jews that their home was in Palestine. This brings us to the second reason, the fear that Ethiopian Jews wanted to leave the country and emigrate to Israel(and many actually did), which was also supported by the government of Israel. So to prevent this, the Derg took a few measures, which included the banning of teaching Hebrew in schools. Another method was co-opting Jewish celebrations, during which government representatives would give a speech promoting state propaganda and discouraging the Beta Israeli from emigrating.

As for the Beta Israel themselves, the new regime would bring quite a few changes to their lives. During the pre-revolutionary era Ethiopian Jews were not permitted to own land freely. Usually they were tenants and some worked as hired laborers. What's worse, in the immediate aftermath some landlords took advantage of the unclear legal status of their tenants, and evicted Jews from their land. This did leave many Jews without work or a home, however, it did not last long. A few months after the Derg came to power and after pressure from other leftist groups in the capital, on March 4 1975, the regime abolished private land ownership altogether,banning the sale,lease or mortgage of rural land which was declared to be the collective property of the Ethiopian people. This followed by redistribution of this land to the Ethiopian peasantry(each ended up getting around 1 hectare). This meant that for the first time the Ethiopian Jews could have their own land to till. Although it should also be noted that, like all other farmers, they were given so called "use-right" over it, meaning that while each person doesn't own the land, he has usurfactory control over it and whatever produced on it. Most of the interviewed Beta Israel viewed these land reforms to be the biggest change in the lives of the Jewish community in Ethiopia. Although this did not necessarily translate to improvement in their economic position, in part because of the continued emigration to Israel of the working age youth and later on due to the increased taxation imposed by the regime on farmers. Another impact was increased integration of the Jews with other communities in the region and in the country as a whole. This was, in part, thanks to the Peasant Associations(PA) established across the nation. People Jewish villages ended up joining these organizations which allowed them to interact with the Christians and Muslims living in the area and through which Jewish peasants were introduced to more modern agricultural tools. The Beta Israel also benefited from the government's literacy campaign(Zamache) which led to unprecedented exposure of Jewish villages to secular education( previously the only major exposure of them to education was through the schools established by the Jewish Agency). A major change was the enrollment of girls in schools. Traditionally, girls were not formally educated and their entrance into the educational system significantly altered the traditional social structure of the Jewish communities. Some of the Beta Israel youth would even make it to Addis Ababa University.