http://www.jewishexponent.com/article/26611/Ethiopian_Knesset_Member_Stumps
To anyone who asserts that Israel is a racist society, Shlomo Molla has a simple retort: Just take a look at my life. The 46-year-old was born in an Ethiopian village with no electricity and he has risen through the ranks of Israeli society, where he now holds the position of deputy speaker of the Knesset.
Lawyer Geore Burrell (left) with Shlomo Molla, Kadima member and deputy speaker of the Knesset
“If you have your motivation, Israel is a country where the sky is the limit,” Molla, the Kadima Party member, declared during a Sept. 7 stop in Philadelphia.
“I am not saying that we don’t have problems,” he added, acknowledging that the transition from the pre-industrial society of his native village to Israel’s high-tech one hasn’t been an easy transition for the Israeli Ethiopian community, especially for his parents’ generation.
The soft-spoken social worker is currently one of two Israelis of Ethiopian origin serving in the Knesset. He had been the only one, but just this past week Likud Party member Aleli Admasu took the place of Yossi Peled, who resigned from parliament. Molla’s Kadima Party is not part of the coalition government, but that does not preclude him from serving as deputy speaker.
Molla’s visit to the United States was sponsored by the America-Israel Friendship League, a nonprofit organization dedicated to deepening ties between Israelis and Americans of all religious backgrounds.