Internal Migration of Ethno‐national Minorities: The Case of Arabs in Israel

Abstract

Recent scholarship emphasizes differences among ethnic groups' internal migration patterns. Yet, with few exceptions, research has focused on the Anglo-American world, neglecting experiences from other regions. This paper is part of a larger research project that studies mobility among the Arab minority in Israel and its driving forces. In this paper we examine patterns of internal migration by analysing the propensity to migrate as well as migrants' individual and social characteristics. First, we survey the theoretical backdrop that is suggested by recent geographic literature on internal migration among ethnic and racial minorities, including native groups. Second, we contextualize the group studied, providing necessary background information on the political, socio-economic and demographic conditions of Arabs in Israel. We briefly discuss attributes that are -or have been -potential hindering factors to Arab mobility in the Jewish state. Finally, we analyse 1995 national census data at the micro scale and provide a basis for future explanations of the phenomenon. We conclude by outlying some future directions in the study of internal migration of minorities in Israel.

Genotyping of geographically diverse Druze trios reveals substructure and a recent bottleneck

“…The expected fraction of the genome shared in segments of lengths between [3,4]cM is π 3 -π 4 , and in segments 44 cM is π 4 . As these quantities depend on two unknowns, N 0 and T s , matching them to the observed data points yields two equations in two variables, which we solved numerically using Matlab's fsolve.…”

“…We considered only segments shared between Druze and non-Druze and computed a decay curve as above, but for just two bins: [3,4]…”

“…29,30,[32][33][34] To date the split between the Druze and the non-Druze Middle-Eastern populations, we pooled all Druze populations and all non-Druze populations and considered two data points: the mean fraction of the genome covered by segments shared between Druze and non-Druze at lengths between [3,4]cM and above 4 cM. Assuming no gene flow between Druze and other Middle-Eastern populations since the split between them, we are left with just two parameters to infer (Figure 3b), which we did using a simple theoretical extension of the model of Palamara et al 29 (see Materials and methods).…”

“…1,2 Worldwide, there are ≈1.5 million Druze, residing mainly in Syria (40-50%), Lebanon (30-40%), Israel (8%), Jordan (1-2%), and the United States (1-2%). 3 For centuries, Druze have strictly prohibited marriage to non-Druze and limited conversion into the religion. These religious practices, combined with residence in isolated, mountainous regions, have made the Druze population a unique candidate for genetic research.…”

Reconstructing Druze population history

“…Contemporary Druze comprise an aggregate of Levantine and Near Eastern communities residing almost exclusively in the mountain regions of Syria (500,000), Lebanon (215,000), Israel (136,000) and Jordan (20,000), although with an increasingly large diaspora in the USA123. Almost half of the total population of Druze live on Mount Hauran, alternatively known as Jabal al-Durūz, or the Mountain of the Druze, south of Damascus.…”