Excellence without prejudice

For Asher Fenthun Seyum, heading the Jewish Agency for Israel operations in Gondar is like coming full circle.

By RUTH EGLASH
asher fenthun seyum 521 (photo credit: courtesy)
asher fenthun seyum 521
(photo credit: courtesy)
Asher Fenthun SeyumAge: 39Profession: Representative of the Jewish Agency for Israel in EthiopiaPlace of birth: Ambover, EthiopiaCurrent residence: Gondar, Ethiopia, for a three-year posting
Born in the Jewish village of Ambover in the hills overlooking Gondar, Seyum was 12 when he made the trek with his family here, and he has dedicated much of his adult life to helping others make aliya. Born in the Jewish village of Ambover in the hills overlooking Gondar, Seyum was 12 when he made the trek with his family here, and he has dedicated much of his adult life to helping others make aliya.
■ What gets you out of bed in the morning? What gets me out of bed in the morning is the motivation to develop and promote the issues that I have been assigned to deal with, while at the same time aiming for complete excellence in everything I do.
■ What keeps you up at night? The thing that worries me the most about Israeli society is the growing social gaps between different communities, the complete lack of solidarity between the various populations and, of course, corruption in all spheres.
■ What’s the most difficult professional moment you’ve faced? Dealing with those who refused to believe in my personal abilities to reach high achievements simply because of my Ethiopian roots and because of prejudice.
■ How do you celebrate your achievements? I celebrate my achievements with my close friends and with my partners who help me to succeed.
■ If you were prime minister, what's the first thing you would do? I would fight against corruption. I would also make sure to invest in improving educational values that would allow for higher achievements even from low socioeconomic groups.
■ Which Israeli should have a movie made about him? Gabi Ashkenazi, the recently retired chief of General Staff.
■ What would you change about Israelis if you could? I would like to see Israelis being less critical and I would like to see more national universalism and less individualism.
■ BlackBerry or pen and paper? Pen and paper.
■ If you had to write an advertisement to entice tourists to come, what would it say? I would say that Israel is the country of our ancestors, it is the holy land for Jews, Christians and Muslims. I would also invite people to have fun from the wonderful scenes and the historic archeological sites.
■ The most serious problem facing the country is? The small parties in the political system that blackmail and fail to work for the benefit of the entire society.
■ How can it be solved? To overhaul the entire system of governance and to create only three political parties that will represent the entire public – the women, the new immigrants and the minorities.
■ In 20 years, the country will be? Much stronger economically and security-wise.