Page "African Hebrew Israelites of Jerusalem" Paragraph 9

Members of the group continued to arrive and settled in the desert community of Dimona.

For two decades, their population continued growing through natural increase and illegal immigration.

Throughout the 1970s Tensions between the group and the state of Israel grew as the group faced low employment, inadequate housing and attempted deportation, while the state considered them illegal aliens.

Ben Ammi accused the government of racism and usurping the holy land, while claiming that " The greatest conspiracy ever conceived in the minds of men was the creation of National Homeland for Jewish People .".

In 1973 the International League for the Rights of Man rejected the group's claims, stating that the Hebrews made little attempt to comply with the citizenship laws of Israel.

In 1981, a six person Black Americans to Support Israel Committee delegation assessed all aspects of the community's treatment and concluded that racism was not the cause of their problems.

Although the leader Bayard Rustin called Ben Ammi " a dictator " without " the same moral standards as democratic leaders ", the others disassociated themselves from this.