Virtual belonging(s): Transnational media practices among German and austrian immigrants in Israel

Similar to other immigrants in Israel, Jews from Germany and Austria tend to maintain contact with their former homelands through the media. Reasons for viewing cable television and/or reading digital newspapers from the country of origin include linguistic, cultural, and emotional reasons, as well as the wish to stay connected with family and friends left behind or to reconnect after years of distance. This article examines the various affiliations of immigrants from Germany and Austria through their transnational media use. In the context of multiple belongings, this practice allows for the cultivation of different forms of attachments related to the country of origin from afar, even though the relationship to Germany and Austria is still overshadowed by the past and often remains profoundly ambivalent.