Francis Kimani Yehuda Njogu, a 31-year-old citizen of Kenya, was turned away even though he had a valid three-month tourist visa to Israel, signed by Israel’s ambassador in Nairobi Noah Gal Gendler.
According to reports by The Haaretz, which is an Israel publication Rabbi Andy Sacks, director of the Conservative movement’s Rabbinical Assembly in Israel, described the deportation as “an act of outright racism.”
“Let’s be honest, he was not let into the country because he was black, and this is not the first time our converts from Africa have been given the run-around,” Rabbi Sacks stated.
Njogu converted to Judaism, about 10 years ago, which was overseen by the rabbi of the Abayudaya community in Uganda.
[caption caption="Rabbi Andy Sacks director of the Conservative movement’s Rabbinical Assembly in Israel"]
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However, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Interior stated that Njogo had not bothered to inform the Israeli embassy, when he requested the visa a second time, that he had already been denied a visa the first time.
She maintained he was not allowed into Israel “both because of that initial refusal and because of concerns that he would stay here.”
Rabbi Sacks responded that the embassy had to have known about the initial refusal because he himself had called to complain about it.
“What the Ministry of Interior states is completely and totally false, and even if it were true, it’s no reason to keep him out of the country,” he stated.
Njogu is currently a student in Nairobi, he had spent a semester years ago at the Brandeis Summer Institute in Los Angeles studying Judaism.
[caption caption="Rabbi Andy Sacks"]
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His visa, which contains the stamp of the Israeli ambassador to Kenya, states that the purpose of his visit is to study at the Conservative Yeshiva.
