Graphic artist creates Ethiopia’s first female superhero comic
Beserat Debebe, founder of Etan Comics, has developed Hawi in the wake of creating Jember, billed as the first Ethiopian superhero comic in a growing African comics market.
Hawi features the intertwined stories of Ement, a young woman of Ethiopian descent living in the U.S. coming into her powers, and Queen Yodit, a powerful figure from 10th-century Ethiopia.
The comic will be published in both Amharic and English and is currently available for preorder as part of the project’s kickstarter campaign.
On May 24, 1991, Israel launched an aerial operation that lifted more than 14,000 Ethiopian Jews (also known as Beta Israel) out of war-ravaged Ethiopia to begin a new life in Israel. Although similar operations (Moses and Joshua) had been carried out before, Operation Solomon, a coordination of Israeli, American, and Ethiopian efforts, was distinctive in its scale. It set the record for the largest number of passengers on a single flight as 1,087 registered Ethiopians boarded a single El Al plane, fleeing the country before an anticipated coup.
Twenty-five years later, the number of Israelis of Ethiopian descent has grown to more than 100,000, including a growing Israel-native generation. Last summer, the community was thrust into the international spotlight after anti-racism protests erupted following police officers’ assault on an Israeli soldier of Ethiopian descent. Discrimination, poverty, and relatively low educational attainment rates have continued to plague many Ethiopian Jews in Israel, but ongoing advocacy is pushing for increased public recognition of the vulnerabilities the community faces and steps to redress inequality.
As many as 500 may have died in migrant boat sinking in Mediterranean
The U.N. refugee agency indicated as many as 500 may have died after a boat carrying mostly African migrants and refugees capsized between Libya and Italy, according to interviews with 41 survivors.
If verified, the incident would be the largest migrant tragedy on record since the April 2015 sinking that killed more than 800 migrants.
Smugglers have returned to dangerous trans-Mediterranean routes between Libya and Italy following a recent deal between the E.U. and Turkey to stem migration in the eastern Mediterranean.
Ethiopian Israelis in Tel Aviv protest Israel Attorney General’s closure of criminal case against police officer who assaulted Ethiopian IDF soldier
Hundreds took to the streets in demonstration, with road blockages and clashes with the police leading to at least 19 arrests.
Joining the protests were keses, spiritual leaders in the Ethiopian Jewish community who say they lack official rights and recognition in their roles.
Ethiopian Israeli soldiers organized an online protest despite law forbidding soldiers from engaging in protest still on the books.
“We are not enthusiasts of protests, but we are unwilling to remain silent. The attorney general closed the case against the policeman, and we will continue protesting until that case is opened.”
Outlas 