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Moving to the Homeland: South African Jews in Israel

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Moving to the Homeland: South African Jews in Israel This article was downloaded by: [University of Haifa Library] On: 26 July 2013, At: 08:26 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/wimm20 Moving to the Homeland: South African Jews in Israel Rebeca Raijman a a Department of Sociology and Anthropology , University of Haifa , Haifa , Israel Published online: 26 Jul 2013. To cite this article: Rebeca Raijman (2013) Moving to the Homeland: South African Jews in Israel, Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies, 11:3, 259-277 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15562948.2013.801728 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content. This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms- and-conditions Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies, 11:259–277, 2013 Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ISSN: 1556-2948 print / 1556-2956 online DOI: 10.1080/15562948.2013.801728 Moving to the Homeland: South African Jews in Israel REBECA RAIJMAN Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel This article focuses on Jewish South African immigrants migrat- ing to Israel. It examines motives for migration, the ways by which migrants organized their move to the new country, and the types of resources (individual and institutional) on which they relied to make and implement their decision. Our study suggests that both push and pull factors explain South African Jewish migra- tion to Israel. The unstable socioeconomic and political situation prevalent in South Africa was the main push factor explaining the desire to leave the country, whereas a strong Jewish and Zionist identity acted as a strong pull factor driving South African Jews to Israel. In addition, the existence of social networks and institu- tional frameworks linking the two countries helped perpetuate the migration over time. Two salient conceptual points emerge. First, theories that stress the economic aspects of migration alone are not helpful in explaining South African Jewish migration to Israel. We must also consider how ethnic identities related to the host society (e.g., their Jewish and Zionist identity) affect potential migrants’ decision making. Second, in order to understand the process of the migration of Jews to Israel, it is important to refer to the communal and social structures in the countries of origin and of destination. Downloaded by [University of Haifa Library] at 08:26 26 July 2013 This research was funded by the J. Kaplan Centre for Jewish Studies and Research at Cape Town University in South Africa. I am deeply indebted to Prof. Milton Shain and Shirley Bruk at the Kaplan Centre for Jewish Studies, Cape Town University who provided guidance and support during these years of data collection and analysis. I am very grateful to all in- terviewed partners who shared their time and life histories with us. I thank Research Success Technologies, which under the direction of Dr. Ezra Kopelowitz oversaw the fieldwork re- quired for the interviews. I wish to thank Miri Schwartzvald, Orit Avital, and Ariane Ophir for their help with data preparation and analysis. Address correspondence to Rebeca Raijman, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Haifa, Haifa 31905, Israel. E-mail: [email protected] 259 260 R. Raijman KEYWORDS Migration motives, South Africans, Israel, institu- tional resources, migration decision INTRODUCTION To leave one’s country of origin and relocate to a new society is one of the most radical decisions people may ever take (Gold, 1997). Nevertheless, still today emigrants’ motives are a poorly developed area in the migration literature. Most migration studies tend to focus mainly on integration into the host society, hence overlook the migration itself, migrants’ motives, and the implementation of the move to their new host society. This neglect is somewhat surprising given that motives are key factors for understanding the process whereby people change locations (Winchie & Carment, 1989), but also the ways migrants integrate into host societies (Berry, 1997; Gold 1997, 2002). This article aims to fill the gap by focusing on the case study of South African Jews who moved to Israel. Specifically we examine the pro- cess of decision making, motives for migration, the ways by which migrants organized their move to the new country, and the types of resources (in- dividual and institutional) on which they relied to make their decision and implement it. While most studies have focused on the economic dimensions of im- migration, fewer have centered on the sociocultural aspects driving migra- tion flows. Most migration theories downplay ethnic, national, religious, and other collective ideologies as forces shaping migration decisions. However, our findings suggest that it is also necessary to consider how collective iden- tities related to the host society affect the potential migrants’ decision making as well as the social structures in their countries of origin that nurture the relationship between prospective migrants and the receiving societies (Gold, 1997). As we shall see, these considerations are especially relevant for un- derstanding Jewish migration to Israel in general and South African migration to the country in particular. Downloaded by [University of Haifa Library] at 08:26 26 July 2013 Israel as a Destination Country Israel is a society of immigrants and their offspring, where at the end of the 20th century two out of three members of the Jewish majority were foreign- born (40%) or of the second generation (30%) (Raijman & Kemp, 2010). Unlike most migratory movements, migration to Israel has been characterized as a returning ethnic migration (Levy & Weiss 2001). The centrality of the idea of migration as a return from the Diaspora is expressed in the Law of Return of 1950, which grants Israeli citizenship to Jews and their children immediately on arrival. Jewish migrants in Israel are labeled olim (Hebrew for “ascenders”).1 Moving to the Homeland 261 Between the founding of the State of Israel (1948) and 2008, approx- imately 19,000 South African Jews entered the country under the terms of the Law of Return. Migration of South Africans to Israel has been uneven, surging during periods of political unrest and violence in the late-1970s, mid- 1980s, and mid-1990s, when SA Jews, anxious for their immediate safety, took advantage of Israel’s Law of Return. In the 2000s migration flows dropped to relatively low levels, although some increase has occurred in 2008. What motivated South African Jews to leave their country, their families and their homes, a high standard of living and a rich Jewish communal life? What were the main reasons for choosing Israel as a destination? How have migrants gone about their migration, and on what types of individual and institutional resources do they rely to make their decisions? These are some of the questions we would like to answer in this paper, focusing on the process of decision-making and migration of South African Jews who have arrived and settled in Israel. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND A thorough reading of migration theories reveals that migration is usu- ally conceptualized as economically motivated (see Stark, 1991; Massey et al., 1998). From the neoclassical economic perspective, it is assumed that the rational decision of individuals or families to migrate is guided by a comparison between the potential income level in the host country and their actual income in their countries of origin. Based on this logic, by applying a cost-benefit analysis, rational individuals would decide to migrate if the benefits of the move outweighed the costs over some time horizon (Todaro & Maruszko, 1987; Borjas, 1990). While most studies conducted by economists have focused on the eco- nomic dimensions of migration, sociologists have generally centered on the sociocultural aspects driving migration flows such as social networks and institutional frameworks that develop as a consequence of migration (Boyd, Downloaded by [University of Haifa Library] at 08:26 26 July 2013 1989; Massey et al, 1998). The sociocultural approach to migration asserts that the immigration process itself, namely, preparing
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