Keynote speaker: Aviva Halamish
The history of the Yishuv and the modern state of Israel is inextricably linked with immigration. Advancing of the Jewish population in Palestine had been the raison d'être of the Yishuv, which sought to establish an independent Jewish entity in Palestine. After the founding of the state, then, Israel’s history has been shaped by the absorption of massive immigration from a variety of different countries which lead to the multicultural fabric and dynamics of the Israeli society today.
The aim of this international conference is to discuss different aspects of the phenomenon of immigration, how it has shaped the Israeli society, as well as perspectives and methods for studying the issue. The conference will bring together scholars from various disciplinary backgrounds who research immigration to Israel from any given country, both in the pre-state period and in the modern state of Israel.
Invited are proposals engaging with (but not limited to) the following topics:

- Sources, perspectives, methods in the study of migration to Israel (e.g., perspective of absorbing society versus individual perspectives; questions of gender, class, age, family status, and everyday life; use of different source types, such as ego-documents, newspapers, social welfare documents)
- Comparability versus uniqueness of migration to Israel (e.g., comparison of migration to Israel with other destinations of Jewish migration; comparison between different waves of migration to Israel and the Yishuv)
- Different stages of the migration process (e.g., pre-migration, decision-making-process, planning; physical migration (journey), arrival, first absorption)
- Immigrants and the absorbing society (e.g., immigrant organizations/landsmannschaften, longevity of migrant status, newcomers vs. oldtimers)
- Emigration and remigration (Yordim)
- Non-Jewish migration to Israel (e.g., labor migration, asylum seekers, family unification)

Please send a brief proposal of the proposed talk (300 words maximum) and a short CV to viola.rautenberg@igdj-hh.de by January 15th 2019.

Costs of accommodation will be covered and - depending on the approval of pending applications - travel expenses will be reimbursed.