If, through their own fault, our forefathers were removed from their lands, surely it is within the power of the king to revoke the orders of his predecessors, and we, your servants, prostrate ourselves before the flag of Ethiopia and the throne of your exalted Majesty in supplication that you will deign to make an order for the protection of your servants and trust that such an order will be faithfully executed.

Signed on behalf of all Beth Israel living in Ethiopia, the delegates

Debtera Gata Amra
Enrano Magabi

About the same time, in February 1960, an open letter was addressed to Jewish organisations abroad explaining their difficulties. After detailing their grievances in terms similar to those in the petition to the emperor, they explained what they believed to be the attitude of the monarch towards their community. They said they were deeply offended because their delegation had been refused an audience when the emperor visited Gondar in 1959. They were bitterly disappointed that the promise which he had given them in 1946 - and which was a repetition of the assurance which, when Regent, he had given to Faitlovitch in 1922 - had not been fulfilled. They had reached the conclusion that the emperor favoured the missionaries and wished to encourage assimilation and, therefore, the merging of the Falasha community into the Amhara majority. This would correspond with Haile Selassie's well-known policy of amharisation, which meant ensuring the continuing dominance of the ruling people over the other nations and tribes of the empire. They believed, too, that this was one of the reasons why the emperor opposed emigration to Israel, as it would reduce the number of his supporters in relation to the non-Christian and especially the Muslim population. The emperor, like his successors, was obliged to deal with grave problems in maintaining the unity of his diverse realm.

The same open letter from the Falashas complained 'that World Jewry has cast us forth from the fold of Judaism and is far from willing to help us in this last stand against overwhelming factors.' It was with disappointment and despair that they had heard about a discussion in the office of the Chief Rabbinate in Jerusalem from which they concluded that 'we are not considered to be Jews at all.