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Accepted Paper:

"The Lord loves the gates of Zion*": value of Israeli migrant culture and people in Australian Jewish communities  
Jennifer Louise Creese (University of Leicester)

Paper short abstract:

Australian Jewish communities are home to many Israeli migrants, and have deep ties to Israel. Yet the value on Israeli culture is not extended to Israeli migrants into Australia, who are deemed foreign. I will examine the values placed by the Jewish community on migrant Israeli culture and people.

Paper long abstract:

Jewish communities worldwide are home to many Israeli migrants, who leave Israel over security concerns, religious and political differences, or in search of an easier standard of living. Australia has an Israeli expatriate population of over 15,000, 1/10th in Queensland.

In these Jewish communities, political and cultural ties to Israel are strong. They are staunchly Zionist in their politics and connected to Israel through tourism, family and philanthropy. Israeli culture has also been highly valued within Australian Jewish communities since the early days of multiculturalism. Israeli food is upheld as quintessentially Jewish, Israeli dance and music are embraced, and images of Israel are prominent in the visual rhetoric of Australian Jewish institutions.

However, this value is not extended to Israelis who migrate to Australia. Israelis are often cut off from the mainstream Jewish community, seen as exclusive and non-participatory by community members and leaders, denounced for their secular lifestyles and branded "complainers" and "freeloaders". Many Israeli migrants also experience poverty and integration issues over language and employment restrictions, yet lack the support from the Australian Jewish community previous waves of Jewish migrants were given.

In this paper, I draw on ethnographic fieldwork undertaken in Queensland to examine the differential values placed by members of the Australian Jewish community on migrant Israeli culture and people. I outline the prominence of Zionism and Israel in the identity, activities and material culture of Australian Jewish communities, and theorise the reasons behind the corresponding devaluation of Israeli migrants by their host communities.

Panel P16
The migration of value and the value of migration
  Session 1 Tuesday 3 December, 2019, -