Herut Takele Legese ( he, חרות טקלה לגסה; born 1938) is an Israeli activist of

Beta Israel The Beta Israel ( he, בֵּיתֶא יִשְׂרָאֵל, ''Bēteʾ Yīsrāʾēl''; gez, ቤተ እስራኤል, , modern ''Bēte 'Isrā'ēl'', EAE: "Betä Ǝsraʾel", "House of Israel" or "Community of Israel"), also known as Ethiopian Jews ...

i origin, who engaged in underground activities in the 1980s to promote the

aliyah Aliyah (, ; he, עֲלִיָּה ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from Jewish diaspora, the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel, which is in the modern era chiefly represented by the Israel, State of Israel ...

to Israel of the

Ethiopian Jews The Beta Israel ( he, בֵּיתֶא יִשְׂרָאֵל, ''Bēteʾ Yīsrāʾēl''; gez, ቤተ እስራኤል, , modern ''Bēte 'Isrā'ēl'', EAE: "Betä Ǝsraʾel", "House of Israel" or "Community of Israel"), also known as Ethiopian Jews ...

. She was arrested by the regime of Mengistu Haile Mariam, imprisoned for about two years, and after she emigrated to Israel, she was recognized as a

prisoner of Zion In Israel, a prisoner of Zion is a Jew who was imprisoned or deported for Zionism, Zionist activity in a country where such activity was prohibited. The phrase is taken from words of Rabbi Judah Halevi: "Oh Zion, will you not ask after the welf ...

Early years

Takele was born in Qwara,Herut Takele Legese

Museum of the Jewish People ANU - Museum of the Jewish People, formerly the Nahum Goldmann Museum of the Jewish Diaspora, is located in Tel Aviv, Israel, at the center of the Tel Aviv University campus in Ramat Aviv. ANU - Museum of the Jewish People is an institution ...

אסירי ציון / ציונות במחתרת, מאסר ועינויים: ראיון עם חרות טקלה, חלוצה ציונית באתיופיה

Davar ''Davar'' ( he, דבר, lit. ''Word'') was a Hebrew-language daily newspaper published in the British Mandate of Palestine and Israel between 1925 and May 1996. It was relaunched in 2016, under the name ''Davar Rishon'' as an online outlet by th ...

Ethiopia. Her father, Elka Takele, who was a Hebrew teacher, educated his children with a strong Jewish and community identity. Baruch Meiri and Rachamim El'ad, ''Chalom ben Sogrim - Sipuram shell Asirei Zion me-Etiopia''.

Gefen Publishing House Gefen Publishing House (הוצאת גפן) is an English language publishing firm located in Jerusalem, which also has a department in New York City. History Gefen was founded in 1981 by Murray and Hana Greenfield. Its CEO is Ilan Greenfield, so ...

, 1988. In 1942, her father was appointed secretary of the governor of the town of Azezo near Gondar, and the family moved there. At the age of 16, Takele moved to Gondar with her brother, so that she could acquire an education, a rare step in those days in Ethiopia.

Activism

During the 1970s, Takele met with immigration activist Yamatu Negus Ezra. Ezra introduced her to other aliyah activists, including Gedaliah Eileen and David Shimon. In 1982, Takele was recruited by Henry Rosenberg of the American Association for Ethiopian Jews to work for helping the aliyah of Ethiopian Jews. Thus Takele began taking part in underground Zionist activities, at a time when this was considered illegal by the

Derg The Derg (also spelled Dergue; , ), officially the Provisional Military Administrative Council (PMAC), was the military junta that ruled Ethiopia, then including present-day Eritrea, from 1974 to 1987, when the military leadership formally " c ...

. Risking her life, she assisted in hiding Ethiopian Jews seeking to emigrate to Israel, providing medical care, issuing passports, transferring funds and locating hiding places. Among others, the methods used to help the emigration of Ethiopian Jews ranged from fictitious employment contracts with companies abroad, scholarships abroad and bribes in exchange for an exit permit.גד שמרון, "הביאו לי את יהודי אתיופיה", הוצאת מעריב, 1998

Arrest and imprisonment

In 1986, on her way to immigrate to Israel, a group of Jews was captured by the authorities; the men were interrogated under severe torture and finally broke up and named Takele as the person who had helped them.חרות טקלה לגסה
Ministry of Aliyah and Integration of Israel She was arrested by the police and imprisoned in the central prison in

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; am, አዲስ አበባ, , new flower ; also known as , lit. "natural spring" in Oromo), is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. It is also served as major administrative center of the Oromia Region. In the 2007 census, t ...

. She was jailed in complete isolation from her children and family, in a prison cell with no windows, tortured and abused, suffered from cold and starvation, and tortured during interrogations, but refused to turn over her partners.

Emigration to Israel

In January 1990, Takele immigrated to Israel with her three young children. She was recognized as a

, lived in

Holon Holon ( he, חוֹלוֹן ) is a city on the central coastal strip of Israel, south of Tel Aviv. Holon is part of the metropolitan Gush Dan area. In it had a population of . Holon has the second-largest industrial zone in Israel, after Haifa. ...

and worked at the Kirya Maternity Hospital in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

. After that, she moved to Hadera, and until her retirement served as a teacher for new immigrants from Ethiopia, as a counselor who assists immigrants in their integration into Israel and coordinates a nursing home.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Takele, Herut Activists against antisemitism Beta Israel Ethiopian emigrants to Israel Ethiopian Jews Israeli people of Ethiopian-Jewish descent Jewish human rights activists People from Azezo People from Gondar Political prisoners Jewish women activists