Motoko SUZUKI Department of International Culture Faculty of Cultural Policy and Management For several thousand years the black Jews of Ethiopia, called "the Falashas," have maintained their faith and their identity in the deep mountains of north Ethiopia. In May 1991, just before the collapse of the Ethiopian government led by Mengistu Haile Mariam, an exodus was carried out. In that exodus some fourteen thousand Falashas were airlifted to Jerusalem within twenty-five hours; thirty-five military and civilian planes made forty-one flights. This paper discusses the details of this Aliya, or rescue from tyranny in the midst of civil war, known as Operation Solomon, which has long been regarded as a sheer miracle. Specifically, the lingering questions as to who did the negotiations, how was it prepared, and for what reason are examined. 31
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