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When Africa Comes to Israel

There is a new threat to Israel, although the people raising it are entirely innocent. The threat is represented by a growing population of African refugees, mainly escapees from the hellish dictatorships of Eritrea and Sudan, who are pouring over the Egyptian border into Israel and settling in some of the country’s poorer neighborhoods, especially in Tel Aviv. They’re now coming at the rate of more than 1,000 each month, according to recent government statements. In summer 2006, when the presence of these new immigrants first gained public notice, the State Attorney’s office numbered them at fewer than 200. Then, they were strictly a humanitarian concern. And this continues to be so: The people from Darfur and Southern Sudan have fled annihilation; those from Eritrea fled war, lifetime military conscription and persecution. A substantial proportion of refugees from both places were tortured along the way, many of the women have been gang raped by their Sinai Bedouin guides, and all the refugees dodged brutal imprisonment or death at the hands of Egyptian border guards.

‘Accidental Mexican’ Ilan Stavans probes cultural identity in first play

As an \”accidental Mexican\” born to an Eastern European family, author and essayist Ilan Stavans has hurdled critics to become one of the nation\’s foremost commentators on Latino culture. As a Mexican American, he has written widely on immigration, the clash and fusion of languages and the quest for acceptance.

‘Non-Jewish’ Jews endure challenges living in Israel

In Israel, the \”non-Jewish Jews,\” as some Israelis call them, are everywhere. They drive buses, teach university classes, patrol in army jeeps and follow the latest Israeli reality TV shows as avidly as their Jewish counterparts. For these people — mostly immigrants from the former Soviet Union who are not Jews according to Israeli law — the question of where they fit into the Jewish state remains unanswered nearly two decades after they began coming to Israel.

Living and Working [Il]legally in America — It’s Not Just for Latinos Anymore

According to statistics compiled by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), during 2004 alone, 540 Israelis were deported or about to be deported. If that many Israelis were caught, it stands to reason that there are many thousands more — in Los Angeles as well as the rest of the United States — who have not yet been located by authorities.

Spectator – Scene of the Shot

Although he became famous for graphic, sensationalist and emotionally raw photographs that simultaneously exaggerate and illuminate human folly, Weegee never forgot his Lower East Side roots as an immigrant Jew.

Most Ethiopians in Israel Find Life Hard

The mix of Western and African culture at the Zamena club, one of a small number of discos that cater to Israel\’s young Ethiopian immigrant set, appears to be an extension of these young Ethiopians\’ experience in life in Israel, in general.

Some were born in Israel or came here as young children. Along with their parents, they made their way to Israel as part of the modern exodus-style airlifts of Operations Moses and Solomon in 1984-85 and 1991.

Read Your Way to Cultural Literacy

Julie Sandorf recalls her immigrant grandparents telling her that they learned to be Americans at the public library, where they improved their English and learned more about American culture.

Where Immigrants Once Mingled

After World War II, when Japanese Americans were sent home from internment camps in Wyoming and Arizona, many found their lives had changed in untold ways. For Kenji Tanaguchi, his return to Boyle Heights — an immigrant community east of the Los Angeles River — was colored by what was no longer there: his family had returned to Japan, and he was left to fend for himself.

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More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.

More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.