Rights Beyond Borders: Everyday Politics of Citizenship in the Israeli Diaspora

Abstract

This article examines the process by which Israeli migrants define, perceive and negotiate their diasporic citizenship rights and duties as regards their home state. Rights are a bundle of symbolic and material services conferred by the state upon citizens abroad and include among other things ceremonies marking national holidays, language enrichment classes for the 1.5 and second generations, and homeland art and literature fairs. Recognition of the entitlement of nationals residing abroad to these rights is accompanied by a demand for symmetry manifested by the fulfillment of cultural duties. I focus in this article on the case of the Israeli community in Los Angeles and its members' quest to be recognised as diasporic citizens. By analysing narratives of state officials and local activists in the context of Israel's Independence Day Festival, I show how a discourse of citizenship beyond borders is framed within different articulations of rights and duties.

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