Olumba Olumba in Israel

Struggling on All Fronts1

Bibliographic Data

ID6031099
AuthorsGalia Sabar (0000-0002-1431-8007, Tel Aviv University, corresponding author), Atalia Shragai (Tel Aviv University)
Year2008
Volume6
Issue3
Pages201-225
Publication date2008-08-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAfrican Identities (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1472-5843 • E-ISSN: 1472-5851
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/14725840802223549
OpenAlexW2011184158
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited19

This paper, based on qualitative research, begins with a short overview of the history, theology and daily activities of the Brotherhood of the Cross and Star (BCS) in Israel, from its establishment in 1984 until its dismantling in 2003. Emphasis is given to the interpersonal relations that developed within the BCS congregation and on the relations between BCS and other local African Christian congregations established by African migrant labourers. The main focus will be an analysis of the complex relations between BCS and Israeli society, revolving, for the most part, around relations with the local police, and the ways in which these relations were perceived by other African migrants. Our study will clarify the roots of BCS's exclusion from the broader African migrant community, from the international migrant community and the local Israeli‐Christian community – exclusion which was not only imposed upon them by these other communities, but which was to some extent also a self‐imposed seclusion. Special attention is given to the last months of the Brotherhood in Israel, when the threat of deportation was held over its members' heads. By tracing the ways in which followers re‐constructed their belief in the likelihood of escaping deportation within a strict and coercive religious organization, we shall highlight the nature and level of the Brotherhood's control over its members, as well as the rift between theology and everyday life, between the rhetoric and praxis of official decrees and realpolitik, and between communality and individuality

Criminology · Deportation · Immigration · Political science · Politics · Realpolitik · Sociology · Gender Studies · Global Maritime and Colonial Histories · Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies · Law · Middle East Politics and Society

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