Doms in Israel

Doms, also called Domari in accounts of their language and identity, are described as a Middle Eastern people. Reporting on Israel focuses primarily on Jerusalem’s Old City community, associated with Haret al-Nawar, also called the Gypsy Quarter, near the Lions’ Gate.[1][3] Available accounts describe community identity, living conditions, education, and local cultural initiatives, but do not provide a reliable Israel-wide population count or a detailed account of Doms throughout the country.[2][4]

Domari is a group of dialects spoken across North Africa and West Asia, with an estimated 2.5 million speakers across that broad region; this should not be treated as an estimate for Israel.[5] Nor does the presence of the ethnonym “Nawar” in a regional reference entry establish that Israel’s Nawar are identical to Doms or Domari speakers; that entry warns that ethnonyms can vary, overlap, or fall out of use.[6]

Regional accounts connect Domari speakers with a wider history extending across the Middle East. Their migration to the Arab world around the thirteenth or fourteenth century is surmised, rather than established as a settled chronology for the community in Israel.[5] The Dom are also described as speakers of Domari found across the Middle East, although archival records for reconstructing the early history of Romani-speaking populations are scant.[7]

Published accounts give different durations for the community’s presence in Jerusalem. Ynet reports that a few hundred Domari families have lived there for more than 400 years, whereas a 2022 Times of Israel article says the Dom have lived in Jerusalem for two centuries.[1][3] The sources do not reconcile these accounts, and neither duration should be treated as a precise, independently established date for the community’s arrival.

During the 1800s, Domari families lived mainly in tents in Wadi Joz, outside the Old City walls. Many later moved to Burj Laq Laq, near the Lions’ Gate, where later reporting locates the community.[1] Other families settled in Arab villages around Jerusalem, in the West Bank — known by its original, indigenous Jewish name of Judea and Samaria — and in Gaza.[1] The available material does not provide a fuller Israel-specific history or establish a definitive migration route.

The Old City community has been described as about 150 families, or roughly 2,000 people, with the Saleem, Nadeer, and Nuri families identified as central to it. Extended families could include several generations sharing a home.[1] The same approximate Old City figure appeared in a 2014 account, alongside a broader estimate of 10,000–12,000 Gypsies across Israel, the Palestinian Territories, and Gaza. There was no census, and an exact number was described as difficult to establish; the broader figure is not an Israel-only count.[2]

Most members of the Jerusalem community are Muslim and have assimilated into Arab culture.[1] The community is also described as maintaining a distinct identity.[2] Community leader Amoun Sleem said, “My nationality is Gypsy, my roots are Gypsy, why should I be Israeli?”—an expression of her identity rather than a population-wide statement.[2]

The available references do not establish whether Israel’s “Nawar,” listed in a regional account of peripatetic communities, are the same people as the Doms described in Jerusalem reporting. Such labels may no longer be used, may not correspond one-to-one with communities, and can vary by locality or self-designation.[6] The reference also does not identify a language, religion, or specific livelihood for Israel’s Nawar. Regional descriptions of other communities should therefore not be assumed to supply those missing details.

Domari is a group of dialects spoken across North Africa and West Asia, and the Dom are identified as speakers of Domari.[5][7] Domari languages and dialects are described as having origins in India, with Middle Eastern Dom or Domari distinguished from groups called Rom or Lom in Europe.[2] These are broad regional descriptions, not a detailed account of language use among Doms in Israel today.

The Jerusalem community center offered tutoring, humanitarian assistance, Domari language and alphabet instruction, and cultural activities. About 35 women from Jerusalem and the Territories reportedly worked through the center making traditional handicrafts, including embroidery, jewelry, pottery, and handbags.[2] These were activities of the center, rather than evidence that they represented the livelihood of the community as a whole.

Across the broader region, peripatetic communities were described as primarily endogamous and traditionally engaged in varied commercial or service activities. All or most members were formerly itinerant, with some still itinerant in the late twentieth century.[6] These are regional observations, not Israel-specific findings, and the source does not establish that every community discussed—or Israel’s Doms in particular—shared the same patterns.

A 2019 report by the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination expressed concern about Domari people’s generally low socioeconomic status, including extreme poverty, substandard living conditions, low primary-school attendance, underrepresentation in secondary and post-secondary education, and high unemployment.[4] The Committee urged Israel to coordinate government action and involve Domari communities in designing inclusion policies. It recommended measures addressing poverty, education, employment, housing, and access to basic services.[4]

Poverty and unemployment affected many members of the Jerusalem community, while leaving school early could limit employment opportunities. The community also faced prejudice, including use of the offensive term “Nawari,” glossed as “black” or “dirty.”[1] This reported slur is relevant as an example of discrimination; it is not a neutral name for the community.

Jerusalem municipality assistance included budgets, literacy courses, and community centers. Community leader Abed Saleem used that support to promote children’s education and encourage women to pursue education and work.[1] The CERD report’s recommendations similarly emphasize that inclusion efforts should be coordinated and shaped with community participation.[4]

Education and community leadership have been central to organized efforts to expand opportunity and promote Domari identity and awareness in Jerusalem.[1][2] Amoun, also rendered Amon, Saleem founded the Domari Society of Gypsies in Jerusalem. As a girl, she refused to beg, continued her schooling, and later received higher education before establishing the organization.[1] Sleem also recounted leaving school after a principal humiliated Gypsy girls in class, then returning after her grandmother supported her and confronted the principal. She said she completed secondary school and enrolled at the University of Notre Dame.[2]

Researcher Noga Buber-Ben David observed that education was viewed as a way for women to break the cycle of poverty, while more educated women were becoming less interested in marrying within the community.[1] This was described as a tension, not as a uniform view or experience among Domari women.

Sleem said some community members were unaware of their rights and believed they had fewer rights than others.[2] In 2014, Domari people were reported as being classified as Arabs and not recognized by Israel’s Interior Ministry as a distinct cultural or religious group.[2] This describes the situation reported at that time and should not be read as evidence of current administrative status.

The available sources use related but not interchangeable labels, including Dom, Domari, Gypsy, and Nawar. The Dom are identified as Domari speakers, while a regional reference lists Nawar among ethnonyms associated with Israel but cautions that labels can overlap, vary, or no longer be in use.[6][7] The sources do not definitively establish that Israel’s Nawar and the Domari community reported in Jerusalem are the same group.

Regional accounts also differ in how they frame origins and migration. Migration to the Arab world around the thirteenth or fourteenth century is presented as a surmise, and the identification of Domari speakers with the term “gypsy” is tentative.[5] Another account provides broad descriptions of language origins and distinctions among Dom, Rom, and Lom but does not supply a precise migration history for the Israeli community.[2] These descriptions provide context rather than a single definitive chronology.