Entwined Homelands, Empowered Diasporas: Hispanic Moroccan Jews and Their Globalizing Community (ZOOM LIVE) - Aviad Moreno

The Hispanic Moroccan Jewish diaspora emerged as one of the most mobile and globally dispersed North African groups in the twentieth century, with hubs in Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Spain, Israel, Canada, France, and the US, among others. Migration and diaspora scholars often focus on nostalgia as well as national and cultural ties to a single primary homeland. Based on his new book, Entwined Homelands, Empowered Diasporas: Hispanic Moroccan Jews and their Globalizing Community (Indiana University Press, 2024), Aviad Moreno will discuss with Aomar Boum how Hispanic Moroccan Jews developed layered historical ties to multiple homelands, from more traditionally considered centers like Morocco and the Holy Land, to countries in South America, and medieval Spain. Challenging the typical national framing of Moroccan Jewish migration, Moreno will explain how this small community strategically employed ties to multiple homelands, driven by transnational networks that interconnected their hypermobile diaspora.

Aviad Moreno heads the Communities and Mobilities research hub at the Azrieli Center for Israel Studies at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. Moreno also serves on the board of The National Academy for Ladino in Israel, and he is an international member of the Spanish Royal Academy. Among his various publications are Entwined Homelands, Empowered Diasporas: Hispanic Moroccan Jews and their Globalizing Community (Indiana University Press, 2024), and his co-edited anthology The Long History of Mizrahim: New Directions in the Study of Jews from Islamic Countries(Hebrew, Ben-Gurion University Press, 2021).

Wednesday, November 20, 2024 • ZOOM LIVE • 10 AM 

Aviad Moreno (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev)

Entwined Homelands, Empowered Diasporas: Hispanic Moroccan Jews and Their Globalizing Community

Maurice Amado Program in Sephardic Studies

Moderated by

Aomar Boum (UCLA)