A case of double rejection: The immigration of Sephardim to Australia

This article is based on a community study conducted between the years 1979–1984 for a PhD. thesis and focuses on the immigration of Oriental Jews to Australia. The major arguments put forward are: (a) That the ‘White Australia Policy’ explicitly and openly excluded non‐whites from entry into Australia before, during and well after World War II. Among these were Sephardim who originated in Asian countries, who did not qualify because they could not demonstrate that they were ‘75 per cent of European origin and upbringing’, (b) The relationship of strain between the local Jewish Ashkenazi (Jews originated in Europe) community, who acculturated to the Anglo‐Celtic culture so much that they in several ways represented the ‘white Australians’, and their brethren the Sephardim, to whom the Jewish organisation, the Australian Jewish Welfare Society (AJWS) refused help. This article offers some explanations for the refusal of the Jewish Organization to help Sephardim to enter Australia.