Efrat Yerday - Rethinking Israeli Citizenship: The Case of Ethiopian Jews

Efrat Yerday, Ph.D. Candidate in Sociology at Tel Aviv University, Israel's Chairperson of the Association of Ethiopian Jews, and the 2020 recipient of the New Israel Fund's “Guardian of Democracy” Gallanter Prize, presents a public talk that was recorded on Feb. 10 on Ethiopian Jews' struggle for naturalization between 1955-1975.The story of Ethiopian Jewish immigration to Israel typically begins after 1975.

But foregrounding the pre-1975 years offers a unique case study for understanding the Israeli-Jewish citizenship regime and immigrants who do not conform to the normative and racialized national character of citizenship.

This talk is part of Protest, Race and Citizenship across African Worlds Winter 2021 Online Lecture Series. Sponsored by the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies and African Studies Program, in partnership with the Center for Global Studies, Comparative History of Ideas, Near Eastern Languages & Civilization, Simpson Center for the Humanities at the University of Washington and the Henry M. Jackson Foundation. This lecture was additionally sponsored by the Stroum Center for Jewish Studies at the University of Washington.