A modern day Passover journey
Posted: Tuesday, April 22, 2008 11:58 AM
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Tel Aviv, Israel
By Martin Fletcher, NBC News Correspondent
At Passover, Jews invite the prophet Elijah into their homes, believing that he will herald the Messiah. Elijah didn’t make it to my place on Saturday, and nor did the Messiah, but Abraham did, along with his friend Angos.
These foreign guests taught my family and friends that while on this holy day we remember the hardships of our ancestors as they fled oppression in Egypt, others face remarkably similar pain today.
Habptom Abraham and Pesfalem Angos, 15-year-old Christians, fled the fighting in the Horn of Africa nation of Eritrea three years ago with one goal – to reach Jerusalem, and their savior, Jesus Christ.
It was a hard journey. Abraham’s father was killed in front of him. The boys lost two years locked in a refugee camp in Ethiopia, Eritrea’s neighbor and rival. After months of trekking through the deserts of North Africa, boiling during the day, and freezing at night, Bedouin mercenaries smuggled them into Israel.
Several thousand refugees from Sudan, including the troubled Darfur region, as well as Chad, Eritrea and the Ivory Coast, live in cramped misery in the poor suburbs of south Tel Aviv, while Israel considers their fate. They entered illegally, and therefore face deportation. But while the courts ponder, many Israeli citizens have acted, providing food, gathering clothes, blankets, raising money and trying their best to provide comfort to the refugees.
That’s how Abraham and Angos, along with two aid workers, Alice and Johannes, ended up at our Passover table. The boys were shy at first, their eyes fixed on their plates, curly hair flopping down.
As we explained to our Christian guests the symbolism of the Passover plates – salt water to remember the salty tears of the Jews, bitter herbs to symbolize the bitterness of slavery, hard boiled eggs to symbolize the suffering and oppression in Egypt – who could not fail to see the irony? These young boys, who lost their families, just went through some of the pain, and even traced a similar journey as the Jews who fled Egypt thousands of years ago. A key difference, of course, is that Abraham and Angos did it this year.
Not settled yet
The final leg of their journey took them through the Sinai desert, just like the Jews, who, it is written, took 40 years to reach the Holy Land. The refugees took a few days, first in the back of a pickup truck, then on foot, guided by Bedouin mercenaries.
When they reached the Israeli border the Bedouin sent them on their way. They pointed to lights in the distance that looked like a small city and told the refugees: "There, that is Jerusalem. Walk there and you will be safe."
Amazed and delighted that they were realizing their dream at last, the Africans hurried toward the lights, much like the wise men who, tradition holds, followed the star to greet the birth of their Christ.
But it wasn’t Jerusalem. It was Ketsiot, a prison. The Bedouin had deceived the refugees. When the guards saw yet another batch of Africans emerging from the early morning desert mist, they promptly jailed them.
It is a common story for these desperate Africans, some escaping political oppression and war, others simply seeking jobs and a better life.
They pass through North Africa heading for salvation in the Holy Land, where the Israeli government doesn’t know what to do with them. Many are jailed and deported for entering the country illegally. Others get to stay in rundown, temporary hostels, and some are even lucky enough to get work permits while their fate is determined. After pressure from social workers and volunteers, some children have been placed in boarding schools.
That is what happened to Abraham and Angos. After three years of traveling and vegetating in refugee camps, today, while thankful to be in Israel, they have no idea how long they can stay, or where they would go from here, if deported. But for the time being, thanks to ordinary citizens putting pressure on a reluctant government, they’re living on a kibbutz in the Jordan valley and learning Hebrew and math.
And they came to dinner for Passover. The two boys were happy for an evening, and they taught us a lesson, too: While we wait for Elijah, there is a lot to be done.
