Temporary migration of Palestinian students to the former USSR: motivations, conflicts and impact

Abstract

ABSTRACT The article traces Palestinian Arab graduates in Israel, who acquired HE in the former USSR. The article clarifies the unique contribution of these studies to social, economic and political aspects of Palestinian Arab society in Israel. Qualitative methodology was employed, eliciting data from semi-structured interviews with 20 Palestinian Arab graduates, selected by ‘snowball’ method to represent two generations of students that migrated temporarily to the USSR for their studies. The findings indicate that the financial factor was a decisive motivator to study in the former USSR.As active communist party members, they received full scholarships for USSR universities. A ‘push’ factor was that the difficulty involved in gaining acceptance for prestigious disciplines in Israeli universities, free professions desiredby Palestinian students from Israel to free them from reliance on Israeli establishment employment. On graduation, the students returned to Israel, where they underwent a re-integration into a traditional Arab society that had hardly altered since they left. It is concluded that the former USSR supported and reinforced the economic, social and political fabric of Palestinian Arab society in Israel, training skilled academics and professionals who provide essential services and support for their society.