Forging Friendships

William Lambert was watching television in 1992 when the idea came into focus that brought foreign visitors to Los Angeles this week.

Lambert had already been thinking about race relations when images of rioting between blacks and Jews in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, N.Y., flashed on the screen. He realized then how few Americans realize that some people are both.

The result of Lambert’s efforts is Children of the Dream, a program in its fifth year of bringing small groups of black Israeli teenagers, of Ethiopian descent, to Los Angeles and other cities, and sending American youths overseas.

Ten Ethiopian teenagers and a chaperon are nearing the end of a two-week stay in which they have stopped at schools from the San Fernando Valley to the South Bay.

“We try to show that Jews need not be considered just one color,” said Marjorie Green, education director of the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith, which runs the program.

On Wednesday, the group visited Beverly Hills and Michael Milken high schools before stopping at UCLA for an ice cream social hosted by a Jewish student group. They will be at Crenshaw and Woodrow Wilson high schools today ) and Friday and then visit Venice Beach and Universal Studios on Sunday.

The group’s return flight to Israel is set for Monday.

Under the shade trees behind North Hollywood High earlier this week, the visitors mingled with the students, comparing stories about traveling great distances with their families to strange countries. The two groups swapped experiences, covering topics from race to basketball, while sitting cross-legged on the lawn.

“We didn’t want them to be display pieces,” said teacher Deb Bowers, whose combined English and social studies classes welcomed the Ethiopians to North Hollywood on Monday. “Arranging chairs in a circle around them would only make them nervous.”

The program has enabled students from both countries to develop a mutual respect.

“I didn’t take [history] seriously. I just studied it, made sure my work was in on time,” said Monica Matus, 17, a North Hollywood senior. Monica was one of nine L.A. teenagers to visit Israel in April.

“But when I started in this program, meeting all these people who took all this trouble to get to Israel, it really made a difference.”

The Israeli group and their hosts waded through crowds at Disneyland on Monday night, making it on just three rides in six hours, returning to the Valley on Tuesday to meet Jewish and black student groups at Cal State Northridge.

Between lunch and a game of pickup basketball at North Hollywood High, the Ethiopians joined students for activities designed to highlight the diversity of the school and the city. The group played a type of bingo that entailed finding other members of the class who fit descriptions such as “likes banda music” or “has Muslim friends.”

Valley students took turns discussing their family origins in Honduras, the Dominican Republic and Armenia, bringing out the Israelis’ memories of their own immigrant experiences.

“When I was 5 years old, my family went to Israel,” Avi, 17, told the group after listening to other accounts. “We traveled a long way.”

Most of the 56,000 Ethiopian Jews in Israel fled oppression in their native country, aided by two major rescue efforts by the Israeli government: Operation Moses in 1984-85 and Operation Solomon in 1991.

Life in Israel has been an improvement, many say, but social workers there say Ethiopian Jews are often discriminated against by white Jews.

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In January, Ethiopian Jews protested outside the prime minister’s office, resulting in a clash that injured 60 protesters and police officers, primarily over the revelation that Israeli blood banks were routinely discarding donations by Ethiopians because they were presumed more likely to have AIDS.

But both Israeli and American teenagers agreed that racial discrimination is worse in the United States. “Over there, they talk to people and make friends with other groups,” Monica said. “But [in school] over here, you’ll see white people on this side of the room, a black group over there.”

Participants say the true value of the program lies in the enlightened perspective they take home. Even if they never return to visit, both groups can keep up with each other, mindful of the human beings behind stories and stereotypes, they say.

“You grow up” and become more mature under the influence of the program, Monica said. “I never had read newspapers or paid attention to the news before. Now it’s CNN all the time. I want to know all I can.”