AFP/Getty Images: Rose Fostanes celebrating after winning the X Factor.1
Give Me a Worker,
Hold the Human:
workers, images of Thai nannies in Taiwan and factory workers moving from rural to urban China seem more commonplace than workers moving to the Middle East. However, of the 109,000 migrant workers documented in Israel, about half are from Southeast Asia, with the Philippines and Thailand
Israel’s Invisible Residents
taking the lead, followed by migrants
I
migrant workers in Israel began in the
by Jolene Hsu
f you had to guess the winner of The
from Eastern Europe and Africa.1 ,2 The increase in the number of
support Fostanes has from her Israeli
1990s, when Israel wanted to find a new
X Factor in Israel, I’m betting a Fili-
fans, her migrant status makes it impos-
source of non-Palestinian labor.2 Today,
pino migrant worker would not be your
sible for her to sign a recording contract
these migrant workers are the founda-
first guess. Rose Fostanes, who moved
or tour the country via Israeli corporate
tion of the Israeli economy, performing
to Israel to work as a caregiver, was just
support. Though a standout on stage,
practically every low-cost job in the
crowned the winner this past January.
Fostanes is just one of the thousands of
country. Common jobs include those of
Fostanes represented a huge milestone
migrant workers in Israel, struggling
caregivers like Rose, as well as sanita-
in Israel for immigrants, as their pres-
against the Israeli immigration system
tion workers, field hands and construc-
ences tend to be marginalized in society
that too often denies not only citizen-
tion workers. These jobs are dirty, dan-
rather than thrust into the spotlight.
ship, but proper labor and social rights.
gerous or dull—the less desirable jobs
However, despite the overwhelming
When one thinks of Asian migrant
that are nonetheless essential to society.
1 http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/15/world/meast/israel-x-factor-winner-philippines/ 2 http://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/israel-balancing-demographics-jewish-state
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Give Me a Worker, Hold the Human: Israel’s Invisible Residents 19