Foreigners and Outsiders: Exclusionist Attitudes towards Labour Migrants in Israel

Abstract

This paper examines theoretical propositions regarding the social mechanisms that produce hostility and discriminatory attitudes towards out‐group populations. Specifically, we compare the effect of perceptions of socio‐economic and national threats, social contact and prejudice on social distance expressed towards labour migrants. To do so, we examine exclusionary views held by majority and minority groups (Jews and Arabs) towards non‐Jewish labour migrants in Israel. Data analysis is based on a survey of the adult Israeli population based on a stratified sample of 1,342 respondents, conducted in Israel in 2007. Altogether, our results show that Israelis (both Jews and Arabs) are resistant to accepting and integrating foreigners into Israeli society. Among Jews, this is because the incorporation of non‐Jews challenges the definition of Israel as a Jewish state and poses a threat to the homogeneity of the nation. Among Arabs, this is probably due to threat and competition over resources. The meanings of the findings are discussed within the unique ethno‐national context of Israeli society and in light of sociological theories on ethnic exclusionism.

Host or hostile? Attitudes towards asylum seekers in Israel and in Denmark

“…Furthermore, the quality of the contact may also affect the way threats are perceived (Stephan and Stephan, 2000). Positive or pleasant contacts should lead to improved inter-group relations, thereby reducing fear of competition, prejudice and social distance (Raijman, 2013). By contrast, the presence of outgroup populations may arouse in people having no social interaction with them, or with negative or unpleasant experiences of it, a feeling of threat, causing them to discriminate against the outgroup.…”

“Do Foreigners Deserve Rights?”—Revisited: The Role of Familiarity and Satisfaction with Foreign Home Care Services

“…Specifically, several studies have shown that mere contact is not enough, but rather positive contact is required in order to reduce prejudice towards minorities (Raijman, 2013). Support for this argument can be derived from experimental research that has shown that negative interactions make intergroup categories more salient (Paolini, Harwood, & Rubin, 2010).…”

“…A different contemporary study has argued that the impact of citizenship status (e.g., foreign status) on discrimination is greater than the impact of ethnic origin (e.g., Arab ethnicity; Raijman, 2009). Among Jews, discrimination is primarily fueled by threat to the Jewish character of the state; among Arabs, discrimination is primarily fueled by economic threat (Raijman, 2013). A different study compared attitudes towards foreign workers in Israel vs. Germany.…”

Newcomers at the Israeli National Table: Transforming Urban Landscapes and the Texture of Citizenship

“…The foreign “infiltrators” constituency, concentrated in urban centers, thus imposes a third ethnic‐cultural entity on the bi‐national Jewish‐Arab Israeli civic formation, a category of people who have also been called “margizens” (Raijman :145). Denied “authentic” membership in the host society, they bring to mind Mary Douglas' categorization in Purity and Danger (1966) of humans or animals lacking the normative characteristics of specific physical‐cultural categories.…”

“…No surprise it circumvents the implementation of a legal system to deal with the current wave of immigrants and asylum seekers (see Kritzman-Amir 2013). Therefore, the most recent influx of many thousands of foreign workers and refugees, devoid of any actual or mythical connection to Jewish history, to the Land, to Zionist nation-building ideology, and lacking family ties to Jews, contradicts the basic doctrine of Israeli citizenship (Raijman 2012;Willen 2003). The scenarios of voluntary assimilation of these unrelated aliens in terms of the traditional melting pot ideology and practice, and of stretching multiculturalism beyond acceptance of an Arab minority, are not among the hypothetical options conceived legitimate in Israeli society.…”