Immigration and Ethnic Formation in a Deeply Divided Society: The Case of the 1990's Immigrants from the Former Soviet Union in Israel (International Studies in Sociology and Social Anthropology)

265 Pages·2004·0.98 MB·English

by  Majid Al Haj

Immigration and Ethnic
Formation in a Deeply
Divided Society: The Case
of the 1990s Immigrants
from the Former Soviet
Union in Israel
Majid Al-Haj
Brill
ISSA-91-al-haj.qxd 10/24/2003 2:45 PM Page i
IMMIGRATION AND ETHNIC FORMATION
IN A DEEPLY DIVIDED SOCIETY
ISSA-91-al-haj.qxd 10/24/2003 2:45 PM Page ii
INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
IN
SOCIOLOGY AND SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY
edited by
Tukumbi Lumumba-Kasongo,
Rubin Patterson and Masamichi Sasaki
VOLUME XCI
ISSA-91-al-haj.qxd 10/24/2003 2:45 PM Page iii
IMMIGRATION
AND ETHNIC FORMATION
IN A DEEPLY DIVIDED SOCIETY
The Case of the 1990s Immigrants from the
Former Soviet Union in Israel
BY
MAJID AL-HAJ
BRILL
LEIDEN •BOSTON
2004
ISSA-91-al-haj.qxd 10/24/2003 2:45 PM Page iv
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Al-Haj, Majid.
Immigration and ethnic formation in a deeply divided society : the case of the 1990’s
immigrants from the Former Soviet Union in Israel / by Majid Al-Haj.
p. cm. — (International studies in sociology and social anthropology, ISSN 0074-8684 ;
v. 91)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 90-04-13625-8 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Jews, Soviet—Israel—Social conditions. 2. Israel—Ethnic relations. 3.
Israel—Emigration and immigration. 4. Immigrants—Israel. 5. Social adjustment—Israel.
6. Social surveys—Israel. I. Title. II. Series.
DS113.8.R87A42 2003
305.892’4047—dc22
2003055866
ISSN 0074-8684
ISBN 90 04 13625 8
© Copyright 2004 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written
permission from the publisher.
Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal
use is granted by Brill provided that
the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright
Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910
Danvers, MA 01923, U.S.A.
Fees are subject to change.
printed in the netherlands
AL-HAJ_f1_v-xviii 10/17/03 2:37 PM Page v
v
To my wife, Ibtisam, and my children,
Ibrahim, Hassan, Moa’taz and Nadine
AL-HAJ_f1_v-xviii 10/17/03 2:37 PM Page vi
vi
This page intentionally left blank
AL-HAJ_f1_v-xviii 10/17/03 2:37 PM Page vii
vii
CONTENTS
List of Tables .............................................................................. xi
List of Figures ............................................................................ xv
Acknowledgments ........................................................................ xvii
Introduction ................................................................................ 1
Immigrants from the Former Soviet Union in Israel ........ 1
Methodology ............................................................................ 6
Immigrants’ Survey ................................................................ 6
Survey of the General Population ........................................ 9
Students’ Survey .................................................................... 9
Focus Groups .......................................................................... 10
Chapter One. Theoretical Framework .................................... 13
Definitions of “Ethnic Group” .............................................. 14
Immigration and Ethnic Formation ...................................... 17
Ethnic Mobilization ................................................................ 26
The Reactive Perspective .................................................. 27
The Competitive Model of Ethnic Mobilization ............ 29
Criticism of the Reactive and Competitive
Approaches ...................................................................... 30
Rational Choice Theory .................................................... 30
The Role of the State ........................................................ 31
Chapter Two. Israeli Society: A Background .......................... 35
Immigration and the Construction of Social
Boundaries .......................................................................... 35
Unique vs. Typical Immigration ...................................... 37
An Ideological Value or a Means to Achieve
Political Goals ................................................................ 38
Immigration and Ethnic Formation in Israel ...................... 41
Background of Jewish Ethnicity ........................................ 41
Ethnic Composition over Time ........................................ 42
Ethnicity as a Socio-Cultural Rift .................................... 43
The Modernization-Establishment Approach .................. 44
The Melting Pot Ideology ................................................ 45
Counter-approaches to Ethnic Relations .......................... 49
AL-HAJ_f1_v-xviii 10/23/03 4:50 PM Page viii
viii 
Ethnic mobilization ............................................................ 52
Ethnicity and the Religious-Nonreligious Divide ............ 54
The Jewish-Arab Divide ........................................................ 58
Background .......................................................................... 58
Policy toward the Palestinians in Israel ............................ 59
Social Change .................................................................... 60
Economic Deterritorialization ............................................ 62
Political Territorialization .................................................. 64
Cultural Territorialization without Cultural Autonomy ...... 66
Multiculturalism vs. Sectarian Identities in Israeli
Society .................................................................................. 67
Chapter Three. Jews of Russia and the Former Soviet
Union: Background and Waves of Immigration .................. 72
Emigration by Russian/Soviet/FSU Jews ............................ 76
The First Waves to Palestine ............................................ 76
Immigrants from the Soviet Union in the 1970s ............ 78
Ethiopia: A New Reservoir of Immigrants .......................... 79
Aspirations for Aliya from the West .................................... 81
The 1990s Wave .................................................................... 83
Main Trends ...................................................................... 84
Differences between the 1970s and the 1990s Waves ........ 86
Chapter Four. Identity Patterns and Ethnic Formation ........ 91
Communal Ethnic Organizations .......................................... 93
Sources of Information, Russian-Language Media .............. 95
Motivation for Migration and Connection with the
Home Country .................................................................... 100
Self-Identification .................................................................... 101
Non-Jewish Immigrants .......................................................... 102
The Other-Definition: How Veteran Israelis
Perceive the Immigrants .................................................... 109
Chapter Five. Attitudes toward Civil Society and
Freedom of Expression .......................................................... 116
Character of Israel ................................................................ 116
Attitudes toward Peace .......................................................... 120
Freedom of Expression .......................................................... 123
Communication Environments .......................................... 123
Permissiveness ...................................................................... 126
The Ranking of Rights ...................................................... 129
AL-HAJ_f1_v-xviii 10/23/03 4:50 PM Page ix
 ix
Chapter Six. Political Organization .......................................... 134
Voting Behavior at the National Elections .......................... 137
Collective vs. Individual Factors behind the Voting
Patterns ................................................................................ 140
Factors behind the Voting for Prime Minister .................... 144
The Elections of 2003 ............................................................ 145
Local Elections ........................................................................ 148
Chapter Seven. Immigrants versus Israeli Society .................. 154
Adjustment Patterns ................................................................ 154
Residential Adjustment ...................................................... 155
Economic Adjustment ........................................................ 161
Social Adjustment .............................................................. 162
Mutual Influence .................................................................... 166
Immigrants’ Social Distance from other Groups
in Israel .............................................................................. 169
Social Distance from Arabs .................................................. 171
Social Distance from other Jewish Groups .......................... 178
Chapter Eight. Attitudes of Veteran Groups toward
Immigrants .............................................................................. 181
Attitudes in the Early 1990s .................................................. 181
Jewish Leadership .............................................................. 181
Jewish Public ...................................................................... 183
Arab Leadership ................................................................ 186
Arab Public ........................................................................ 188
Trends over Time: A Decade Later .................................... 189
Internal Divisions within Jewish Population ........................ 194
Tolerance of Separate Immigrant Organizations ................ 196
Social Distance ........................................................................ 197
The Attitudes of the Younger Generation .......................... 199
Social Distance as Felt by the Younger Generation .......... 200
Concluding Remarks .................................................................. 205
Bibliography ................................................................................ 221
Index ............................................................................................ 239