| Popis: |
In this chapter Havkin analyses the symbolic reception of 365 displaced Vietnamese in Israel, an unprecedented event in a country established as a ‘refuge state’ solely for Jews. Emphasising Israel’s special relationship with refugee issues, the reception did not challenge the national resistance to integrating non-Jewish migrants. On the contrary, granting refuge to a few while avoiding the formalisation of a more general refugee policy revealed tensions surrounding asylum in Israel. This chapter unpicks the mechanisms underpinning Israel’s ‘humanitarian gesture’. In the absence of an asylum policy, Vietnamese were considered through existing policies and institutions designed for integration of Jewish migrants (olim). While the newcomers were embraced as ‘foreign-olim’, the warm welcome was often dissolved through micro-decisions of street-level and intermediary agents. This chapter reveals how asylum granted as an exceptional ‘humanitarian gesture’ may consolidate the exclusionary national order. |
