4 Dec, 2006 in
Asia-Israel connections . Tags:
Asia-Israel connections; asian; stereotype;
Fili's world
Culture & Travel – China, Hong Kong and Taiwan
Latest
Chinese Tourism in Israel–Interview The importance of studying Chinese – Israeli Prime Minister Growing Chinese studies trend – Israel I came to Israel for Love : China & Thailand Miss Universe 2010 Asia Qi Bao–Shanghai’s local ancient water townTaiwan
Fulong Sand Sculpture Festival 2010 Fulong Beach–Northern Taiwan Maokong Tea Houses – Muzha Taipei’s Maokong Gondola : Traveling through clouds 228 Peace Memorial Park-Museum & Formosa Betrayed Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall More on Taiwan »China
Qi Bao–Shanghai’s local ancient water town Chinese Red Army Orchestra Vintage Lipsynced Parodies Fairy Lake Botanical Gardens Shenzhen Hongfa Temple–Shenzhen CCTV China Documentary : Walk into Israel-The Land of Milk and Honey Dashanghai’s Old Shanghai & Vintage Posters @Duolun Rd More on China »
What do you think the Asian stereotype is in Israel? how do Israelis perceive somebody Asian they see or meet in the streets of Jerusalem or Tel-Aviv?
Since I can’t use very good quantitive research methods, I’ll result to using my simple qualitative methods which are based on my acquaintance with my Asian friends and a my perception of the Israeli media.
My Chinese teacher Lin, who’s originally from China, likes to include a lot of stories about herself and her life in our classes. Here’s the 6th sentence of our last homework (class 5) -
6. 這個大學的警衛問我們的漢語老師：“你是誰？你需要不需要我幫你在哪家餐館找一份工作？”
My quick translation -
A guard at the entrance to the university asked my Chinese teacher : "And you are… ?! Do you want me to help you find work at some restaurant?
(a quick background note – this is about Israel which has very tight security just about everywhere, and that includes guards and metal detectors in the university entrance). Discussing this with Lin before, I’m sure this isn’t a joke.
Most Asians in Israel are foreign workers from Thailand, the Philippines and China that do all kinds of jobs that most Israelis don’t want to do – construction, elderly-care, house-cleaning, agriculture, and stirring up fried-vegetables in Asian fastfood places. As a result, there’s a strong stereotype about Asians and so my Asian friends, who have great jobs or are MA students at the university, are being approached by Israelis who offer them to do house-cleaning or stir-frying. It makes me sad to hear those kind of stories, even though my Asian friends find those amusing.
Israel has a very popular satire show called "It’s a wonderful country" or "Eretz Nehederet", and a nice thing about this show is that they put some of the popular scenes up on the web for anybody to watch. This show is always among the top 3 on the ratings list, and has turned into somewhat of a cult-show. I did a very quick review of all the seasons posted on the web to see if any of them include references to Asians and found 3 :
- A flick about a famous ex-model-businesswoman Pnina Rosenblaum and her Philippine house-maid.
- A flick about an Israeli travel show called Masa Olami (meaning – world travel) joking about the host exploring the sex scene in Thailand.
- A flick about how much Israeli families suffer when their Asian foreign workers are deported.
Israelis/Jews in Taiwan and China have the problem of being referred to by the stereotype of "very good at making money", which might be annoying but could be much worse when considering other countries’ attitude. As for Taiwanese and Chinese in Israel – I’m a bit worried.
Related Posts
- Israel’s Little Asia : Asian newspapers in Israel
- The Israeli-Asian connection : Whom in Asia Israel Armed and Why
- The Chinese stereotype for the “Jewish way”
- Being under constant threat: Political similarities between Israel and East Asian countries
- The Taiwanese perspective on Israel : Taiwan’s “World’s Number 1″ visits Israel
Noju | December 4th, 2006 at 10:53 pm #
They racistly hate Chinese men so much they actually FORBID them from having sex with Israeli women!!!
Klim | October 9th, 2007 at 5:02 am #
they don’t forbid it.
its just that by religous rules you need to be a jewish to merrie or to have sex with a man or a woman.
but not all of the Israelies/Jews are religouse . so stop this shitty excusion becouse one lady didnt give you what you want
天天北极-Carrie | October 10th, 2007 at 1:58 pm #
during this summer vacation, one of my schoolmates travelled to Australia, worked there to support his daily life and even earned his flight ticket back!!!
well, it’s so attracted and inspiring for me!
two of my israeli friends suggested that i could go to israel to teach chinese as part-time, now i’m actually taking this idea very seriously.
people tell me educated chinese teacher is needed much in israel nowaday, but when i searched jobs on internet, i cannot get much information… kind of frustrated, huh~
today after reading this “stereotype”, wow, now i’m more frustrated… >_
james cohen | October 12th, 2007 at 7:57 pm #
Why is that a problem? Jews are good at making money, and we like to be “greedy pigs”
fiLi | October 13th, 2007 at 6:49 am #
The main problem with “Jews are good at making money” is that people tend to resent (and I’m using a mild verb) those they believe are holding the power in the world, and in times of frustration and shortage they maybe act against them as a group. I would dare say this statement is one of the tragedies of the Jewish people and has been causing antisemitic problems for the Jewish people repeatedly for centuries.
Petar | August 5th, 2008 at 1:03 am #
Some Israely Jews are religous and some ae not…just like in any given place on earth…
soysauce | November 10th, 2008 at 8:29 am #
I am a Chinese-American who had been studying medicine at Tel Aviv University in an American Program (Sackler School of Medicine). I have been living there for almost 4 years. Israel is as hill-billy and “white trash” as it can be. Being “White” esp. as American is worhsipped by Israelis. If you are Asians (no what f***** nationality you are), you will always get racism. Met a Flippino dude who wasn’t allowed to go into a bar except for Israelis—wtf! Tel Aviv is better known as “hicksville Tel Aviv.” Simply put, Israel is a thrown back to the old days in the South (US) where being White is priveleged. I got racial taunting from grown adult Jews acting like freaking 2 yr old insulting me often in the streets and also in hosiptals where I did my clerkships. No blacks (Ethiopians) I seen in higher education or doctors in hospitals. One f—up country! Thank god Obama is the president!
Fili | November 10th, 2008 at 9:46 am #
soysauce – It pains me that you feel that way. I’m truly sorry for whatever bad experiences you’ve gone through. I can’t say that I’ve heard this being that bad by any of my Asian friends living in Israel.
Hoping this doesn’t sound insensitive, I think this is an interesting topic in Israeli society that has a diverse representation of people from many countries around the world (though not that many from East Asia or Africa) and so the ethnic pressure within the new society creates alot of tension.
Ethiopians, for example, are relatively late arrivals that came to Israel with few resources, little knowledge of Israel or Hebrew and low to nonexistent educational level. Merging those into society is a true challenge for any society. The 1 million+ Russians merging into a country of 5 million was alsoa big feat for the Israeli society.
Anyways, I hope things will improve for you in the 3 years yet to come. Good luck.
soysauce | November 10th, 2008 at 11:58 am #
fili- my jew bro, I don’t know where you are driving at other than implying there are an influx of “essentially White people” assimilating to the Israeli society. It is not a multicultural society per se. Big difference would be having Blacks or Asians merging into your society because the color of your skin determines whether you will be readily accepted or rejected. Second is that none if any Asians and Blacks are citizens because they are not jews. You have to be a jew or have some semitic lineage to be citizens which I find it disappointing. Asians, if not all, are just foreign workers. So please, implying Israel is a multiracial country other than “White” is far fetch. In America, even it is not perfect, there are Blacks, Asians, and Hispanics represented especially in big cities like NYC, LA, Boston, etc. There are opportunities for those who are willing to work hard and succeed. I can say these are Americans of African, Asian and Hispanics decent. America has come a long way my man. I can’t say this for Israel.
BTW-I will be graduating soon, our program is 4 yr not 7 like the Israeli. Right now in NYC doing my electives at hospitals before returning in Feb. Soon, it will be over.
Fili | November 10th, 2008 at 1:58 pm #
soysauce – I believe many of the “Eastern-Israelis” wouldn’t enjoy being categorized as “white”, and I can’t remember the last time someone referred to me by my ethnic background, yet…
Compared to many other places Israel has an interesting representation of ethnic backgrounds. True, it’s not North America or Western Europe style, but the tensions between European based Jews to North African and Middle Eastern Jews and the recent additions of a very different culture of Euro-Asian Russians and African Ethiopians, not to mention the Arab and Druze communities, did contribute to creating a relatively diverse culture with some ethnic conflicts. Israel, like many other countries, has its share of South East Asia immigrants that are socially of relatively lower class, and so class tensions also come into play.
It’s clear that you have alot more appreciation to how America is dealing with its multiracial immigrants and I won’t argue with you on that, though I see things a bit different. I agree there is room for improvement, which is how this article came to be, yet I’m hoping things are slowly becoming better. After all, it did take a while for America to be able to get to a point where Obama can became president. It’s been a long and painful process for the American society, and I’m sure that even now there is still a long way to go on this issue.
soysauce | November 11th, 2008 at 2:50 am #
fili-I am constantly being reminded who “I am REALLY, REALLY are?” It is kind of f- up your people are so damn ignorant. As always I am asked where I am from. I replied I am from NY. Your people replied, “Your eyes, nose and hair…how can you be American?” That statement really said it all. Now, when I get a statement like this from your people, I just say “You don’t have to be a White man to be American.” It is like your people just got hit by lightning and they shut up like a good obedient dog. Apparently, maybe your people don’t want to get involved with the “r” word—race…this word made its way from the US to the chosen people land—try it next time if you are in Israel.
If I reply yes, I am American, my next question are you born in USA, if yes, “Where are you REALLY from?” Any Asian-American peeps who are reading this blog can attest it is really pathetic for Asian American to justify why they can be American. Your people tend to mix apples with oranges. Second, fili, the Asians you deal with in Israel are the REAL Chinese, Taiwanese, Japanese, Flippinos, Nepalese, etc and are different from Asian Americans. I find over 95% Israelis are extremely close-minded and absolutely retarded. Does a typically jew in israel dare to ask a White man speaking good english, “Where you are really, really from.” Once your people do it more often, even the Whites would say, “What the hell is wrong with these people here, I say I am American but apprently they want to know what European country where I was REALLY REALLY from.” duhhhh.
Fili | November 11th, 2008 at 4:01 am #
soysauce – the way you put down what’s bothering you regarding Israelis seems to have many of the things you say bother you about the way you’re being treated in Israel. That repeating “your people” thing sounds especially bad.
Anyways, I am frequently being related to as an American in Taiwan. It was annoying till I accepted the fact it was a conversation opener that showed interest in who I am, a bit like “Did you eat already?”. When I say I’m Israeli, the usual reaction is “you don’t look Israeli, where are you really from?”. Some people in my international program, not just Taiwanese, ask me directly where my ancestors are from, probably referring to the fact that some Israelis are 2-3rd generation to immigrant Jews. Another conversation opener. I don’t think they were doubting my Israeli identity or saying that I’m lying. I don’t think they’re especially ignorant, they’re just them.
I remember that while traveling I was introduced to a Canadian girl. She asked me if I knew where Canada was, and – having been in Canada a few times – I replied “Sure, it’s in America” to which she turned red and shouted back at me “that’s just f@cking ignorant, we’re not Americans!” and left angrily. I wasn’t sure just what happened till a friend next to me told me that Canadians are really sensitive to being mistaken for being from or belonging to the states. I replied – I have no idea what that has to do with what I said, I just said Canada is in America, North America, what’s the problem with that?
Which just goes to say – people are sensitive to what they’re sensitive to. Not that there aren’t any ignorant racist people out there, but making the generalization that everybody is like that is as ignorant and racist.
Just my two agorot.
soysauce | November 11th, 2008 at 11:48 pm #
fili-what does canadian has to do with you staying in taiwan. It would be more pertinent if a taiwanese comments where you are really from because that is where you are studying. Being Asian in Israel, you are treated as 4th or 5th class “citizens”. Riding these two jew airlines (israir and el-al) I cringed because I treated like an al-quida member. Two most bigoted and racially profiling messed up airlines that gave me troubles boarding the plane. Sad was that another Asian decent flying and a woman with head scarf got the same treatment. Ride Swisse Air, Air-Italia and Aerosvits, treated with respect just like the locals. Even your people received Glatt kosher and was treated same as me and everyone else. Got off the plane with seas of Whites, got pulled over by Israeli customs, f–k..why? Could race be a factor? I could not imagine anyone will be treated like this. Then again these are the Jews of Israel. It is a liability to be Asian in Israel. Being White shields anyone from racism in your country. There are many shits I encountered in your country, bro. In NY, race is less of an issue. There was a Korean American girl left the program because she was sexually harassed in the streets and where ever she goes. She had never had this shit when she was in Africa. Even Flippina friends of mine get this sexual crap. Could the Jews have some Asian fetish that they are the best things to offer to them than god? My jew bro, if I was a white man in Israel, your people would serve me in a silver platter. My 2 cents w/o tax.
Mical | November 19th, 2008 at 9:29 pm #
soysauce- I’m half filipino and half israeli – sorta. both my parents are jewish, but regardless, i do look pretty much asian… in israel and egypt.. i got anything from kazakh, to colombian and even thailand… [and okay, i also got Israeli.. up until I went to the meat counter to pay for my ice cream...] (interestingly though, never filipino) that pretty much gives you a good view of what i look like, yeah?
here in the philippines, i get american, spanish, italian, or some other country like that.
i love israel to bits…
and i am an american citizen.
i DID get this sexual harassment shit in ha’aretz too… walking down the streets, a car passed by full of teenage boys and they were .. well, hooting at me.
but on the other hand, there WAS very respectful type of being hit on…
i was walking on the street, and this [very attractive, i might add] guy walked by and told me, in hebrew, that i was very beautiful. and there were times when people just looked at me – but not at all in the creepy way.
I was different.
And they thought it was beautiful..
beign different, I mean.
The thing is, i got more or less the same treatment in America – and I am an American citizen and speak English with a British-American accent. (hey, im jewish, and jews tend to be very mixed)
i had the same sexual harassment, there too – if not in a harsher degree in the states.
heck, i even get that here in the philippines.
and I asure you, i do not dress like a slut. i wear exactly the same clothes as every other american/filipino/israeli teenager, depending on where i am.
the thing im trying to point out is,
it’s not just the asians, and its not just the israelis.
everyone gets sexual harassment [white people get harassed here in the philippines]…
we’re not so descriminated just because we’re asians.
and we can’t help it if the stereotype for our race is negative…
think back to america, the stereotypical jew isn’t exactly the best…
i, as well as the handful of jewish girls that went to school with me, got descriminated for being a jew there and here in the PHILIPPINES. [yes, thats where filipinos are from] – laughed at, mocked, and sexually harassed. eyah, apparently jewish women have a reputation for being sluts in some places.
so, there.
the view from both sides of the spectrum..
you can’t blame israelis as a whole for being ignorant and/or racist, just as much as you can’t for americans. [when i went to america, the BLACK guy handling my luggage told me he thought i couldn't speak english when he first saw me]
sure, its unfortunate that the asian stereotype [im mostly upset about the filipino stereotype, where hebrews even turned the name into a word [filipinit] that meant caregiver] is that of a worker… but let’s face it, what else would you expect with hundreds of asians flocking to ha’aretz solely for the purpose of working? [think of the mexicans who moved to america... how many "running from border patrol" or "jumping the border" jokes have you heard of in your lifetime so far?]
basically, what im trying to say is, get over yourself.
Fili | November 20th, 2008 at 7:50 am #
Soysauce – sorry you feel that way. I’ve never heard someone feel this bad towards Israel/Israelis on this issue.
Mical – thanks for sharing that. What you describe sounds a bit more like what I hear from my Asian friends in Israel.
Joy | December 27th, 2008 at 6:21 am #
Fili and Mical, I can see your reasoning, but I don’t think you guys can fully understand where Soysauce is coming from.
I’m Chinese American woman and grew up in the midwest suburbs, now I live in NYC. I have never lived in Israel, but I have had an Israeli guy roommate before, as well as dated an Israeli or 2. My other roommate who is an Indonesian (from Indonesia) girl moved to NY a couple of years ago and has a thing for Jewish culture so she’s very friendly with orthodox NY Jews as well as Israelis. And the same friendliness reciprocated. Although these views are from a girl’s perspective. Especially being a pretty girl, no matter what ethnicity we are from, men will notice and though they can still be racist it’s not received as maliciously as if they are putting you down purely for your race. I’m sure Soysauce wasn’t being sexually harassed on the streets of Tel Aviv, rather they were purely putting him down because they are insulting him for his race by the way he looks. And you can’t really compare sexual harassment to what inflicted on him by random strangers. You have to admit as degrading as being hooted at by strange men is, it’s still a type of flattery. And I’m sure it’s because you’re attractive enough that you’re not getting racial insults thrown at you by strangers for your outward appearance. I think eastern asian and african ethnicities always have an inferiority stereotype in cultures that value white-eurocentric characteristics.
Like I said I’ve never been to Israel, but growing up in suburban ohio and cincinnati, I know the white trash hick types too well. I remember children being racist to me for being asian all the way till middle school. And I can imagine that scenario happening in Tel Aviv. In bigger cities, if there are types cat calling at women on the streets then they’re the same types throwing racial slurs at random men. I rarely see any men in the suburbs cat calling at anybody, but in NYC, that’s every 5 min. And as you all agreed, most people of asian ethnicity in Israel are what we would call “the help”, then there’s even less of a standard of respect applied to their stereotype. So I can only imagine how annoying it must be to go through living there with strangers being so low class and publicly disrespectful.
I don’t think it’s fair to say all Israelis are racist and disrespectful, but I can see how painful it could be for him with enough of the losers that are being assholes.
I guess one thing we can agree on, racism is all over the world and not just inflicted by one race, and that Israeli men have really explosive tempers >.<
israeli | August 23rd, 2009 at 7:30 pm #
asians are perfectly welcome in israel.
i only read the first couple of comments – about how asian are not allowed to have sex (?!) – that is just evil smear.
i guess if you visit you will see for yourself.
chinese are a particular case: chinese people are treated with all the awe that a small country feels toward a super power especially a not very friendly super power, but china as a country is not very popular. we dont understand how self respecting people can threaten a much smaller and practicly defensless country (roc).
israelis feel the analogy between israel and taiwan
and china and the muslim world.
samuel welsh | August 26th, 2009 at 1:16 am #
Jewish people are awesome as well as asian people too please support them.
Fili | August 31st, 2009 at 3:56 pm #
@Israeli – as the Israeli author of this blog I tend to slightly disagree with your somewhat simplified view of how Asians are perceived in Israel. “Chinese people treated with awe”?! I honestly don’t understand what Israel you’re talking about.
As for the reference to the Chinese not allowed to have sex, the article mentions Israeli employers of Chinese labour foreign workers who were forced to sign contracts with such restrictions to be allowed in the country. This doesn’t include any other Chinese or Asians and doesn’t represent any official Israeli policy in any way.
Maia | July 22nd, 2010 at 11:31 am #
I'm a Filipino who's currently on vacation in Israel. Just like Mical who posted above, I look rather different from the regular Filipino and even in my own country, I'm mistaken as a foreigner or as someone with “mixed blood”. In addition, I speak English fluently and I have a Master's degree. Suffice it to say that Israelis wouldn't guess that I'm Filipino. I'm proud of my nationality, though, and I never hide it. But when Israelis find out that I'm Filipino, I'm met with shock and disbelief. Sometimes, I'm asked, “But why do you speak English so fluently? Did you study in the States?” The question infuriates me because of the implication that we couldn't speak English well if we don't learn it abroad. Understandably, not many people are aware that English is actually one of our country's official languages and is used in the media, in education and in government.
The other day, I was dining at a restaurant in Tel Aviv and was asked where I'm from by a guy at the next table. I explained that I was Filipina and in the course of our conversation, I also mentioned that I'm on vacation. He responded, “Oh, well it's nice to see Filipinos who are here as tourists and not here to work.” I honestly didn't know how to respond to that and wasn't sure if it was a compliment to me or an insult directed at my countrymen.
Another time, I was walking around in Allenby Street and I was stopped by roving immigration officers asking to see my passport. Upon learning that I was Filipino, the officers began to harass me and to question me more aggressively. They asked me when I arrived in the country, why I'm in the country, if I have a return ticket, etc. I bet if I were white or if I had an American passport, they wouldn't have asked me those things! They might not have stopped me in the first place! I've been to a lot of countries as a tourist and I've never been treated so rudely for being a foreigner.
I have great respect for Filipinos who have gone abroad to work. They endure tremendous personal sacrifices just to provide for their families. In addition, their remittances are a huge help to the nation's economy. It's very unfortunate that on top of all this, they have to endure prejudice.
I love a lot of things about Israel and I'm glad to have been able to visit the country. However, I do hope that people become aware of the existing prejudice against Asians and other foreigners. Because of the country's history and also because of the anti-semitism that persists until today in some parts of the world, I would've expected Israelis to be more vigilant against all forms of discrimination. I hope that in the near future, all non-Jews and foreigners in Israel will also be treated with the respect that they deserve.
Fili | July 26th, 2010 at 3:34 am #
Maia – thanks for sharing your personal story. I do feel awkward reading some of those Israeli biases about Filipinos, but I'm glad you're able to look beyond those. I share your hopes that signs of discrimination and such biases would decrease with time.