Transitaires

While research on Jewish SWANA communities is impressive, less is known about their passage through Europe during the 1950s. This book examines North African Jews’ traumatic journeys across postwar Europe before the majority became citizens of the state of Israel. The stories of ‘the transitaires’, as they were named locally, remain largely unknown. This book is based on archival research, ethnographic exploration, and the author's own family history, giving voice to the countless families who were unabsorbed in Europe and who struggled to overcome decades of traumatic absorption in Israel. The archival work includes records of displaced SWANAJews from 1947 to the early 1960s and oral testimonies from second- and third-generation Jewish families. The research ties a critical analysis of the memory and heritage of Mizrahi Jews in Israel to European history, postcolonial politics, and the historiography of the Palestinian Nakba. It shows that the operation of migration would not have unfolded on such a massive scale without the active role of European countries — imperial France being first among them. Framing Mizrahi history as European heritage, the book aims to highlight the historical role Europe played in shaping Israel Palestine in the wake of the Nakba, while also addressing the centrality of the region in contemporary European political and cultural debate. It explores why this forgotten passage still matters, and how the afterlife of migration and dislocation ties Europe, Israel Palestine, and the Arab world together.