Editing Beta Israel (section)

=== Beta Israel Exodus ===
The emigration of the Beta Israel community to Israel was officially banned by the Communist [[Derg]] government of Ethiopia during the 1980s, although it is now known that [[Mengistu Haile Mariam|General Mengistu]] collaborated with Israel in order to receive money and arms in exchange for granting the Beta Israel safe passage during [[Operation Moses]].<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.wrmea.org/1991-july/airlift-culminates-17-years-of-secret-israeli-links-to-mengistu-government.html | title=Airlift Culminates 17 Years of Secret Israeli Links to Mengistu Government| date=12 July 1991}}</ref>

*'''Late 1979 – beginning of 1984''' – Aliyah activists and [[Mossad]] agents operating in Sudan, including [[Ferede Aklum]], called the Jews to come to Sudan where they would eventually be taken to Israel. Posing as Christian Ethiopian refugees from the [[Ethiopian Civil War]], Jews began to arrive in the refugee camps in Sudan. Most Jews came from [[Tigray Province|Tigray]] and [[Wolqayt]], regions that were controlled by the [[TPLF]], who often escorted them to the Sudanese border.<ref>Gerrit Jan Abbink, ''The Falashas In Ethiopia And Israel – The Problem of Ethnic Assimilation'', Nijmegen, Institute for Cultural and Social Anthropology, 1984, p. 114</ref> Small groups of Jews were brought out of Sudan in a clandestine operation that continued until an Israeli newspaper exposed the operation and brought it to a halt stranding Beta Israels in the Sudanese camps. In 1981, the [[Jewish Defense League]] protested the "lack of action" to rescue Ethiopian Jews by taking over the main offices of [[HIAS]] in [[Manhattan]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.jta.org/1981/09/09/archive/jdl-stages-protests-at-hias-jewish-agency-offices-claiming-lack-of-action-to-rescue-falashas|title=Jdl Stages Protests at Hias, Jewish Agency Offices, Claiming 'lack of Action' to Rescue Falashas|date=September 9, 1981|newspaper=Jewish Telegraphic Agency|location=New York}}</ref>
*'''1983 – March 28, 1985''' – In 1983 the governor of [[Begemder|Gondar]] region, Major [[Melaku Teferra]] was ousted, and his successor removed restrictions on travel out of Ethiopia.<ref>Mitchell G. Bard, ''From Tragedy to Triumph: The Politics Behind the Rescue of Ethiopian Jewry'', Greenwood Publishing Group, 2002, p. 137</ref> Ethiopian Jews, many by this time waiting in [[Addis Ababa]], began again to arrive in Sudan in large numbers; and the Mossad had trouble evacuating them quickly. Because of the poor conditions in the Sudanese camps, many Ethiopian refugees, both Christian and Jewish,  died of disease and hunger. Among these victims, it is estimated that between 2,000 and 5,000 were Jews.<ref>Bard, ''From Tragedy to Triumph'', p. 139</ref> In late 1984, the [[Politics of Sudan|Sudanese government]], following the intervention of the U.S., allowed the emigration of 7,200 Beta Israel refugees to Europe who then went on to Israel. The first of these two immigration waves, between 20 November 1984 and 20 January 1985, was dubbed [[Operation Moses]] (original name "The Lion of Judah’s Cub") and brought 6,500 Beta Israel to Israel. This operation was followed by [[Operation Joshua]] (also referred to as "Operation Sheba") a few weeks later, which was conducted by the [[United States Air Force|U.S. Air Force]], and brought the 494 Jewish refugees remaining in Sudan to Israel. The second operation was mainly carried out due to the critical intervention and pressure from the U.S.