Assefa-Dawit, a veteran Ethiopian immigrant, and the approximately 1,000 new immigrants from Ethiopia at the absorption center, were getting ready to eat their Sabbath meal when warning of a missile attack was sounded. Assefa-Dawit and the absorption center staff quickly led the people to the shelters. Miraculously, no one was injured, although the building sustained tremendous damage.

"The people exhibited tremendous discipline, even the children," says Assefa-Dawit. "The minute new immigrants come to the absorption center, we prepare them for the realities of living in Israel. One of these realities is the possibility of attack, and instead of mass panic everyone knew exactly what they needed to do. This saved lives."

As the director of the absorption center, the new immigrants look to Assefa-Dawit for guidance, and as such he needs to display a calm authority that is not always easy to maintain. "I'd by lying if I said I wasn't scared," says Assefa-Dawit. "Suddenly you hear a powerful boom and it's terrifying. But so many people are dependent on me - staff, volunteers, parents, children and the elderly - that I must be in control."

Local Jewish Agency workers and key officials from Jerusalem have been with the residents in the shelters since the situation began and are doing everything they can to support Assefa-Dawit and ease the tension among Israel's newest citizens. Chairman of the Jewish Agency, Zeev Bielski, visited the absorption center to express the Jewish Agency's commitment to ease the intense strain everyone is under.

In order to get them away from the line of fire, one hundred and twenty children from the absorption center ages 10-18 are being sent to summer camps in the central region at Jewish Agency youth aliyah villages. Some parents, afraid to separate from their children, preferred to keep their children with them. Other families went to stay with relatives in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Netanya, and the Jewish Agency is covering their travel expenses.

"We went through so much suffering in Ethiopia, and for many of the people, this is a small price to pay for coming to Israel. We are very patriotic, and in spite of everything no one would ever think of questioning why they came."

One incident stands out vividly in Assefa-Dawit's mind during these strife-filled days. A little five-year old boy was holding his father's hand and dragged him over to where Assefa-Dawit was standing. "Why are they shooting at us," the boy innocently asked, looking to Assefa-Dawit for the answer. "I felt the weight of his question on my shoulders," says Assefa-Dawit. "How could I explain to this young boy, whose family dreamed of coming to Israel for generations, why he is here and people are shooting at him?"

Photo Credit: Avi Hirschfield