First Miss Israel of Ethiopian descent to dine with Obama

First Miss Israel of Ethiopian descent to dine with Obama

March 14, 2013

JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Yityish Aynaw, the first Miss Israel of Ethiopian descent, has been invited to meet President Obama at a dinner hosted by President Shimon Peres.
Aynaw, 21, who was crowned two weeks ago, reportedly was invited at the behest of Obama's advance team, which is currently in Israel putting the finishing touches on plans for next week's visit.
In interviews with the Israeli media on Wednesday, following her invitation, Aynaw called Obama an inspiration and a role model.
"For me, he is a role model who broke down barriers, a source of inspiration that proves that every person really can reach any height, regardless of their religion, race or gender," she told the mass circulation Israeli daily Yediot Acharonot.
She told the Jerusalem Post that she thought she was invited to the dinner because she is “the first black Miss Israel to be chosen and [Obama] is the first black American president. These go together.”
Aynaw, who immigrated to Israel from Ethiopia with her grandparents at the age of 12, said in an interview Wednesday night with Israel's Channel 2 that when she meets Obama that she will tell him he has been a role model, and that he should free Jonathan Pollard.
She told the interviewer that as head of her high school student council she worked on many projects to call for the release of Pollard, who is serving a life sentence for spying for Israel, from a U.S. prison.  "If I have the opportunity, why not?" she said.

This story about Obama dining with a black Miss Israel, the first one for Israel and just in time for Obama's visit, just drips with cynical manipulation for political purposes by both Israel and the U.S. I wonder how eager Obama would be to dine with Bizunesh Hidana, another Ethiopian girl who perhaps could use the meal.

 Bizunesh Hidana is 3 years old and weighs less than 10 pounds. The U.N. World Food Program estimates that 2.7 million Ethiopians will need emergency food aid because of late rains — nearly double the number who needed help last year.

 Statistics on Ethiopian Poverty

There is a direct correlation between poverty and starvation.

Starvation is preventable.

    •According to research taken from Food First, the Institute for Food and Development, enough food is produced worldwide to provide every person on the planet with 4.3 lbs, or 3,500 calories daily.

    It is important to realize that much of Ethiopia’s problems stem from larger World-wide issues.

    •In order to make a more direct connection to Americans, these statistics compare aspects of Ethiopian living standards with ours, here in the United States.

	Ethiopia	USA
% Children under 5 moderately to severely underweight	47	1
% Population using improved water for drinking	22	100
GNI per Capita in $US	90	37,610
Life Expectancy	46	77
Under 5 Mortality Rate	169	8
Phone Sets per 100 People	1	113
Infant Mortality Rate (under 1)	112	7

                                                      
Statistics from Unicef, 2003