Editing Rastafari (section)

=== Return to Zion ===

Rastas view [[Zion]] as an ideal to which they aspire.{{sfn|Edmonds|2012|p=40}} As with "Babylon", this term comes from the Bible, where it refers to an idealised [[Jerusalem]].{{sfn|Edmonds|2012|p=40}} Rastas use "Zion" either for Ethiopia specifically or for Africa more broadly.{{sfnm|1a1=Barnett|1y=2005|1p=77|2a1=Edmonds|2y=2012|2p=41}} Many Rastas use the term "Ethiopia" as a synonym for Africa, following its usage in English translations of the Bible.{{sfnm|1a1=Kitzinger|1y=1969|1p=240|2a1=Middleton|2y=2006|2p=163}} Rastas in Ghana, for instance, describe themselves as already living within "Ethiopia".{{sfn|Middleton|2006|p=163}} Other Rastas apply the term "Zion" to Jamaica or they use it to describe a state of mind.{{sfn|Barnett|2005|p=77}} Rastas believe that Africa, as the [[Promised Land]], will allow them to escape the domination and degradation they experience in Babylon.{{sfn|Edmonds|2012|p=41}}

[[File:Ethiopia - Location Map (2013) - ETH - UNOCHA.svg|thumb|left|A map of Ethiopia, sometimes called "Zion" by Rastas]]

During the first three decades of the Rastafari movement, it placed strong emphasis on the need for the African diaspora to be repatriated to Africa.{{sfn|Edmonds|2012|p=41}} To this end, various Rastas lobbied the Jamaican government and [[United Nations]] to oversee this resettlement process.{{sfn|Edmonds|2012|p=41}}<ref name=":0" /> Other Rastas organised their own transportation to the African continent.{{sfn|Edmonds|2012|p=41}} Critics of the movement have argued that the migration of the entire African diaspora to Africa is implausible, particularly as no African country would welcome this.{{sfn|Cashmore|1983|p=127}}

By the movement's fourth decade, the desire for physical repatriation to Africa had declined among Rastas,{{sfn|Edmonds|2012|p=42}} a change influenced by observation of the [[1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia]].{{sfn|Clarke|1986|p=99}} Rather, many Rastas saw the idea of returning to Africa in a metaphorical sense, entailing the restoration of their pride and self-confidence as people of black African descent.{{sfnm|1a1=Clarke|1y=1986|1p=100|2a1=Edmonds|2y=2012|2p=42|3a1=Bedasse|3y=2013|3p=294}} The term "liberation before repatriation" began to be used within the movement.{{sfnm|1a1=Cashmore|1y=1983|1p=33|2a1=Barrett|2y=1997|2p=172|3a1=Kebede|3a2=Knottnerus|3y=1998|3p=511|4a1=Edmonds|4y=2012|4p=42}} Some Rastas seek to transform Western society so that they may more comfortably live within it rather than seeking to move to Africa.{{sfn|Clarke|1986|p=85}} There are nevertheless many Rastas who continue to emphasise the need for physical resettlement of the African diaspora in Africa.{{sfn|Edmonds|2012|p=42}}