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Old May 6th, 2017 #1
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Post French immigration to Israel faltering due to integration failure

High housing costs, difficulty in finding work that matches their skill set and cultural differences are the classic challenges faced by new immigrants to Israel. Shmuel Trigano, a Paris University emeritus professor of sociology of religion and politics, meanwhile, says that another less obvious challenge is the intellectual one.

Trigano, 69, was born in Algeria and moved to France as a teenager at the conclusion of the Algerian War of Independence. He co-founded the non-profit organization Dialogia with Max Benhamou; the two are both French citizens who immigrated to Israel.

Dialogia seeks to create an intellectual bridge between French immigrants and Israeli society. The two say that the number of immigrants from France to Israel is on the decline, despite the rise in anti-Semitism in their country and continent of origin.

Their data show that a third of those who do end up immigrating don’t remain. They instead liquidate their assets in the Jewish state and return to French. They bring with them negative stories of their failed integration into Israeli society, which circulate amongst potential immigrants and may dissuade them from immigrating themselves.

Trigano spoke with Ynet on the subject.

What failures do you identify in the absorption process?

“Of course, this is made up of a number of elements, but one of the most prominent failures in the absorption of immigrants from France is its unique character. This is not an immigration of distress, but rather of middle class people who come from a country that is one of the most developed and civilized in the world, with a magnificent intellectual history. …

“This population is drawn to geographical areas with a concentration of the Israeli middle class—mainly to the Dan region—where the housing crisis is reaching huge proportions. Today, none of the immigrants wants to buy another apartment at exorbitant prices, or alternatively to put down roots in a system that has no protection for tenants, when every year the landlord can remove the tenant from their home or raise the rent. That’s a hard way of life for many families.”

But you’re describing a problem that concerns the whole of Israeli society. Even young Israeli-born couples face the same problem.

“True, this is a general Israeli social problem that affects the new immigrants directly. There are a number of problems in Israeli society that concern new immigrants and make it difficult for them.

“The immigrants have ideals and thoughts about the Jewish state—ideas that are not realized in Israel. Israel is very dear to the immigrants’ hearts. They don’t describe to themselves the real situation. They have an idea in their hearts in terms of a Jewish people, and the Israelis do not connect to it.

“Many Israelis don’t make an internal determination about their identity. It’s enough for them that they are Israelis, Jews and that they live here. For those who come from abroad, carrying a much more complex iden

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read full article at source: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7...958073,00.html
 
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