Modified On February 23, 2006
The Forward ran a brief item on Yossi Vassa (“Ethiopian Comic Mines History For Laughs”), an Ethiopian Israeli comic. (Check out that byline– Loolwa Khazzoom!) Vassa was among a few thousand Ethiopian Jews chased to Sudan, then airlifted to Israel back in the ’80s and 90’s, all the while avoiding starvation, extermination and “villagization.” Kinda makes The Big Move look like a stroll in the park!
Vassa’s four-week tour — which was designed to coincide with Black History Month — offered American audiences a hilarious, though sometimes painful, glimpse into the lot of Israel’s Ethiopian community.
“We dreamed of Jerusalem for 3,000 years, then got dumped in Netanya. That’s like spending three millennia pining for Manhattan, and ending up in New Jersey.”
We were vaguely aware of the plight of his people prior to seeing this. After reading a brief history of Ethiopian Jews, it’s a wonder he can laugh about it!