Once A Diaspora, Always A Diaspora? The Ethnic, Cultural and Political Mobilization of Kurdistani Jews in Israel

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper examines the experiences of Kurdistani Jews who were airlifted to Israel from Iraq in the early 1950s with the Operations Ezra and Nehemiah. The article seeks to answer questions regarding what transnational ties Kurdistani Jews have with their former homeland in Iraq, how their ethnic, cultural, and political mobilization transpires in Israel, and whether the Kurdistani Jewish community in Israel may be considered a diaspora. The article scrutinizes their (allegedly) enduring diasporic situation and identity formation in the specific context of ethnic and cultural mobilization regarding the community’s former homeland. It also examines how this community maintain their attachment to the KRI and what kind of transnational activities they pursue to create a bridge between Israel and Kurdistan. The arguments are based on extensive fieldwork in Israel, consisting of semi-structured interviews with first and new generation Kurdish Jews who live in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, between October 2018 and May 2019.