ABSTRACT This article analyzes the discursive process of criminalization of African asylum seekers in Israel. The Israeli case illuminates the way that marginalized social groups are constructed as a criminal threat, thus becoming a focal point of moral panic. Using content analysis, in-depth interviews and observations, we assert that the criminalization of asylum seekers is facilitated by their portrayal as ‘infiltrators’ who are beyond state control. State authorities’ ostensible inability to keep asylum seekers under surveillance is dialectically constructed along two main axes: the private space axis and the public space axis. On the private space axis, the asylum seekers are portrayed as unidentified people living beyond the authorities’ field of vision whose largely unreported criminality is directed against vulnerable asylum seeker women and children in the private sphere. At the same time, asylum seekers are portrayed as a prominent, faceless and animalistic presence in public space, a presence that breaches physical-spatial borders as well as social-cultural boundaries, thereby undermining the social order. Thus, asylum seekers are viewed as conspicuously invisible. This rhetoric connects border violation with criminal activity; emphasizes the pent-up potential for violence by asylum seekers; and blurs the lines between criminal threat and security threat.

中文翻译：

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无法控制：在以色列对非洲寻求庇护者的刑事定罪

摘要 本文分析了在以色列对非洲寻求庇护者进行刑事定罪的话语过程。以色列的案例阐明了边缘化社会群体被构建为犯罪威胁的方式，从而成为道德恐慌的焦点。通过内容分析、深入访谈和观察，我们断言寻求庇护者被定罪是因为他们被描绘成不受国家控制的“渗透者”。国家当局表面上无法将寻求庇护者置于监视之下，这是沿着两个主要轴线辩证构建的：私人空间轴线和公共空间轴线。在私人空间轴上，寻求庇护者被描述为生活在当局视野之外的身份不明的人，他们的犯罪行为主要是针对私人领域中弱势的寻求庇护者妇女和儿童，而这些犯罪行为大多未被报告。与此同时，寻求庇护者被描绘成公共空间中突出的、不露面的和兽性的存在，这种存在违反了物理空间边界以及社会文化边界，从而破坏了社会秩序。因此，寻求庇护者被视为显眼的隐形人。这种言论将侵犯边境与犯罪活动联系起来；强调寻求庇护者被压抑的暴力可能性；并模糊了犯罪威胁和安全威胁之间的界限。公共空间中的匿名和兽性存在，这种存在打破了物理空间边界以及社会文化边界，从而破坏了社会秩序。因此，寻求庇护者被视为显眼的隐形人。这种言论将侵犯边境与犯罪活动联系起来；强调寻求庇护者被压抑的暴力可能性；并模糊了犯罪威胁和安全威胁之间的界限。公共空间中的匿名和兽性存在，这种存在打破了物理空间边界以及社会文化边界，从而破坏了社会秩序。因此，寻求庇护者被视为显眼的隐形人。这种言论将侵犯边境与犯罪活动联系起来；强调寻求庇护者被压抑的暴力可能性；并模糊了犯罪威胁和安全威胁之间的界限。