RN Documentary: Illegal in Israel - The Story of Juan and Josie
From: Radio Netherlands Worldwide
Series: RN Focus on Torn Lives - Stories from the Holy Land
Length: 29:29
In the 1990s, 300,000 foreigners went to Israel in search of work. They were replacing Palestinian workers who had been barred from entering Israel after the outbreak of the intifada or Palestinian uprising.
The migrant workers were recruited by middlemen, and they had to pay hefty fees of up to $15,000 for the right to enter Israel.
The foreigners are required to work for the employer who hired them. If they change employers, they become illegal. Critics describe Israel's work permit policy as modern-day slavery.
Two-thirds of migrant workers in Israel today are illegal, and the authorities are kicking them out. 2,000 are being deported every month, and the government hopes to increase the figure to 5,000 a month.
Juan and Josie went to Israel from the Philippines eight years ago. Now they and their three children also face expulsion.
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Related Pieces
Piece Description
In the 1990s, 300,000 foreigners went to Israel in search of work. They were replacing Palestinian workers who had been barred from entering Israel after the outbreak of the intifada or Palestinian uprising. The migrant workers were recruited by middlemen, and they had to pay hefty fees of up to $15,000 for the right to enter Israel. The foreigners are required to work for the employer who hired them. If they change employers, they become illegal. Critics describe Israel's work permit policy as modern-day slavery. Two-thirds of migrant workers in Israel today are illegal, and the authorities are kicking them out. 2,000 are being deported every month, and the government hopes to increase the figure to 5,000 a month. Juan and Josie went to Israel from the Philippines eight years ago. Now they and their three children also face expulsion.
Transcript
Radio Netherlands presents a special series “Torn Lives: Stories from the Holy Land”
CD 206594-4 (2’00”)
Little Girl from Israel (Victor Cavini – CD Sonia / Middle East-Arabia-Iran-Israel, CD 77092)
Radio Netherlands, the Dutch International Service, presents “Illegal in Israel: The Story of Juan and Josie”. The programme is produced by Eric Beauchemin.
JUAN-1 0’20”
I came first, like two months before her. And I told her maybe it’s better for you to come here also so that we can save money for the family because there’s no work in the Philippines. I came as a tourist and then I saw here the condition of work, and they pay very nice. Compared to the Philippines, it’s a lot of money, so we decided to stay.
Home for Juan and Josie for the past 8 years has been a suburb of Tel Aviv. In the 1990s, 300,000 foreigners went to Israel in search of work. The immigrants we...
Read the full transcript
Musical Works
Little Girl from Israel, Victor Cavini – CD Sonia / Middle East-Arabia-Iran-Israel, CD 77092 2'00"
Al Kassam al Fistini, In A'd Rifaki, Palestine Music of the Intifada, CDVE 29, 1989, 0'55"
Related Website
Geo Beach
Posted on November 30, 2004 at 06:43 PM | Permalink
Review of RN Documentary: Illegal in Israel - The Story of Juan and Josie
-- Johnny Clegg, "Jericho"
The hub of a problem is always small, the spokes far-reaching, then the dizzy spin of larger life. So with Israel, that small state, unraveled and woven by a diaspora across oceans and time, until it is folded into our papers and lives.
Here's a chance to begin some understanding beyond selfish Yankee shores. Radio Netherlands combines the intelligence of BBC, the of aerodynamics of NPR, the one-person-at-a-time of CBC. Eric Beauchemin is an accomplished producer (2004 Gold WorldMedal, best longform investigative report) who focuses on the consequences of war and human rights. He's unapologetically present in this doc, bringing an engaged human journalism that's been largely abandoned in America in favor of "balance".
The voices Eric gets talking seem attached to actual lives in a way we've grown immune to, that our ears are not attuned to. "Illegal in Israel" maintains solid reportage and a clear non-fiction narrative about migrant workers. What's unique is the tone – this news story feels so much more story than the fact packages we've been told is and sold as "news".
Can you find a time, later at night, when your listener is lying in bed, still cogent, but divorced enough from the day's minutia to crawl into another man's skin?
Then play Eric Beauchemin's "Illegal in Israel", where the annoying details of immigration butt up against the philosophies of our interior landscapes.