Week 5 Immigration

Aims To consider the immigration seen to Israel in the years after its creation. To examine the history of immigration from Europe and North Africa and the Middle East and their similarities and differences. To look at the conditions the new immigrants experienced. 2

Declaration of the State of Israel, 14 May 1948 "The State of Israel will be open for Jewish immigration and the ingathering of the exiles; it will foster the development of the country for all its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice, and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex . . . "

The Law of Return, 5 July, 1950 The Law of Return declares the right of Jews to come to Israel: "Every Jew has the right to come to this country as an oleh." The Law of Return was modified in 1970 to extend the right of return to non-Jews with a Jewish grandparent, and their spouses. A stamp in a passport issuing holder Israeli citizenship based on Law of Return 4

Anita Shapira, Israel: A History “the phenomenon that had the most profound long-term ramifications for shaping the image of Israel was the immigration that occurred in waves during the state’s first two decades.”

Emigrants from Europe The first European emigrants to arrive in 1948 were from the displaced persons camps in Germany, the survivors of European Jewry. In addition the British now opened the gates of the detention camps in Cyprus where illegal immigrants intercepted on their way to Palestine were held, and all the detainees came to Israel. Then, the governments of Bulgaria, Poland and Romania granted exit permits to its Jewish citizens. 6

Emigrants the Middle East and North Africa Thousands of Yemenite Jews emigrated to Israel in 1949. The British agreed to allow the Yemenite Jews to remain in Aden on condition that the State of Israel evacuate them as quickly as possible. The airlift of Yemenite Jews to Israel was dubbed “Operation Magic Carpet”. Tens of thousands Jews also began arriving from Tunisia and Turkey. In Libya there was a pogrom against the Jews, and the entire community wanted to emigrate. 7

Immigration of Iraqi Jews In March 1950 the Iraqi government announced that it would allow Jews who wished to emigrate to leave, if they waived their citizenship, for one year only. Iraq’s Jewish community was successful and well- integrated, but heightened Arab nationalism and the conflict in Palestine had increased tension between Jews and Muslims in Iraq and undermined the economic and civil status of Iraqi Jews. Immigration to Israel, which had begun slowly, ultimately became a panicked flight during which an affluent, well-established community became penniless refugees. In 1950–1951 the entire Iraqi Jewish community immigrated to Israel.

Operation Ezra and Nehemiah From 1951 to 1952, Operation Ezra and Nehemiah airlifted between 120,000 and 130,000 Iraqi Jews to Israel via Iran and Cyprus. Immigrants from Iraq leaving Lod airport on their way to ma'abara, 1951

Immigrant Camps “When fifty men and women, old people and children, are in one dormitory, an impossible atmosphere is inevitable. These are conditions of humiliation in which we cannot hold people... In a short while the good human material that comes to the camps sinks into depression, until the people do not have the strength to do anything but cry quietly...” Dr. Giora Josephthal, ran the Jewish Agency’s immigrant absorption department, 1947-1952

Ma’abarot I Yemenite Jews in Ma'abarat Rosh Ha- Ayin, 1949

Ma’abarot II Ma'abarot were refugee absorption camps in Israel in the 1950s. The Ma'abarot were meant to provide accommodation for the large influx of Jewish refugees and new Jewish immigrants, replacing the less habitable immigrant camps or tent cities. The ma'abarot began to decline by mid-1950s and were largely transformed into Development Towns. Ma'abara near Nahariya, 1952

Immigration of Moroccan Jews The end of French rule in Morocco and concerns about the country’s new nationalist regime brought a new influx of North African immigrants in 1954 and 1956. The authorities sought to avoid its mistakes in absorbing the first wave by informing the immigrants about the difficult conditions in advance and had them sign an agreement to settle where they were sent. This wave of about 70,000 immigrants in 1954 and 1956 was sent to the outlying areas as part of an operation dubbed “From Ship to Village.”

Immigration from Eastern Europe

Wadi Salib Riots I The Wadi Salib riots were a series of street demonstrations and acts of vandalism in the Wadi Salib neighborhood of Haifa in 1959. They were sparked by the shooting of a Moroccan Jewish immigrant by police officers. Demonstrators accused the police of ethnic discrimination against Mizrahi Jews. Wali Salib, Haifa

Wadi Salib Riots II Yaron Tsur believes that while the Moroccan immigrants blamed “the Poles”—a derogatory term embracing all Ashkenazim— for their hardships, their attitude toward the Jewish state nevertheless remained positive. The power of Jewish nationalism, exacerbated by the instability and insecurity of Jewish life in Morocco was stronger than grievances against the Israeli authorities. The government’s decision to continue the immigration of more than 100,000 Moroccan Jews showed how the sense of national responsibility overcame reservations about the immigrants’ character. The Jewish state’s need to strengthen its Jewish population overcame social or ethnic reservations.

Conclusions The absorption of migrants was tempered by the national ethos, which wanted and welcomed the immigrants. The state was responsible both for encouraging the immigrants to come and for directing/regulating them once they arrived. The attempts to force upon the immigrants the task of settling the outlying areas had some success, but led to a great deal of bitterness and hurt. While Israeli society did not intend to humiliate or harm immigrants, neither did the absorption authorities hesitate to eradicate their ancient customs, disrupt age-old social structures, and destroy accepted traditional orders.

The Spielberg Jewish Film Archive - First Days, 1962 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0s24LHMMJnc &t=143s