Galia Sabar
Associate Professor
​
African labor migrants and refugees in Israel; African Christianities
Email:
Over the years my research has focused on two fields related to the study of the African continent and its people: (1) the study of African migrant workers and African asylum seekers in Israel, and their return to Africa and (2) African Christianities including its roles within non-religious arenas.The later has held my interest for more than three decades including studies on the involvement of religious organizations in non- religious arenas, health included. The study of African migration has been my focus in the last two decades recently focusing on asylum seekers. From 2006 to 2013, approximately 60,000 asylum seekers from Sudan and Eritrea entered Israel. Seeing them as agents of change rather than passive objects of life circumstances, I focused on their social, economic, and political activities. I examined the importance of these activities with respect to asylum seekers' efforts to take control over the realities of their lives and extend their power as individuals and communities. Three major issues stand at the heart of my research in this field: (1) the struggle over spaces of habitus, (2) activities within the religious-political arena, and (3) perceptions of health and sickness.
​
Based on my previous research in East African related to HIV/AIDS prevention education, I joined an international research team that examined the effect of health education activities led by religious leaders and women groups on sickness rates in neglected tropical diseases (NTD) in Ethiopia. Based on our findings we submitted two grant proposals to the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation. Both were approved. The outcome of all my research has been published in academic platforms.
In 2020, with the outbreak of COVID 19, I explored the unique modalities of conduct migrant caregivers in Israel developed in an attempt to cope with the lockdown
Parallel to my academic work I am an activist, trying to translate academic wisdom into social actions that brings about change in the real world.
Alongside my academic work I’m a professional ceramic. Together with Ofer, my life partner we have five children and two granddaughters.
About
Courses
I teach undergraduate and graduate courses related to the African continent and its peoples. For example: African migration to Israel, African Literature, Major social and political themes via the cinematique lens.
Graduate Students
Over the year I have supervised dozens of Israeli graduate students in a wide range of topic including: African Christianity, African Migration to Israel, Art from Africa and Museology; Afro-Christian music in Israel, the rise of the new Middle Class in Ghana, Israeli AID organizations in Africa to name but a few of the topics.
Publications
Babbis Deby , Sabar Galia (forthcoming) " Filipino migrant caregivers in Israel during COVID-19:Enhancing communal social capital via Facebook," Hagira.
​
Sabar Galia, Babis Deby ,Sabar Ben-Yehoshua Naama (2021)“ From fragility to empowerment through philanthropy: The Filipino labor migrant community in Israel during COVID-19," Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies, DOI: 10.1080/15562948.2021.1898074 (SJR 0.85 Q1) WOS IF 3.547
​
Nellie Van den Bos, Sabar Galia (2019) “Eritrean Refugees’ Utilization of Antenatal Services in Israel,” International Migration Vol. 57 : 3 : 63-80. (SJR 0.68 Q1).
​
Jemal Ali, Allison Polland, David Adlerstein, Yirga G/Gziabher, Sabar Galia, Yonat Liss,Zvi Bentwich, (2019) " Deworming school children in Ethiopia: The importance of Health Education." Open Journal of Tropical Medicine 3(1): 001-006. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.17352/ojtm.0000008
Nellie Van den Bos, Sabar Galia , Teneboim Shiri (2019) "Healthcare providers’ images of refugees and their use of health services: An exploratory study", International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care, Vol.15 no.3, pp 201-213. (SJR 0.23 Q2)
​
Sabar Galia and Shiri Tenenboim (2018) “We must do something instead of just watch”: The First Medical Interpreter Training Course for Eritrean Asylum Seekers in Israel, The European Legacy, 23:7-8, 804-820. (SJR 0.12 Q2).
​
Sabar Galia (2007) "Between crossing boundaries and respecting norms: Sub-Saharan African Women Labor-Migrants in Israel 1990-2005," in Annelies Wilder-Smith, Eli Schwartz and Marc Shaw (eds.) Travel Medicine, Oxford: Elsevier Publishers: 229-246.
​
Schenker, G. Sabar-Friedman (1996), “The Jewish Religion and the HIV/AIDS Challenge,” in
​
I. Schenker, G. Sabar-Friedman and I. Francisco, eds. AIDS Education Prevention in Multi-Cultural Societies, New York: Plenum Press: 251-261.
​
G. Sabar-Friedman (1996), “The Role of Religious Organizations in Constructing the HIV/AIDS Discourse and Prevention Actions,” in
​
I. Schenker, G. Sabar-Friedman and I. Francisco, eds. AIDS Education Prevention in Multi-Cultural Societies, New York: Plenum Press: 217-221.