Impossible Exodus: Iraqi Jews in Israel Contributor(s): Bashkin, Orit (Author) |
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ISBN: 0804795851 ISBN-13: 9780804795852 Publisher: Stanford University Press OUR PRICE: $99.75 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: August 2017 |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - History | Middle East - Israel & Palestine - Social Science | Emigration & Immigration - History | Middle East - Iraq |
Dewey: 304.856 |
LCCN: 2017011528 |
Series: Stanford Studies in Middle Eastern and Islamic Societies and |
Physical Information: 0.88" H x 6" W x 9" (1.41 lbs) 320 pages |
Themes: - Cultural Region - Middle East - Chronological Period - 1940's - Chronological Period - 1950's - Chronological Period - 1960's - Ethnic Orientation - Jewish |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description: Between 1949 and 1951, 123,000 Iraqi Jews immigrated to the newly established Israeli state. Lacking the resources to absorb them all, the Israeli government resettled them in maabarot, or transit camps, relegating them to poverty. In the tents and shacks of the camps, their living conditions were squalid and unsanitary. Basic necessities like water were in short supply, when they were available at all. Rather than returning to a homeland as native sons, Iraqi Jews were newcomers in a foreign place. Impossible Exodus tells the story of these Iraqi Jews' first decades in Israel. Faced with ill treatment and discrimination from state officials, Iraqi Jews resisted: they joined Israeli political parties, demonstrated in the streets, and fought for the education of their children, leading a civil rights struggle whose legacy continues to influence contemporary debates in Israel. Orit Bashkin sheds light on their everyday lives and their determination in a new country, uncovering their long, painful transformation from Iraqi to Israeli. In doing so, she shares the resilience and humanity of a community whose story has yet to be told. |