2003: Nippy News Release Articles

Finding a home in the Promised Land
submitted by: Roderick H.
source: Chicago Sun-Times
Date: August 21, 2003

BY CURTIS LAWRENCE, Staff Reporter

Nearly 35 years after the first African Hebrew Israelites arrived in Israel, they are finally being accepted there.

Commonly referred to as Black Hebrews, their journey began when Ben Ammi Ben-Israel--formerly Ben Carter--led a group of about 350 African Americans from Chicago to settle in southern Israel in 1969. These African American men and women eschewed their urban materialistic lifestyles for home-made clothes, a vegan diet, polygamy, and strict adherence to their interpretation of the Bible.

"For all of these years there's been a characterization that the community was unwanted, interlopers, extremists," said Prince Asiel Ben-Israel, the community's international ambassador, in Chicago recently.

But recently the Black Hebrews have found themselves in the mainstream. In May pop singer Whitney Houston visited the Black Hebrews to tap into the group's spirituality in Dimona, Israel. Houston and husband singer Bobby Brown, even met with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

"I think it showed that the community was a great reservoir for people who want to come and spiritually be in an environment where they can renew and resuscitate themselves," Prince Ben-Israel said.

Then last month, in a move that seemed unlikely a few years ago, the Israeli government granted the Black Hebrews permanent resident status, giving the 2,500 Black Hebrews who reside in Dimona and three other cities in southern Israel the rights to serve in the military and to establish their own permanent communities.

"It gives them legitimacy ... and it will probably lead to wider recognition in the black community," said Lawrence Mamiya, professor of religion and Africana studies at Vassar College. The Black Hebrews are part of an old African American tradition of "seeking legitimacy in religious traditions other than Christianity."

The permanent resident status offers some vindication to the group.

"It affirms both our vision and legitimacy," Prince Ben-Israel said.

The road to permanent status in Israel has not been easy, said Prince Ben-Israel at Soul Vegetarian East restaurant, 205 E. 75th St., one of the 10 restaurants across the country run by the Black Hebrews. Of the 10,000 Black Hebrews living in the United States, about 1,000 live in Chicago.

"The journey began when Ben Ammi Ben-Israel, a former metallurgist who worked in a Chicago foundry, had a vision in 1966 that it was time for "descendants of the Biblical Israelites among African Americans to return to the Promised Land and establish the Kingdom of God," according to the Black Hebrew Web site.

"We were looking at the turbulent '60s, and black Americans were searching for an identity," said Prince Ben-Israel, who lives in Chicago and Israel.

"We were searching for respect and we were looking for direction," he said. "We began to change our names [to African and Hebrew names]. We began to assert our own identity. We no longer wanted to be colored or negro."

Once in Israel, the Black Hebrews opened a tofu ice cream factory and vegan restaurants. They established businesses that sold crafts and clothing. They also won recognition for their singers and gospel choirs. Many speak both English and Hebrew.

But the Black Hebrews were not accepted as Jews and Israeli officials refused to grant the group even temporary resident status throughout the 1970s and 1980s.

It didn't help that members of the Black Hebrews were charged on federal racketeering charges in the United States in 1985 in connection with stolen airline tickets and phony credit cards. Nine of the Black Hebrews--including Prince Ben-Israel--were found guilty, but their convictions were overturned on appeal. Before a new trial, Prince Ben-Israel and the others pleaded guilty to lesser charges and received suspended sentences.

Prince Ben-Israel maintains the charges were politically motivated and says there have been no similar problems with the law.

"Everybody who knew the community knew that we were not criminals," Prince Ben-Israel said.

In 1990 the group received temporary resident status, which allowed government support for their school.

The relationship between the Black Hebrews and the Israeli government warmed further last year when a 32-year-old Black Hebrew member, Aharon Ben-Israel Elis, was one of six Israelis killed by a Palestinian gunman at a bat mitzvah celebration.

"He was the first born child in our community ... so they had to respect that," said Prince Ben-Israel. "I would of course say that played a major role in showing what our commitments were."

After the shooting, Dimona Mayor Gabi Lalush told the New York Post, "It's time to grant the Black Hebrew community the full rights of the citizens of Israel."

Michael Kotzin, executive vice president of the Jewish United Fund-Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago, has visited the Black Hebrews in Dimona twice in the past decade--once with U.S. Rep. Danny Davis (D-Ill.) and once with U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.)--and was impressed by the "sense of community and pride" in the close-knit community.

"They talked about how they came to feel at home there," Kotzin said.

Ben Ammi Ben-Israel continues to lead the group in Dimona. The Black Hebrews are looking to build a new community in southern Israel which will include 300 new homes, a sports facility, a child development center and school.

"We want to be that model African Americans and Africans can use to improve the quality of their life, their health, their wealth and their welfare," Prince Ben-Israel said.

Contributing: AP

BLACK HEBREW TIMELINE

1966: Ben Ammi Ben-Israel, the former Ben Carter of Chicago, leads 350 to first settle in Liberia.
1969: After more than two years in Liberia, the community settles in the southern Israeli town of Dimona.
1971-1990: Black Hebrews remain a presence in Dimona although they are not legally recognized by the Israeli government.
1990: Israeli government grants temporary status to Black Hebrews, which allows them to receive government benefits including financial support for their school.
2002: In January, Black Hebrew Aharon Ben-Israel Elis, a 32-year-old musician, is one of six people killed in a terrorist attack.
2003: In May, Whitney Houston and husband, Bobby Brown, visit Dimona and meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
2003: In July, the Israeli government granted permanent resident status to Black Hebrews, which allows them to serve in the Israeli Army and legally establish communities.