JTA — Ben Gurion Airport reopened briefly on Friday for 302 new immigrants from Ethiopia, including a 6-year-old boy in need of emergency heart surgery. The newcomers were taken to a 14-day quarantine period, but the boy was quickly moved to a local hospital. The Ethiopians, known as Falash Mura, are widely believed to have converted to Christianity under duress while adhering to some Jewish traditions. Israel completed the airlifting of another group of Ethiopian Jews known as Beta Israel in the 1990s. The Israeli government has allowed the Falash Mura to immigrate under the country’s Law of Return for Jews and their relatives.

Source: Ethiopian News February 12, 2021 19:52 UTC