Schusterman Center for Israel Studies

Danny B. Admasu is a researcher at Bar-Ilan University in the Department of Hermeneutics and Culture Studies. He is also a lecturer at the Tamar Golan Center for African Studies, a Research Fellow at the Azrieli Center for Israel Studies, and a lecturer at the Ben-Gurion Research Institute for Israel Studies at the Ben-Gurion University in Be'er Sheva. His recently submitted doctoral thesis at Bar-Ilan University is titled "Blackness in Israel: Ethiopian Jews and the Perception of Black in Zionist History, Historiography and Culture 1855-2022." He was warded the 2018 President's Prize for Academic Excellence, as well as scholarships for excellence from the State Council of Higher Educationm in 2022. He has served as executive director of several organizations, including the Israel Association for Ethiopian Jews and the Hella Organization for Equal Education, and founded the Ethiopian Jewish Heritage Center. He has published opinion pieces as well as poetry in literary journals and in national newspapers and magazines. His book of poems, "Picture," is due out at the end of 2023.

Orit Isaschar is a social entrepreneur who promotes the agenda of Black economic empowerment. She has a bachelor’s degree in communication and African studies from Tel Aviv University. For over a decade she has worked in communications, public relations, and marketing. During the past few years, Ms. Isaschar and her colleagues, business men and women from the community, decided to utilize their bonds as business owners to establish new social structures in the digital space. Conceived as hubs for the Beit Israel (Ethiopian Jews) community, these structures have grown rapidly over the past two years, serving as platforms to exchange capital within the community. From their perspective, this is the only way to gain (or regain) control of the community’s narrative. Among their major initiatives was rebranding Ata Mishlano, a digital media outlet on Facebook. It was a huge success; the outlet filmed more than 70 shows with a total reach of 500,000 viewers. Isaschar continues to invest her efforts in raising awaren­­ess of the need for Black economic independence and promoting solutions to sensitive social issues, such as the need to have a voice in Israeli society, acknowledging Ethiopian Jews among the victims of the Holocaust, the validity of the community's holiday observance and celebration, and media representation.