[...] In this two-part series, Omri Ben Yehuda reflects on the hegemony of Ashkenazi Jews in Israeli society. Ben Yehuda contends that reckoning with this form of hegemony requires an analysis of the links between marginalized communities in Israel/Palestine, including the Palestinians, Mizrahi, and Ethiopian immigrants. While the conflict in Israel is often portrayed as one between Jews and Arabs, Ben Yehuda contends that it is better understood as a conflict between Ashkenazi [*] Jews and the Global South. Coming to terms with this dynamic requires a Left that is more emboldened in its protest of Israeli occupation and Ashkenazi hegemony in Israel/Palestine.
[*] the generic Ashkenazi includes today both Eastern European and German Jews, which historically were separate communities in every respect
Omri (Hannah) Ben Yehuda (he/she) is a scholar of comparative Jewish literatures in EUME, Forum Transregionale Studien, Berlin. She has published two books, 25 scientific articles and essays, and more than 80 essays and op-eds for the general public. Currently, she is working on a co-edited volume with Dotan HaLevi on Gaza as an Israeli heterotopia to be publish in 2022.
@DrALJONES lots and lots of inaccuracies here, but most importantly the term “Mizrahi” to refer to Arab Jews and Jews from Muslim majority countries.
Many reasons for migration to Israel before and after 1948, some of it Zionism (ie Tunisian Jews), some blocked (ie Moroccan Jews) some completely uninterested (Algerian Jews, who were all French citizens) some “forced” (Iraqi and Iranian). Yemenite Jews started arriving before the first Russia immigrant came to Palestine (so called first Aliya).
Throwing them all into a pot and putting the label #Mizrahi on top is what Eastern European Jews did. Themselves marginalized by Ashkenazi Jews.
Complicated, I understand.
The term itself, Mizrahi was used originally by Ashkenazi and Sephardi Jews to refer to to Eastern European Jews, not Arab Jews. Part of the de-orientalization process of that group (anyone speaking Yiddish at home is Eastern European, not Ashkenazi = German Jew) upon arriving to Israel was labeling another group “Mizrahi”, and marginalizing them as part of the inevitable allocation of limited resources in early years of Israel. See “How the Polish Peddler Became a German Intellectual” by Aziza Khazzoom for analysis of the process.
The demographer prof Sergio Della Pergola researched this dynamics as well and was able to show how the two main groups diverged upon migrating to Israel, despite arriving with very similar demographic profiles (I can refer you to the data if needed).
Specifically though, after the holocaust the Zionist movement turned to the Arab Jewish diaspora for obvious reasons. Indeed many were not interested. The wealthiest for sure had zero interest in Zionism.
Also see my post from earlier about Hertzl and western Zionists (many Sephardi Jews, like Hertzl himself) as described by Hannah Arendt: a project to transport Eastern European Jews which they saw as a primitive backward community, unable to salvage itself from antisemitism in south of Russia.
What Zionism turned out to be after Hertzl’s death is something very different than he intended.
Massoud Hayoun’s “When We Were Arabs” (2019) is described as “A vivid account of Massoud Hayoun's grandparents' lives in #Egypt, #Tunisia, France, #Palestine, and Los Angeles, in which he reclaims his family's Jewish Arab identity".
A unique coming-of-age story from the lost world of #ArabJews
Avi Shlaim was born in Baghdad and grew up in Israel. He is a Professor of International Relations at St Antony's College, Oxford. His previous books include the critically acclaimed The Iron Wall and he writes regularly for the Guardian, Middle East Eye and other outlets.
In July 1950, Avi Shlaim, only five, and his family were forced into exile, fleeing from their beloved Iraq into the new state of Israel. Now the rump of a once flourishing community of over 150,000, dating back 2,600 years, has dwindled to single figures.
For many, this tells the story of the timeless clash of the Arab and Jewish civilizations, the heroic mission of Zionism to rescue Eastern Jews from their backwards nations, and unceasing persecution as the fate and history of the Jewish people. Avi Shlaim tears up this script. His mother had many Muslim friends in Baghdad, but no Zionist ones.
The Iraqi Jewish community, once celebrated for its ancient heritage and rich culture, was sprayed with DDT upon arrival in #Israel. As anti-Semitism gathered pace in #Iraq, the Zionist underground may have inflamed it – deliberately.
This memoir celebrates the disappearing heritage of Arab-Jews – caught in the crossfire of secular ideologies.
In this introductory lecture “Memoirs, Memories & Personal Histories” at a #SOAS conference about the Jewish community of #Iraq, the two aspects of Avi Shlaim's academic and personal life come together.
He briefly touches on what he calls “cruel Zionism” — that is, Israel’s activities to co-opt and conscript Jews from around the world into a project they never wished to be part of, and the price paid by both Palestinians and Jews as a result.
A unique coming-of-age story from the lost world of #ArabJews
Avi Shlaim was born in Baghdad and grew up in Israel. He is a Professor of International Relations at St Antony's College, Oxford. His previous books include the critically acclaimed The Iron Wall and he writes regularly for the Guardian, Middle East Eye and other outlets.
In July 1950, Avi Shlaim, only five, and his family were forced into exile, fleeing from their beloved Iraq into the new state of Israel. Now the rump of a once flourishing community of over 150,000, dating back 2,600 years, has dwindled to single figures.
For many, this tells the story of the timeless clash of the Arab and Jewish civilisations, the heroic mission of Zionism to rescue Eastern Jews from their backwards nations, and unceasing persecution as the fate and history of Jewish people. Avi Shlaim tears up this script. His mother had many Muslim friends in Baghdad, but no Zionist ones.
The Iraqi Jewish community, once celebrated for its ancient heritage and rich culture, was sprayed with DDT upon arrival in #Israel. As anti-Semitism gathered pace in #Iraq, the Zionist underground may have inflamed it – deliberately.
This memoir celebrates the disappearing heritage of Arab-Jews – caught in the crossfire of secular ideologies.
@serge the therm #Mizrahi is in fact a repurposed term, #Ostjuden, used by #Ashkenazi Jews to refer to #Yiddish speaking Jews in Eastern Europe. The preferred term by so Israelis and non Israeli is #ArabJews. Like European Jews, Russian Jews, Eastern European Jews.
Further education, if I may:
How the Polish Peddler Became a German Intellectual: Orientalism, Jewish Identity, and the Antecedents to Social Closure in Israel
TIL that the term "Mizrahi" is a reclaimed term, originally a racist term and slurrish, it's since been reclaimed by those Jews as a way to self-identify, especially for those Jews who live in Israel.
I've only heard it in the context of its reclaimed use, but knowing the history is important.
@serge the term #Mizrahi is in fact a repurposed term, #Ostjuden, used by #Ashkenazi Jews to refer to #Yiddish speaking Jews in Eastern Europe. The preferred term by some Israelis (and non Israelis) these days is #ArabJews, as in European Jews etc.
Further education, if I may:
How the Polish Peddler Became a German Intellectual: Orientalism, Jewish Identity, and the Antecedents to Social Closure in Israel
Also, “Arab Jew” is self referential, and has nothing to do with #antisemitism. For example, both the Yehouda SHENHAV (above) and Masoud HAYOUN, the author of “When We Were Arabs”, are Jews identifying as Arab Jews.
#arabjews#israel#germany#islamophobia#antisemitism I'm not a big #poetry person myself (over my head most of the time 🙃) but I enjoy reading Mati Shemoelof's poetry and essays. He self identifies as an Arab-Jew writer, poet, activist, author, and editor.
He was born and raised in Haifa, Israel, but for a while now based in #Berlin. As he is very prolific, I guess I can't really label him, but one theme that caught my eye on his personal site was what he calls "hybrid identities" https://mati-s.com
This is from a piece he wrote for Haaretz (somewhat ironic, since Haaretz, before it became a "liberal" and "progressive" daily newspaper, was really anything but... especially in its strong bias against Arab-Jews, which its editors now over-compensating for).
The demand for full assimilation has always scared me. I’ve never had a talent for mastering other languages, and my writing talent has been my saving grace, allowing me to invent my own syntax in different forms of the art of writing. When I immigrated to Berlin, I knew that I wouldn’t abandon my beloved #Hebrew language, and in 2019 I published my first bilingual poetry book, “Baghdad | Haifa | Berlin.” It was one of the first books published after the #Holocaust to be written by a non-Ashkenazi Hebrew writer living in Berlin.