| Black Hebrew procession | Drumming/Chanting | 00:00 |
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| BROWN: They are officially known as the African Hebrew Israelites of Jerusalem. The way they tell the story, they were driven out of the Holy Land thousands of years ago by the Romans. Then they fled to Africa where they were enslaved and taken to America. | 00:13 |
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| MAN: We’d like to first thank the holy one of Israel for blessing us with this beautiful day in north eastern Africa – yeah ! | 00:29 |
| Ben Ammi Ben Israel at celebration | BROWN: Their leader, Ben Ammi Ben Israel, sees himself as a modern day prophet who brought his people back to their spiritual home. BEN AMMI: I am motivated by my love my love for the community, my love for Israel my love for all people and it is | 00:42 |
| Ben Ammi. Super: | my desire to present to them with a peace plan that is based upon the words of the prophets. | 00:59 |
| Women sing at celebration | Singing | 01:06 |
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| BROWN: Around two thousand Black Hebrews, as they’re called, have made their home in Southern Israel. | 01:12 |
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| They are best known as singers and, by and large that’s how they sustain their community. | 01:21 |
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| Their modern day exodus began in 1966, a time of racial violence in America. | 01:34 |
| Archival. Young Ben Ammi singing | Singing | 01:40 |
| Photo. Ben Ammi as young man | BROWN: Back then, Ben Ammi was known as plain old Ben Carter, a bus driver in Chicago - a bus driver who had a vision. | 01:49 |
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| BEN AMMI: And the angel Gabriel did come to bring the word of God that it was | 02:00 |
| Ben Ammi | time to start returning back to the promised land and to establish the long awaited kingdom of god. | 02:07 |
| Dimona | Music | 02:14 |
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| BROWN: In 1969, after a brief stopover in Liberia, the Black Hebrews made it to their new home. Dimona, is a tough town in the Negev desert, right next door to Israel’s top secret nuclear reactor. | 02:25 |
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| Music | 02:38 |
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| BROWN: At first, they were welcomed, but then, relations began to sour. The black Hebrews say their connection with god predates even the birth of the Jewish people. So, despite the threat of deportation, they refused to convert to Judaism. | 02:41 |
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| BEN AMMI: We just saw it as another group of Europeans dictating for us | 02:58 |
| Ben Ammi | who we were, what we could do and what we could not do. | 03:03 |
| Stevie Wonder | BROWN: Although they attracted star supporters like Stevie Wonder, the community remained in official limbo for decades. | 03:07 |
| Stevie Wonder sings | Singing | 03:17 |
| Watermelon shots | BROWN: Their unusual lifestyle also set them apart from their Jewish neighbours. The black Hebrews are vegans – that means no meat, no eggs and no dairy --but, come lunch time, they say, that still leaves them plenty to smile about. | 03:30 |
| MC | MCLEOD:: They’re delicious, nutritious – I bet stop talking before you get vicious. All the way down from the Galilee: refreshing Holy Land watermelon! | 03:45 |
| People collect watermelons | Music | 04:00 |
| Dancing wives | BROWN: Just to add to the mix, the Black Hebrews are polygamous as well. Ben Ammi has five wives. BEN AMMI: We observe laws of purity, | 04:03 |
| Ben Ammi | and that means that every month, that the sister in the house, once she is in her menstruation, then she can not go into kitchen, she cannot care for her man. Then, you know, there has to be another female to come in and to handle these things. | 04:16 |
| Dimona | BROWN: Israelis shunned the Black Hebrews for decades, until this Palestinian attack in 2002. | 04:33 |
| Archival. Palestinian attack | Music | 04:38 |
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| BROWN: Six people were shot dead - including the first Black Hebrew to have been born in Israel . He had been hired as the singer at a bat mitzvah celebration. | 04:48 |
| Funeral | Music | 04:58 |
| Prince Elkanann Ben Shaleahk | PRINCE ELKANANN BEN SHALEAHK: When he was killed we buried him here. | 05:08 |
| Cemetery | BROWN: His father, Prince Elkanann Ben Shaleahk, says the shared tragedy brought the black Hebrews together with the rest of the country. PRINCE ELKANANN BEN SHALEAHK: It opened doors, | 05:14 |
| Happy dancing | a lot of doors. It was an awakening it was on the part of the government, to wake, to make some changes because the Israeli community didn’t know that it was that bad. | 05:27 |
| Dimona | Music | 05:40 |
| Dancing | BROWN: Since then the Black Hebrews have been made permanent residents. Their children now fight for Israel. BEN AMMI: We are not neutral when it comes to the state of Israel. | 05:46 |
| Ben Ammi | I mean that we are an integral part of the state of Israel and we would do whatever is necessary to defend Israel. | 05:58 |
| Celebration | BROWN: While the Black Hebrews still don’t have full citizenship, they feel that, at last, they’ve been welcomed home. | 06:12 |
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| Music | 06:18 |
| Credits: | Reporter: Matt Brown Camera: Brant Cummings Researcher: Yoav Appel Editor: Ben Nunney | 06:25 |