A Troubled Exodus: Exploring the Perilous Plight of Sudanese Refugees in Israel (Part Two)

By YOSEF I. ABRAMOWITZ

"The purpose of the Jewish people, and, by extension, of the Jewish state, is to be an on-going, distinctive catalyst for the advancement and evolution of morality in civilization. A catalyst needs to show leadership by example, even a small one."

In a provocative, in-depth, five-part series published recently by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA), Yossi Abramowitz reports on a frightening situation faced by more than three hundred Sudanese who fled the genocides in Darfur and southern Sudan, only to land, tragically, in Israeli prisons.

SocialAction.com interviewed Yossi from his home in Israel to find out why he focused on this particular humanitarian crisis and the ensuing moral dilemma for Israel and American Jewry. We also wanted to check in with the lifelong social activist. Here is Part Two of the interview. (Part One)

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Social Action.com: What is the Committee for the Advancement of Refugees from Darfur, and is it something you think SocialAction.com readers should support?

Yossi Abramowitz: One early indication of a likely successful social movement is when it can unite and coordinate its members. There are a dozen small groups in Israel working on this issue. But the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Yes, the coalitions as well as its members are noteworthy, since they are the living trustees of some of the most important ideals in history. I especially want to recommend the Hotline for Migrant Workers and the Refugee Rights Center as CARD members worthy of support, as well as the umbrella overall. As a journalist, I also want to add that the information they provided to me was always accurate.

SA: How did you get to meet and interview some of the Sudanese families who have been arrested and indefinitely detained and how did you gain their trust?

YA: Having been extremely fortunate to have a couple of Nobel Peace Prize nominations under my belt (for Soviet Jewry and human rights), I think key gate-keepers recognized that my intentions were not hostile. In addition, I have an insider's perspective on figuring out strategically which questions to ask since I've been involved with so many movements.

When I went to interview the woman identified as Fatima, the crucial issue in her life was that she and her three little kids didn't know the fate of Ahmed, her husband. I started the interview saying that I would do everything I could to find him. Within after an hour after the interview, I was able to confirm that he was in section 15 of Ketziot prison. I called Rita at the shelter, who conveyed the great news. I then asked Rita if Fatima would like to write a letter to her husband, and I would do everything possible to deliver it.

The handwritten letter in Arabic was faxed to me. But I was turned down all four times I asked for permission to visit Ketziot, as were all Israeli journalists and Knesset members. So I activated my Wexner network, which connected me with a senior person in the prison’s authority and we worked out a deal. When I was finally face to face with Ahmed, I handed him his wife's letter and asked him if he wanted to write back. I think that’s when he trusted me. Then I reached into my pocket for a pen and the one that came out was the one from the awards ceremony for the Covenant Award for Excellence in Jewish Education. And in that moment, my life's journeys all made sense to me.

SA: What do you see as a solution—temporary resident status, asylum, returning the Sudanese to Egypt? None will be sent back to the "inferno in Darfur," but what will become of these illegal immigrants, in your opinion?

YA: The Israeli leadership has a golden opportunity to turn this fiasco into the best PR move since the disengagement from Gaza. The Israeli leadership can make a one-time humanitarian gesture of granting asylum status to those who have arrived and to have a pre-made deal with the UNHCR to send future refugees to third countries, even a temporary third country, for resettlement. But the Cairo UNHCR, following Geneva's lead, is not doing its job; that's why the refugees have been coming here.

All the countries in the U.N. who have condemned the genocide should share in the responsibility to take in refugees. If Egypt granted Sudanese refugees work permits, as they used to, no one would be coming to Israel. Perhaps the world community can pay Egypt to live up to her commitments to Sudanese refugees until there is regime change in Sudan. Israel is a tiny country but can morally play a huge leadership role if she challenges others to match her and take in refugees.

And this only reinforces the purpose of the Jewish people, and, by extension, of the Jewish state: To be an on-going, distinctive catalyst for the advancement and evolution of morality in civilization. A catalyst needs to show leadership by example, even a small one.

SA: Are you planning to write about any other human-rights related issue in Israel, for example on Ethiopians in the Jewish homeland?

YA: I'm supposed to be spending more time with my family, writing proposals for JFL and writing a book. So I think that's it for awhile; researching and writing the series took a lot out of me. I'm hoping to begin outlining my book on Jewish Peoplehood shortly. I am active behind the scenes with the Ethiopian issue and have written many pieces about it over the years. Having two kids from Ethiopia also ensures that the issue is always close to my heart. I was honored to serve in the third spot in the Atid Echad list in the last Knesset elections and we promoted both Ethiopian Aliya and improved Jewish values education in Israel.

The greatest public policy failure right now facing the Jewish people is the shameful abandonment of the remaining Falas Mura in Ethiopia. Ariel Sharon would have finished the Aliya; his cabinet voted unanimously to do it. The Jewish Agency should have its teachers and social workers on the ground in Gondar; the Aliya rate should be 1,000 a month, and those in the villages who can meet the same criteria as the Russian olim should come home. Sharon's successors have been playing games with people's lives and the good name of the Jewish people. Failure to complete this aliya with dignity is a sign of how weak the concept of Jewish Peoplehood is in the halls of Jewish power.

SA: The Arava Institute for Environmental Studies operates out of the kibbutz where you live. Can you tell us about its mission in terms of global sustainability and peace?

YA: The kibbutz sits on the border with Jordan. When I was a volunteer here 23 years ago, my gaze at night would shift from the stars overhead to the headlights on the other side of the border, which led me to sneak into Jordan—the stupidest thing I have ever done. I remember standing on the mountains past Petra that overlook the Arava on the other side and making a deal with God that if I would somehow get back alive, I would devote myself to the Jewish people. Let's just say it was a close call. Now, thanks to the peace treaty and to the vision of some of the people on Ketura, we're the kibbutz family for one of the many Jordanians who are studying here for the year. The program brings together Arab Israeli, Jordanians, Palestinians, Jewish Israeli, American Jewish, and others to study about the environment and the desert and that indirectly promotes co-existence.

I am most excited about their work with water and with solar energy for the region, as well as with any projects that promote greater Arab-Israeli cooperation. My offices are in the Institute, so as part of being a good neighbor, I serve as academic advisor to three students, two Jordanians and one American.

SA: Finally, on a more personal note, you describe yourself as "one of the luckiest people around." Why is that?

YA: About a decade ago, I was fortunate to profile my professor at Boston University, Elie Wiesel He said that his life has not been about the pursuit of happiness, but the pursuit of meaning. And I observed that when he feels he is fulfilling a role in history, he is actually very happy. Wiesel’s observations have been very influential in my life. I have been blessed with a large family, a loving partner, with wonderful communities and with a life filled with opportunities to contribute to humanity and to the Jewish people.

At each stage, I have been lucky to have partners and funders, who often are the difference between a dream and an emerging reality. Not everything I have done has succeeded but not everything has failed either. But if we are supposed to free the captive, help the orphan, and be home for dinner almost every night, then I've been very fortunate. Sometimes I have even almost earned a living fulfilling mission. I am turning 43 soon and have never been bored. How lucky is that? And now that we're on kibbutz, our carbon footprint is negligible, but that's a whole other story for another time.