Under Quarantine: Immigrants and Disease at Israel’s Gate

Under Quarantineis the riveting story of Shaar Ha’aliya,acentral immigrant processing campopenedshortly after Israel became an independent state. This historicgateway for Jewish migration was surrounded by a controversialbarbed wire fence. The camp administrators defended thisimposing barrier as a necessary quarantine measure - even as detained immigrants regularly defied itby crawling out of the camp and returningat will.Focusing on the conflicts and complicationssurrounding the medical quarantine, this book brings the history of this place and the remarkable experiences of the immigrants who went through it to life.Evocative and bold,Under Quarantineshows that we cannot fully understand Israel until we understand Shaar Ha’aliya.The gate of arrival for nearly half a million immigrants - a space of homecoming, conflict, exclusion and welcoming - here was the country’s crucible.