An immigrant language in a multilingual state: status and group competition (Russian in Israel)

Abstract

This paper explores changes in the status and function of the Russian language in Israel since the 1989 when mass immigration from the former Soviet Union began. Due to a more tolerant attitude to multilingualism and the necessity to accommodate various needs of newcomers, Israeli establishment did not prevent the growing use of Russian in the public sphere. Relying on the monitoring of Russian–Israeli internet sites and participant observation, this paper analyses controversies in Israel's language policy and tensions accompanying the presence of the Russian language on the political arena, in education and in the workplace.

Keywords:

• multilingualism
• language policy
• linguistic capital
• immigrants’ languages
• language-intensive economy

Notes

1. The data of Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics published in July 2014, (www1.cbs.gov.il/publications14/yarhon0714/pdf/b1.pdf, 31 August 2014).

2. The dates following internet addresses of the quoted sources indicate when the site was last accessed.

3. I would like to express gratitude to L. Dashevsky, A. Epshtein, E. Kolchinskya, I. Leybengrub, M. Niznik and S. Rozhinsky whom I consulted on the issues related to their areas of expertise. I would also like to thank anonymous reviewers for their comments and suggestions on the draft of this essay.

4. Later when immigration from the FSU changed from a wave to a trickle, the number of educated FSU immigrants dropped as there were more newcomers from small towns and semi-rural areas. These immigrants are likely to maintain Russian as the main language of communication because the state no longer provides for free Hebrew-language classes for adults as generously as in the early 1990s and so chances for the newcomers to find jobs beneficial for developing Hebrew proficiency have dropped.

5. The Russian language first came to be studied by Palestinian Arabs in the second half of the nineteenth century in schools and a Teacher Training Seminary functioning under the auspices of Russian Orthodox Palestinian Society (Purisman, 2010).

6. The number of Israeli and Palestinian Arabs and Druze who studied in Soviet and FSU Universities is estimated as approximately 3000 (Martynova, http://russian-bazaar.com/ru/content/17160.htm#sthash.pPF5Pxaj.dpuf, 30 August 2014).

7. Most of the students studying Russian at school come from Russian-speaking families. Speakers of other languages are an exception rather than a rule in Russian classes. Their choice is usually determined by the desire to learn the language of their friends. Thus, Russian has become very popular among adolescent Ethiopian Jews in the town of Beit Shemesh who even staged a play in Russian as part of their extra curricula activities (http://www.newsru.co.il, 20 September 2014).

8. Some school subjects studied at high school have three levels of complexity and students can choose the one that is more suitable for their abilities and aspirations for the future.

9. Other culture-related details of this video were allusions to the pioneer organization: “even if you are always as ready as a pioneer” and an implied tolerant attitude to students’ copying from each other: “even if you are to copy, then copy from a pretty girl”.

10. There are several web sites announcing the schedule of the games, explaining the rules, posting reports and documenting game history (see, e.g. http://israel.chgk.info/index.htm, 18 August 2014).

11. An Israeli political scientist, Simon Tsipis suspects that the sign had been authored by a Ukrainian supporter in the conflict raging in Eastern Ukraine rather than by a veteran Israeli. He believes that this manifestation of Russophobia should be carefully studied (Briman, 2014). Some of the commentators of this news report expressed similar suspicions (www.facebook.com/newsrucoil/posts/723672027714740, 8 October 2014).