Residential Choice of the Iranian and the Israeli Communities

Abstract

Each group acts as a mediator, negotiating ethnic group interactions that expand socio-spatial boundaries while reducing friction with the general society. In line with the SDG’s 11th goal, combining the residential preferences of Iranian and Israeli minorities living in WFNP creates a bottom-up mechanism that allows minorities to protect and maintain their socio-cultural norms in a diverse society. Against the background of frequent majority-minority intergroup interactions which takes place in this diverse area, culturally, conservative inter (Iranian-Iranian/Israeli-Israeli) and intra-group (Iranian-Israeli) interaction that favours minority norms is striking. As the cultural norms of many urban dwellers result from negotiating multi-ethnic group interactions, the assimilation pressure is distributed over both groups. Across relatively soft boundaries, minorities cultures survive, maintain, and integrate, allowing the area as a whole to be inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable.