Ferede Yazezew Aklum (; May 15, 1949 – January 7, 2009), sometimes known as Farada Aklum or Ferede Yazazao Aklum, was a

Mossad The Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations (), popularly known as Mossad ( , ), is the national intelligence agency of the Israel, State of Israel. It is one of the main entities in the Israeli Intelligence Community, along with M ...

agent and

Zionist Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

activist best known for helping 900

Ethiopian Jews Beta Israel, or Ethiopian Jews, is a Jewish group originating from the territory of the Amhara and Tigray regions in northern Ethiopia, where they are spread out across more than 500 small villages over a wide territory, alongside predominant ...

immigrate to Israel. His contributions helped pave the way for Ethiopian Jews to get to Israel via

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

through Operation Moses and

Operation Solomon Operation Solomon (, Mivtza Shlomo) was a covert Israeli military operation from May 24 to 25, 1991, to airlift Ethiopian Jews to Israel. Non-stop flights of 35 Israeli aircraft, including Israeli Air Force C-130s and El Al Boeing 747s, tran ...

. He continued being an activist in Israel following his own

aliyah ''Aliyah'' (, ; ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from Jewish diaspora, the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel or the Palestine (region), Palestine region, which is today chiefly represented by the Israel ...

. He died on a trip to

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; ,) is the capital city of Ethiopia, as well as the regional state of Oromia. With an estimated population of 2,739,551 inhabitants as of the 2007 census, it is the largest city in the country and the List of cities in Africa b ...

and is buried in

Beersheba Beersheba ( / ; ), officially Be'er-Sheva, is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Often referred to as the "Capital of the Negev", it is the centre of the fourth-most populous metropolitan area in Israel, the eighth-most p ...

Early life

Aklum was born in the Medabay village of the

Tigray The Tigray Region (or simply Tigray; officially the Tigray National Regional State) is the northernmost Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in Ethiopia. The Tigray Region is the homeland of the Tigrayan, Irob people, Irob and Kunama people. I ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

to Yazezew Aklum and Avrehet Worku. He grew up in the Adi Worewa village. His father insisted he focus on formal education, so Aklum walked several kilometers to school in

Shire Shire () is a traditional term for an administrative division of land in Great Britain and some other English-speaking countries. It is generally synonymous with county (such as Cheshire and Worcestershire). British counties are among the oldes ...

. He eventually earned a teaching degree at the College of Addis in

. After earning his degree, he became headmaster of a school and mayor of the Indabunga Municipality.

Sudan

After

Moshe Dayan Moshe Dayan (; May 20, 1915 – October 16, 1981) was an Israeli military leader and politician. As commander of the Jerusalem front in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Chief of General Staff (Israel), Chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defe ...

disclosed Israel was selling arms to Ethiopia, the Ethiopian government began targeting

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

activists. Aklum was identified as a Zionist and fled to Sudan. Arriving without money, he sold his wedding band to contact the Mossad. This led to Mossad agent searching for him in

Khartoum Khartoum or Khartum is the capital city of Sudan as well as Khartoum State. With an estimated population of 7.1 million people, Greater Khartoum is the largest urban area in Sudan. Khartoum is located at the confluence of the White Nile – flo ...

. After making contact, the two spent the next 18 months secretly helping Jewish refugees cross into Sudan and travel to Israel. The refugees had to travel via Europe because Sudan had severed ties with Israel. Aklum finally left Sudan in September, 1980 when it became apparent the Sudanese authorities intended to imprison him for his activities.

Israel

Upon arriving in Israel, Aklum reunited with his family and began studying electrical engineering. The plight of Ethiopian Jews eventually led him back to a life of activism including leading the Association of Ethiopian Jews.

Popular culture

The fictional character, Kabede Bimro (portrayed by Michael Kenneth Williams) in the movie '' Red Sea Diving Resort'', is based upon Ferede Aklum.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aklum, Ferede 1949 births 2009 deaths Ethiopian Jews Ethiopian Zionists Ethiopian emigrants to Israel People of the Mossad People from Tigray Region Zionist activists