A group of visiting American black Christians said Tuesday that their exposure to Israel taught them that the Middle East conflict is far more complex than they had believed.
The seven men and four women, activists representing various Christian denominations in the Greater New York area, were full of praise for the way Israel has absorbed Ethiopian immigrants throughout the country.
They were especially struck by seeing first-hand that the Ethiopians so identify with their Jewishness. But some expressed skepticism about the future of a small black community in the predominantly white Jewish state.
They feared that in a nation of new immigrants, Israel’s small and vulnerable black community may not be spared the resurgent racism which is striking roots in Europe and other parts of the world.
“I come from a country where, despite our constitutional Bill of Rights, de facto segregation still exists. I’ve also been told that Jewishness transcends racism. But I want to see how the Ethiopians have integrated, 10 years from now,” said Barbara Horsham-Barthwaite, director of the Ministry for the Black Catholics in the diocese of Rockville Centre, Long Island.
The Rev. Reginald Tuggle, a Presbyterian pastor who is director of community affairs for the Long Island daily newspaper Newsday and president of the Black Clergy Association of Nassau County, said he was “encouraged by Israeli openness towards Ethiopian Jews, and hopeful of their successful integration.”
Tuggle, on his third trip to Israel, said this was his first real opportunity to learn about the “fluid and dynamic character of Jewish politics.”
The group is on a 12-day study tour for black Christian leaders organized by the American Jewish Committee and the Israel Colloquium, which promotes dialogue between Israelis and American Christian minorities.
The tour is led by Rabbi A. James Rudin, the AJC’s director of interreligious affairs.
Until recently, American blacks concentrated almost exclusively on domestic issues and, apart from opposing South African apartheid, had little interest in international problems, Rudin said.
But because Israel is sacred to three world religions, it occupies a special place on the American black Christian agenda, he added.
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