Where Have All the Jews Gone? Mass Migration from Independent Uzbekistan · 219But this process did not occur without resistance from the powerful root
system that had been holding the population steady for centuries.
Conclusion: A Comparative Framework of Analysis
This chapter focused on the various factors individuals weighed in mak-
ing the difficult decision to leave their age-old Diaspora homeland in
Central Asia. While the analysis is specific to the Bukharan Jewish case,
I believe the approach can also be used to shed light on the reasons for
the Jews’ mass migration from North Africa and the Middle East in the
middle of the twentieth century.
Why and under what conditions the Jews of Arab lands left their
homes are the subject of intense debate that has become inextricably tied
to the politics of the Arab-Israeli conflict. In particular, the way that the
story of the Jews’ mass departure from North Africa and the Middle East
is told has become strongly informed by competing agendas surround-
ing contested Israeli and Palestinian claims to land. At one end of the
debate are those who draw on the Zionist narrative to argue that Israel is
a necessary safe haven for the Jewish people who have long been subject
to persecution in the lands of their dispersion (particularly Arab lands).
From this perspective the Jewish emigrants from North Africa and the
Middle East are refugees who were expelled under duress. At the other
end of the debate are those who draw on postcolonialist theory to argue
that a wedge was drawn between the Jews and their Muslim neighbors
largely due to the emergence of Jewish nationalism and the state of Israel,
both artifacts of colonialism. From this perspective, the emigrants are
displaced people who were transferred from their homes by the Israeli
Zionist establishment.
The case of the Bukharan Jews tends not to trigger such extreme po-
litical reactions because Uzbekistan—though a Muslim country—is not
Arab. Furthermore, their migration—unlike that of the Jews from Arab
lands—did not occur against the background of Israel’s declaration and
fight for her independence. This more neutral case, then, lends itself to a
nuanced analysis rather than one designed as part of an effort to bolster
a particular political agenda.
Despite these keys differences between the cases, there are also im-
portant similarities. Several decades preceding the Bukharan Jews’