








of who is a Jew has reappeared in countless forms and disputes.
Under Jewish religious law, a Jew is defined as a person whose mother is a Jew. But the Law of Return was drafted to grant Israeli citizenship to those who would have been persecuted as Jews under the Nazis and so was extended to the grandchildren of a Jew. The exception was those who deliberately adopted another faith.
These rules, however, mingled religious and civil definitions in a way that gives rise to endless disputes. Thus a Russian immigrant who is recognized as a Jew for purposes of citizenship may not be recognized as a Jew by the Orthodox rabbis, a conflict that has already created problems with marriages and burials, which are controlled by the Orthodox rabbinate.
Another conflict to which American Jews are particularly sensitive is the resistance of Israeli Orthodox rabbis to recognizing conversions performed by Reform or Conservative rabbis in the United States. Thus an American converted to Judaism in the United States could be judged ineligible to settle in Israel.
In Mrs. Deriev s case, one twist is that she had immigrated first and converted later, she would have had far fewer problems. Once she had re
ceived her citizenship, she would have been free to convert to Christianity.
The Derievs  lawyer, Lynda Brayer, is in fact a South African Jew who was baptized into the Catholic Church after she was already in Israel. Her practice is in human-rights law.
 The only reason they re in trouble is that they didn t lie,  Mrs. Brayer said.
Mrs. Brayer said she believed that the Derievs were victims of a fundamental clash between the Israeli Government s historic effort to bring as many Jews as possible into Israel and the determination of the rabbis to maintain as much control as possible over the purity of the arrivals.
Her argument before the High Court was that the Israeli official in Moscow who told applicants to put  Jewish  or  non-believer  on their application forms did so deliberately, to bring in as many immigrants as possible while the doors were open. She declared that Israel was therefore bound to accept the Derievs.
By contrast, immigrants from the United States would have had to submit to a thorough check by religious authorities before being allowed to make aliyah, as Jewish immigration to Israel is called.
Her next step, Mrs. Brayer said, will be to seek refugee status for the Derievs, so they could at least settle in another country.
213
The Ethnic Factor
International Challenge for the
1990s
I he process of better understanding the multiethnic character of America and the world involves the coordinated efforts of formal and informal education, which are influenced by public and private institutions and the community-based voluntary associations that are the buildinq blocks of society. This collection of articles addresses re-2 fhe challenges that are embedded in passion-tely held and politically potent traditions of ethnic opposition. The persistence of confusion, uncertainty insensitivity, and violence toward and between ethnic ?nr UP^S lS bering and stunnin9 fact. Strategies for dea -S unit	reJlity  f bias are in
this unit. Hatred and prejudice are frequently based on fouX^^^ Of Powerfol images that pro? roundly shape personal and group identity Fxnlndr, other societies is often a way of aain nn f P 9 five on the American reality,"dX^ce? and co^  pondering^16	in this are worth
progress has been made toward mfSt agree that social justice, with increased h 3 c|ety of equality and gation in schools I? 9 5 for decreased seqre-these views among ethn^ldZad^5  disparities of uniformity and a shared sense th groups indicate that not generally common Attemn^6 PaSt and present are gulfs of misunderstandino bef ^tl9 tO overcome such ous forms of con  h  a12T they lead to ^ri-present.	$ the great challenges of the
reorie^d\^	ethnicity has
well as the revival of ancient antanon^ natl0nal claims as Europe. War, the systematic e 9 ms are fra9menting -	ine use and misuse of
ethnically charged political rhetoric. The presen litically relevant past and the invocation of rel rants for group conflict have indicated the nei approaches to peacekeeping and educational for meeting and transcending group differenci tiques challenging multiculturalism, the educatic versy regarding which should be the dominant ( of our human commonality, and the various ' virtues found in all ethnic traditions pose cha economically and socially turbulent times, these moments are crises of growth or declii measured by a host of indicators. Which of I cators are the most salient is, of course, ano tion, whose answer depends on our selective i of historical materials and ethnic symbols as contemporary analysis.
Ethnic relations have erupted into warfare where conflicts have shattered emerging state; challenged the hopeful myth of postcolonial r weH as the racial/ethnic myth of black solidaril rica s emerging countries are not alone: The Mi Central Europe, Canada, and the Balkans are venues of destructive conflict. Each of these J cauldrons not melting pots illustrates the si consequences of unresolved conflict and distrus mg land, religion, culture, leadership, and econ uction and distribution. Each also shows th< and recognitions that fuel human passions, < and the will to dominate and to govern the a estinies of various peoples that cohabit conti 9'0ns. ^0$, the dramas of regional ethnic stn t e growth of worldwide ethnic challenges to t ution of human order itself are increasingly n episodes of blatant bigotry and intolerance. F zealotry impose themselves on the stage c which is rushing toward a new millennium. The of hope that it promises for those who can rec embrace the mystery of diversity waits to defin man condition in the twenty-first century.
214
UNIT 8
Looking Ahead: Challenge Questions
International events frequently affect the United States. In what ways can such events affect ethnic populations?
Explain how the relationship of ethnic Americans to :hanges and challenges in the world arena provides strength or liability to American interests. Does conflict between ethnic interests and national interests present eal or imaginary fears about our activities in international  ffairs? Explain.
How will increased immigration, technological advances, and a more competitive world market affect the relationships between ethnic groups?
Is the American military becoming a society unto itself? Has the end of the military draft isolated military society from the American mainstream? Is national service a duty of citizenship?
Should the claims of ethnic groups in the United States in defense of culture, territory, and unique institutions be honored and protected by law and public policy? Why?
Article 42
Resurgence of Ethnic Nationalisn in California and Germany: The Impact on Recent Progress in Education
Jose Macias
University of Texas at San Antonio
In a comparative study, the author examines the recent passage of California s  anti-illegal immigrant  Proposition 187, and the resurgence of hostility toward resident  foreigners  in Germany, as forms of ethnic nationalism resulting in exclusionary movements directed toward Mexicans, and Turkish and other nonGerman groups, respectively. Historical analysis and data from educational ethnographic studies reveal the interrelationship of historically constructed racial or ethnic ideology, intergroup experience, and education. Schools, while recent targets of exclusionary social movements, are still key sites for an education tn new ways of thinking about racial and ethnic-group relations.
California, 1994: The results of the rail general elections included the passage of Proposition 187 by a large majority of the California electorate. The state referendum proposed to withhold virtually all services and benefits to Uegal immigrants in the state, in-chidmg support to families with dependent children, most health care, and all education to children of undocumented immigrant parents Its Proponents argued that this population does not legally qualify for the aforementioned benefits and ser-burden for the taxpaying citizens of ^ country s largest stal XuS SS?10" has blocked by tion of InT*  rderS  a redefi^ ethnic  rouP relations and
the open persecution of undocumented Mexicans and other suspects was clearly established in the state, region, if not the whole of the United States. [Macias 1995:4-5]
Germany, 1992: During the course of fieldwork in September, a colleague and I sat in a restaurant in Mainz, discussing a variety of topics related to my comparative research project migration, education, and integration of ethnic groups in Germany, as well as related  hot  topics including German reunification, the European Community, guestworkers, and the like. Midway through our main course a sudden flash of light and a deafening thud from the front of the building interrupted the tranquil evening. We were later to learn after the initial shock, confusion, and arrival of the police squad cars that we had just witnessed a violent attack by a German redneck on the Syrian restaurant m which we were dining. Fortunately no one was injured in this incident, there was minor damage to the property, and we were able o continue, as our conversation turned to the escalating German hostility and violence toward foreign residents of Germany that has been reported in recent years by the media and German government itself, [field notes]
In this article, I examine the growing phenomenon of ethnic group conflict EXyathe return of open hos,ility aj nty P Pu*ati n toward Z for TW    are the basis for this discussion: California, with
its Proposition 187, the anti-il grant referendum; and German' marked by growing hostility foreign residents in recent year pose here is to compare and coi two situations to search for th underlying dynamics in which tically weak,  foreign  ethnic g been singled out for societal pi scapegoating, and exclusion objective is to examine the rc cation both as part of the dis well as a potential, albeit parti in this kind of group conflict Two methodological thread; twined here. First, I take a diacl spective to outline some fu historical elements of the two time (Brubaker 1990; Macias 15 This approach assumes that con nomena follow from a series that need to be taken into accoi of an explanation of the pre second line is ethnographic, I draw on data from two proje< out over the last several years. I to 1991, I conducted fieldworl the educational experiences of immigrant students moving in1 school system and within a trai migrant stream (Macias 199( the overall study involved f in immigrant communities am in both Mexico and the Unite the data reported here depict fomia situation before the backlash.
The Mexico-U.S. project nat volved a review of a compart of cases on migration, and th education for the integration o
From ^nthropQioQy Si Edi r
Nation. Reprinted by	PP- 232-252. C 1996 by the American Anthropological
216
groups in receiving nation states. Out of these, the case of Turkish guestworkers and  foreigners  in Germany presented several similarities to Mexican immigrants in the United States. Armed with a few key contacts and German language fluency, I decided to develop this comparative study, and between 1990 and 1993 I conducted fieldwork in Berlin, Hamburg, and Frankfurt. But nobody had foreseen in the late 1980s, when I was still planning the work, Gorbachev and the collapse of the Communist Bloc, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and German reunification. And few were prepared for the open return of hostility toward guestworkers and other non-Germanic ethnic populations of a kind that had not been seen since the end of World War II. The dramatic escalation of this hostility was widely documented during the fieldwork period and added a critical focus to my inquiry.
Ethnographic data presented here :ame from similar sources 
