Paper short abstract:

Reciprocity among Eritrean refugees living in Israel is analyzed in this paper both in terms of community organizations (mutual aid) and state society relations as there are two states influencing the community lives: Eritrea and Israel.

Paper long abstract:

In this paper we wish to focus on the economic social and political organizations which exist within the Eritrean asylum community in Israel. Since 2006 thousands of Eritrean refugees entered Israel through the border with Egypt. In Israel they live under the authorities' "non removal" regime in which while their asylum application is not examined they are entitled to no socio-economic rights. On the other hand Eritrea has diplomatic relations with Israel and an embassy in Tel Aviv and therefore the state of origin the newcomers escaped from is not entirely absent from their lives in Israel. In this context we identify and describe the different categories of community ways of organizing including traditional reciprocal organizations (mutual aid) such as the Mahber and non - traditional organizations ones, more politically oriented and even opposition groups, which all co exist within the community. The paper will concentrate on the traditional social initiatives and the way they operate in a foreign Israeli-African space. We will analyze these organizations as social institutions and mechanisms of survival in an urban setting and in a state of refuge. We compare the function and character of such organizations and their connection to the simultaneous absence and presence of both the Israeli and Eritrean states as influencing the community space. The paper is based on a one year research we have been conducting in Israel including in depth interviews and observations with community's members and the community's events.