Vietnamese refugees in Israel
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Vietnamese refugees in Israel are a community of
overseas Vietnamese Overseas Vietnamese ( vi, người Việt hải ngoại, or ) refers to Vietnamese people who live outside Vietnam. There are approximately 5 million overseas Vietnamese, the largest community of whom live in the United States. The oldest ...
who arrived in
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
from 1977 to 1979. The State of Israel permitted approximately 366
Vietnamese boat people Vietnamese boat people ( vi, Thuyền nhân Việt Nam), also known simply as boat people, refers to the refugees who fled Vietnam by boat and ship following the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. This migration and humanitarian crisis was at its ...
fleeing the 1975 Communist takeover of Vietnam to enter the country during that time period.


Rescue and arrival

The most well-known rescue operation took place on June 10, 1977 in which an Israeli freighter ship called the ''Yuvali,'' en route to
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the no ...
, sighted the passengers. This group of about 66 Vietnamese refugees was the first of three to arrive in Israel between 1977 and 1979. Those who remained in Israel as citizens are now known as Vietnamese-Israelis. Prime Minister
Menachem Begin Menachem Begin ( ''Menaḥem Begin'' (); pl, Menachem Begin (Polish documents, 1931–1937); ''Menakhem Volfovich Begin''; 16 August 1913 – 9 March 1992) was an Israeli politician, founder of Likud and the sixth Prime Minister of Israel. ...
was quoted as having compared them to Holocaust refugees:
"We never have forgotten the boat with 900 Jews, the ''St. Louis'', having left Germany in the last weeks before the Second World War… traveling from harbor to harbor, from country to country, crying out for refuge. They were refused… Therefore it was natural… to give those people a haven in the Land of Israel."
Begin ordered Israeli diplomats to travel to
refugee camps A refugee camp is a temporary settlement built to receive refugees and people in refugee-like situations. Refugee camps usually accommodate displaced people who have fled their home country, but camps are also made for internally displaced peop ...
for the Vietnamese and offer them asylum in Israel. An
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. new ...
broadcast from October 26, 1979 covered one of the arrival flights in which a refugee stated he would like to thank the government of Israel and Prime Minister Menachem Begin "to give us a homeland while the other countries were still reluctant to take us when we left our country to flee from the barbaric regime of communism." According to a report by JNS, in the refugee camps in the Philippines, Israel offered priority asylum to married couples.


Demographics

Many of the refugees settled around
Jaffa Jaffa, in Hebrew Yafo ( he, יָפוֹ, ) and in Arabic Yafa ( ar, يَافَا) and also called Japho or Joppa, the southern and oldest part of Tel Aviv-Yafo, is an ancient port city in Israel. Jaffa is known for its association with the b ...
and
Bat Yam Bat Yam ( he, בַּת יָם or ) is a city located on Israel's Mediterranean Sea coast, on the Central Coastal Plain just south of Tel Aviv. It is part of the Gush Dan metropolitan area and the Tel Aviv District. In 2020, it had a population ...
. Most Vietnamese-Israelis are
Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
, but some are
Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
or
converts to Judaism Conversion to Judaism ( he, גיור, ''giyur'') is the process by which non-Jews adopt the Jewish religion and become members of the Jewish ethnoreligious community. It thus resembles both conversion to other religions and naturalization. " ...
. Many also practice syncretic
ancestor worship The veneration of the dead, including one's ancestors, is based on love and respect for the deceased. In some cultures, it is related to beliefs that the dead have a continued existence, and may possess the ability to influence the fortune of t ...
and celebrate
Vietnamese new year Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia ** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam. * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Ove ...
. According to a special report on JNS, most immigrants only knew Vietnamese when they arrived and no Hebrew, however one individual, Phong Le Quan who served in the pro-American South Vietnam Army learned English from Americans and was able to assist the community as they struggled to communicate for even simple tasks due to a language barrier. Some have Chinese ancestry or some Chinese cultural background. That may be attributed to the group of about 100 refugees who arrived in 1978, described as "ethnic Chinese people who have lived in Vietnam for generations". The first group of about 66 arrivals from 1977 were primarily
Roman Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
, and the group of about 192 refugees from 1979 were primarily of
Kinh The Vietnamese people ( vi, người Việt, lit=Viet people) or Kinh people ( vi, người Kinh) are a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to modern-day Northern Vietnam and Southern China (Jing Islands, Dongxing, Guangxi). The native lang ...
(Vietnamese) ethnic origin. A 2008 paper estimated that there were about 150 to 170 people in the community, including spouses of non-Vietnamese origin. It also estimated this would make Vietnamese-Israelis one of the smallest minorities in Israel. There are approximately 150 to 200 former Vietnamese refugees and descendants were still in Israel. Meanwhile, about half left Israel, mainly for the USA and France to unite with relatives there. Some have even returned to Vietnam in recent years.


Notable individuals

Prominent Vietnamese-Israelis include:
Vaan Nguyen Vaan Nguyen ( he, ואן נויין; born Nguyễn Thị Hồng Vân; April 18, 1982) is an Israeli poet, actress, journalist and social activist. Early life Nguyen is the daughter of Vietnamese refugees, who were part of a group called the ...
, a poet and actress and subject of an award-winning documentary ''The Journey of Vaan Nguyen,'' Dr.
Sabine Huynh Sabine Huynh (born 1972) is a Vietnamese-born French writer, poet, translator, and literary critic, who has lived in Israel since 2001. Biography Born in Saigon during the Vietnam War, Huynh grew up in France, and has lived in England, the Unite ...
, a translator, sociologist and author who fled Vietnam for France in 1976 and has lived in Israel since 2001, and Dao Rochvarger-Wong, who headed
Bank Hapoalim Bank Hapoalim ( he, בנק הפועלים lit. ''The Workers' Bank'') is one of Israel's largest banks. History The bank was established in 1921 by the '' Histadrut'', the Israeli trade union congress (lit. "General Federation of Laborers in the ...
in
Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
.


See also

*
History of the Jews in Vietnam Jews are a minor ethno-religious group in Vietnam, presently consisting of only about 300 people.Cassedy, Ellen "Economic opportunities lure Jews to land of Ho Chi Minh" Jewish Telegraphic Agency 2007-09-30 Although Jews have been present in Vi ...
*
Israel–Vietnam relations Israel–Vietnam relations (Hebrew: יחסי ישראל-וייטנאם; Vietnamese: Mối quan hệ giữa Israel và Việt Nam) refers to the bilateral relations between the State of Israel and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Vietnam and Isr ...


References

{{Ethnic groups in Israel Vietnamese diaspora in Asia Jewish Vietnamese history Refugees in Israel Vietnamese refugees Asian diaspora in Israel Refugees by war