Can the Ethiopian change his skin? The beta Israel (Ethiopian Jews) and racial discourse

The arrival of over 55,000 Ethiopian immigrants in Israel has produced a situation whose social implications extend beyond the borders of a single state. The arrival of a black African group in a predominantly white country with virtually no previous experience with such a population is unusual, if not unique, in the second half of the twentieth century. This article seeks to examine the Ethiopian encounter with Israeli society through the exploration of racial concepts. It is argued that Ethiopian Jews have been characterized as 'black' to a (for them) unprecedented degree and have also been depicted as 'not black' in a number of subtle and significant ways. The exploration of the racial discourse about this specific population is used to demonstrate the way in which global and local racial categories exist side by side. Since Israel, like other countries including South Africa and Brazil, has been shaped by, but is not at the centre of Euro-American culture, this example also offers interesting insight into the cultural determinants of racial discourse.