Perpetual Diaspora, Changing Homelands: The Construction of Russian-Speaking Jews as a Diaspora of Both Israel and Russia.

This article considers the interrelationship between a homeland and its diasporic communities from the point of view of the homeland. In particular, it examines the policies adopted by Russia and Israel toward the same group; that is, the Russian-speaking Jews who have immigrated to Israel from the former Soviet Union. The article demonstrates how the construction of this migrant population as diasporic community of the 'homeland' gives rise to unexpected challenges to the symbolic definition of the 'nation.' These challenges add a new perspective in this regard, rendering tenuous the claim of the nation to primordiality, constancy, and coherence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]