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THE INVENTIONOF THE MIZRAHIM
ELLA SHOHAT
Thisessayexaminestheparadoxicaleffects onArabJewsoftheirtwo,
rival essentialist
nationalisms-Jewish and Arab. It showshow the
Eurocentric conceptof a single'Jewish History" cut non-Ashkenazi
Jewsofffrom theirorigins, evenwhiletheZionistidea thatArabness
and Jewishness are mutuallyexclusivegraduallycame to be shared
byArab nationalist discourse.Theemergence ofa new,hybrididen-
tityofMizrahim,as a productbothofIsrael'sassimilationist policy
and of resistanceto it,is discussed.Finally,theauthorproposesan
interdisciplinary
framework-Mizrahi studies-asa way ofgoingbe-
yondhegemonic Zionistdiscourseswhileat thesame timemakinga
stronglinkto thePalestinianissue.
ofPalestine
Journal Studies
XXIX,no. 1 (Autumn1999), pp. 5-20.
6 JOURNAL
OF PALESTINE STUDIES
thestructurally politicaldynamics
distinct oftheIsraeli/Palestinian conflict,
have becomea stapleof Zionistrhetoric. In a historicalcontext Middle
of
Eastern Jewsexperiencing withintheMuslimworlda history utterlydistinct
fromthatwhichhauntedtheEuropeanmemories ofAshkenazi Jews,and in
a contextofthemassacresand dispossession ofthePalestinian people,the
conflationoftheMuslimArabwiththearchetypical (European) oppressors
ofJewsdownplaysthecolonial-settler history ofEuro-Israel itself.
The neatdivisionofIsraelas WestandPalestine as Eastalso ignoressome
ofthefundamental contradictionswithinZionistdiscourseitself.3 Centralto
Zionismis thenotionofa return to originsintheMiddleEast.Andalthough
Jewshaveoftenbeendepictedinanti-Semitic discourseas an alien"Eastern"
peoplewithintheWest,theparadoxofIsraelis thatit
presumedto "enda diaspora"characterized byritual- Theparadox ofIsrael is
isticnostalgiafortheEast,onlyto founda stateideo- thatitpresumed to "enda
logically and geopolitically oriented almost diaspora" characterizedby
exclusivelytowardtheWest.FortherootsofZionism ritualisticnostalgiafor the
can be tracedto the conditions of nineteenth- and East, only tofound a state
earlytwentieth-centuryEurope,notonlyas a reaction orientedalmost exclusively
againstanti-Semitism butalso to therapidexpansion toward the West.
ofcapitalismandofEuropeanempirebuilding.4 The-
odorHerzlcalledfora Western-style capitalist-democratic miniature stateto
be madepossiblebythegraceofimperial patronssuchas Englandor Ger-
many,whileDavid Ben-Gurion formulated hisvisionary utopiaofIsraelas
of
thatofa "Switzerland the Middle East."
The samehistorical processthatdispossessedPalestinians oftheirprop-
erty,lands,and national-political
rights was intimately linkedto theprocess
thatdispossessedArabJewsoftheirproperty, lands,and rootedness inArab
countrieswhileuprooting themfromthathistory and culturewithinIsrael
ButwhilePalestinians
itself. havefostered thecollective militancy ofnostal-
giainexile,ArabJews,trappedina no-exit situation,havebeenforbidden to
nourishmemoriesof havingbelongedto thepeoplesacrosstheRiverJor-
dan,acrossthemountains ofLebanon,and acrosstheSinaidesertand Suez
Canal.5The pervasivenotionof "one people" reunitedin theirancient
homelandactively disauthorizes anyaffectionate memory oflifebeforethe
StateofIsrael.
Thefactthatthe"Orientals" havehadclosercultural andhistorical linksto
thepresumedenemy-the"Arab"-thanto theAshkenazi Jewswithwhom
theywere coaxed and coercedintosharednationhoodthreatens thecon-
ofa
ception homogeneous nation akin to those on which Europeannation-
alistmovements were based,whileit also threatens the Euro-Israeli self-
image,whichsees itselfas an extensionof Europe.The taboo aroundthe
ArabnessoftheEastern Jewshasbeen clearlymanifested inIsraeliacademic
and mediaattackson Mizrahiintellectuals who refuseto definethemselves
simplyas Israelisand who dare to asserttheirArabnessin the public
sphere.6
8 JOURNAL OF PALESTINE STUDIES
<__., A i.';-i,
r~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~1
X .
"Mizrahim" (literally
"Easterners" or "Orientals")references morethanjust
origin;it evokesthe specificexperienceof non-Ashkenazi Jewsin Israel.
"Mizrahim" took on some of the resistant qualityof the black/white dis-
courseestablished bytheBlackPanther movement intheearly1970s,itself a
proudreversal oftheAshkenazi racistepithet
schwartze khayes(Yiddishfor
"blackanimals")and an allusionto theblackliberation movement in the
UnitedStates."Mizrahim," I wouldargue,condensesa numberofconnota-
tions:itcelebratestheJewishpastin theEasternworld;itaffirms thepan-
Orientalcommunities developedin Israelitself;and it invokesa future of
revivedcohabitation withtheArabMuslimEast.Alltheseemergent collec-
tivedefinitions arose,as oftenoccurs,in diacritical contrastwitha newly
encountered hegemonicgroup,in thiscase theAshkenazim ofIsrael.
Iftherehad been no StateofIsrael,myfamily and I wouldprobablystill
be in Baghdad,livingas one minority amongmanyethnicand religious
communities (Assyrians, Chaldeans,Kurds,Shi'a, Turkomans, etc.) in a
Sunni-Muslim-Arab dominant society.Or we mighthave becomerefugees
fromdictatorship, likeso manyexiledIraqistoday.Butwithout Zionism, we
wouldnothave facedthedilemmaofArabversusJew.Instead,myfamily,
reftigeesfromIraq,passedthrough Israelandendedup intheUnitedStates,
immigrants seekingrefuge from, amongotherthings, Euro-Israeliracism. For
Mizrahim, Israelhas notbeen conduciveto success.Manyfamilies who led
prosperouslivesin Egypt,Iran,Iraq,Morocco,or Tunisiawitnesseda de-
scentin Israel,theirchildren becomingdropouts, drugaddicts,prostitutes,
hustlers.Whilethemajority ofJewsin prisonare of non-Ashkenazi origin,
themajority at theuniversity (students and professors) areAshkenazi. In a
shortperiod,theidentity ofArabJewshasbeenfractured, theirlifepossibili-
tiesdiminished, theirhopesdeferred.
Mizrahiidentity, then,is on one levela Zionist"achievement," one which
marksa departure frompreviousconceptsofJewishness. Although there
had been a kindof regionalgeocultural Jewishspace fromtheMediterra-
neanto theIndianOcean,whereJewstraveled and exchangedideas,itwas
always within theaegis and in dialogue withthe largerIslamicworld,17 a
worldwheretheAshkenazim wereon the"margins." Butwithinthatworld,
werecontingently
identities definedbyhyphens. In Iraqmultiple definitions
wereused:BaghdadiJews(incontrast withtheJewsofothercities),Babylo-
nianJews(to markhistorical rootsin theregion),IraqiJews(to markna-
tional affiliation),and Arab Jews (in contradistinction to Muslimand
ChristianArabs,but also marking belongingto the greaterArabnation).
"Sephardiness" was notpartof theIraqiJewishself-definition insofaras it
referredtotheJewsofSpain(SepharadinHebrew)whoretained theirSpan-
in
isheven Bulgaria, Egypt, Morocco,orTurkey. Zionism, however, ruptured
theseassumptions aboutJewishness.
The "Arabness" oftheMizrahim notonlythreatened theZionistego-ideal
fantasizing Israelas a prolongation ofEurope"in"butnot "of' theMiddle
East,italso embodiedtheperceivedreminiscence ofan "inferior" Diaspora
THE INVENTION OF THE MIZRAHII M 15
elusiveEuro-Israeli Sabranorm,weremadetofeelashamedoftheirparents
and theirArabcountriesof origin.At timesMizrahim were mistakenfor
Palestinians and arrestedor beaten.SinceArabnessled onlyto rejection,
manyMizrahim becameself-hating. In a classicplayofcolonialspecularity,
theEastcametoviewitself through theWest'sdistorting mirror. Indeed,ifit
is true,as MalcolmX said,thatthewhiteman'sworstcrimewas to makethe
blackmanhatehimself, thenMizrahi internalized self-hatred
meansthatthe
Establishment inIsraelhas muchtoanswerfor.(In fact,Arab-hatred whenit
occursamongMizrahim is almostalwaysa disguisedformof self-hatred.
Mizrahihostility towardArabs,to theextentthatitdoes exist,is verymuch
"madein Israel."The kindof selbst-hass thatsometimes markedthepost-
Enlightenment Ashkenazi community has neverbeen a partofJewishexist-
ence in the Muslimworld;fortheMizrahim, selbst-hass
of themselves as
Orientalshad to be "learned"fromtheAshkenazim, who themselves had
"learned"itfromtheChristian Europeans.)ThousandsofAshkenazi"wan-
nabes" have rejectedtheirAraboriginsand mimicSabra Europeanized
speechpatterns, bodylanguage,gestures, and thinking.
Mimicry, however, is onlyone dimension oftheEuro-Israeli colonization
oftheMizrahimind.Occupyingcontradictory socialand discursive spaces,
Mizrahiidentity, likeall identities,is dynamic, mobile,less an achievedsyn-
thesisthanan unstableconstellation ofdiscourses. Growing up inIsrael,for
Mizrahim, has involvedshuttling back and forthbetweenconflictual cul-
tures,splitbetweenthe"private" sphereofhomeandneighborhood andthe
publicsphereofEuro-Israel. YoungMizrahim madesurethattheIraqorMo-
roccoofhomewas invisible at school,work,in busesor streets, repressing
all thatwas theirswhilebeinginducedto emulatethosewho oppressed
them.Atthesame time,theycontinuedfamily traditions,
entering a space
bothcollectiveand private-inaccessible to Euro-Israelis.
Meanwhile, themythofthemelting pot promotedby Euro-Israeli ideo-
logueswas in facttakingplace in the1950sand 1960s,butnotin theways
thedominant Euro-Israeliinstitutions foresawandimagined. In theworking-
class neighborhoods, farfromthe pryingeyes of the Establishment, we
Mizrahim ofArabor Turkishor Iranianoriginacquirednew multiplicities,
theproductof a new historical encounter of cultures.We quicklylearned
expressions and foodsfromother"Oriental" countries.Whileexperiencing
delegitimation by Euro-Israel, we were also marginally connectedto the
Arabworldthatknewlittleofournewexistence. In Mizrahineighborhoods
in thoseyears,we listenedtoUmmKulthum on theradio,as wellas toArab
music from our variouscountries origin. Iraqis,forexample,contin-
of The
ued to listento Nazimal-Ghazali,and in the age of television, especially
since the 1970s,whenMizrahim en massebegan purchasing TV sets,we
viewedArabicprograms and filmsfromwithinourcrampedlivingrooms.
Hybrididentities cannotbe reducedto a fixedrecipe;rather, theyforma
changing repertory ofcultural modalities. Mizrahi popularculture hasclearly
manifested a vibrantdialoguewithArab,Turkish, Greek,Indian,andIranian
THE INVENTION OF THE MIZRAHIM 17
NOTES
in Iraq,forexample,has be-
istactivist 18. Forwritingthattriesto perform
come an anti-Zionistactivist. thiskindof linkage,see Shohat's"Sephar-
14. YehoshuaPorat,TheEmergence dim in Israel"; Israeli Cinema; "Taboo
of the Palestinian-Arab National Move- Memories, DiasporicVisions,"in Hybrid
ment 1919-1929 (Tel Aviv: Am Oved, Performance, ed. MayJosephandJen-
1976),p. 49. niferFink(Minneapolis:Universityof
15. See Edward Said, Culture and Im- MinnesotaPress,1999);JosephMassad,
perialism(New York:Knopf,1992). "Zionism'sInternalOthers:Israeland the
16. The phrase"imaginedcommuni- OrientalJews,"Journal of Palestine Stud-
ties"is borrowedfromBenedictAnder- ies 25,no. 4 (Summer1996),pp. 53-68;
son, Imagined Communities:Reflections and News From Within 13, no. 1 (January
of the Origins and Spread of National- 1997),whichis a specialissue on
ism (London:Verso,1983). Mizrahimand Zionism,witharticlesby
17. Foran accountof travelin there- ShikoBehar,Zvi Ben-Dor,and SamiSha-
gion,fromtheMediterranean to theIn- (publishedby theAlternative
lom Chetrit
dian Ocean, see AmitavGhosh,In an InformationCenter,Jerusalem/
AntiqueLand (New York:Knopf,1992). Bethlehem).