Israel deputy consul to speak on Ethiopian Jews

By Alexandria Sanchez
Student Writer, College of Liberal and Fine Arts

(Sept. 18, 2006)--Belaynish Zevadia, Israel's deputy consul general to the U.S. Southwest, will speak on the Ethiopian Jewish community in Israel at 9 a.m., Sept. 19 in the University Center Retama Auditorium (2.02.02) on the UTSA 1604 Campus. Free and open to the public, the lecture is hosted by the UTSA Office of Student Activities.

Zevadia will present a short video, "Operation Solomon," which tells the story of the operations of the Israel defense force which facilitated the movement of 14,000 Ethiopian Jews from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to Israel in 36 hours.

Zevadia was born in Ambovar in the Gondar region of Ethiopia and immigrated to Israel in 1984. She earned a B.A. degree in international relations and African studies, and an M.A. degree in anthropology and African studies at Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

Zedavia joined the Israel Foreign Ministry in 1993. Previously, she served as consul of Israel to the U.S. Midwest (Chicago) from 1996 to 2002. In August 2005, she assumed her duties as deputy consul general of Israel to the Southwest, based in Houston.

For more information, contact Marlon Anderson at (210) 458-6114.