The Hebrew language, in addition to the term Emigrant, has a special term for a person who leaves Israel in order to settle down somewhere else: Yored.
Literally speaking, it means one who has descended. This expression has a distinctive negative aroma, somewhat like the one attached to the word deserter.
On the last decade, a large scale of young Israelis emigrated from Israel to Europe, and Germany in particular. Many still do.
This phenomenon is fueled by many factors: economical, social, cultural, political. The ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the loss of hope for its solution have also a great part in this mass emigration movement.
In many cases, the complex reality of the emigrants who settle down in Germany and other European states ‒ who are in many cases direct descendants of Holocaust survivors ‒ is best illustrated when they get back home for a visit.
The story Back to the Homeland is a fictional one, but it’s based on the experiences of a close person who left Israel, alongside some of my personal experiences of growing up and living in the edgy Israeli environment.
This story was originally made for the international comic magazine in German language Strapazin No. 122 “Abhauen, weggehen, Flucht“ March 2016
