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Institute for Palestine Studies

The Invention of the Mizrahim


Author(s): Ella Shohat
Source: Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 29, No. 1 (Autumn, 1999), pp. 5-20
Published by: University of California Press on behalf of the Institute for Palestine Studies
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2676427
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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.

A RECENT NEWS ITEM CONCERNINGISRAEL inadvertently


points to some of the
ambiguities and aporiasofMizrahi identitysincetheadventofZionism.The
articleclaimedthattheInstitute forBiologicalResearchin Israelwas devel-
opinga biologicalweapon,a kindof"designer toxin"or "ethnic bullet"tai-
loredto attackArabsonly.(Firstconceivedduring theapartheid erainSouth
Africaas a pigment-based weaponto be used againstblacks,itwas recon-
figured as an ethnic,gene-basedweaponbyIsrael.)Thereport, unconfirmed
butrelayedin theLondonSundayTimes,mentioned in passingthatthere-
searchinvolvedIraqiJews.1
Whatis ofinterest hereis thesymptomatic implicationsofa relatively"mi-
nor"aspectofthearticle, theallegedchoiceof"IraqiJews,"intermsofsome
oftheparadoxesofArabJewishidentity in Israel.(By "ArabJews"I refer to
people ofJewishfaithhistorically linkedto theArabMuslimworld.)On the
one hand,theIsraeliestablishment regardsArabJewsas irremediably Arab-
indeed,thatIraqiJewswere allegedlyused to determine a certaintoxin's
effecton Arabssuggeststhatforgenetic/biological purposes,at least,Iraqi
Jewsare Arabs.On theotherhand,official policyurgesArab
Israeli/Zionist
Jews (or, more generally, OrientalJews,also knownas Sephardimor
Mizrahim) to see theironlyreal identity
as Jewish. The official
ideologyde-

ELLA SHOHAT is professor


of women'sand culturalstudiesat the CityUniversity
of New
York-GraduateCenter.Among her books are Israeli Cinema: East/Westand the Politics of
Representation, UnthinkingEurocentrism:Multiculturalismand the Media (with Robert
Stam), and Talking Visions: MulticulturalFeminism in a Transnational Age.
The authorwould like to dedicatethisessay to the memoryof Neelan Tiruchelvam,
directorof theInternationalCenterforEthnicStudiesin Colombo,SriLanka,memberof
parliament,and a leaderoftheTamilUnitedLiberation Front.A profoundlypeacefulman
who workedon constitutional reformsto alleviateSri Lanka'sethnicconflict,
he was
targetedand killedby a suicidebomberon 29 July1999.

ofPalestine
Journal Studies
XXIX,no. 1 (Autumn1999), pp. 5-20.
6 JOURNAL
OF PALESTINE STUDIES

niestheArabness ofArabJews,positing Arabness andJewishnessas irrecon-


cilable opposites.For Zionism,thisArabness,the productof millennial
is merelya Diasporicstainto be "cleansed"through
cohabitation, assimila-
tion.Within theveryterm"ArabJew"is an oxymoron
Zionistideology, anda
misnomer, a conceptualimpossibility.

ISLAM, MIZRAHIM, AND ZIONIST HISTORIOGRAPHY

Zionisthistoriography payslittleattentiontothehistory oftheJewsinthe


Muslimworld.Indeed,theIsraeliestablishment has triedsystematically to
suppressSephardi-Mizrahi culturalmemory by marginalizing thishistoryin
school curricula.Standardhistory books includeonlya fewpages on the
historyofIslam,theArabworld,andtheJudeo-Islamic symbiosis. Littlemen-
tionis made,forexample,ofthefactthatmajorSepharditextsinphilosophy,
linguistics,
poetry,and medicinewerelargelywritten in Arabicand reflect
specificMusliminfluences as well as a Jewish-Arab cultural identity.When
Zionisthistory does referto whatmightbe termed"Judeo-Islamic history,"
thenarrative usuallyconsistsofa morbidly selective"tracing thedots"from
pogromto pogromas evidenceof relentless hostilitytowardJewsin the
Arabworld,reminiscent ofthatencountered in Europe.The notionof the
unique,commonvictimization ofallJewseverywhere andatalltimes,a cru-
cial underpinning ofofficial Israelidiscourse, precludeshistorical analogies
and culturalmetonymies, thusproducing a Eurocentric readingof "Jewish
History,"one thathijackstheJewsofIslamfromtheirown geography and
subsumesthemintothehistory oftheEuropean-Ashkenazi shtetl.
OfficialZionism'sselectivereadingofMiddleEasternhistory makestwo
processesapparent: (1) therejection ofan ArabandMuslimcontext forJew-
ishinstitutions,
identity, andhistory; and (2) thesubordination ofArabJews
to a "universal"Jewishexperience. Zionisthistory textsundermine thehy-
phenated, syncreticculture ofactually existingJews,rendering thenon-Jew-
ish side of the hyphennonpertinent. This unidimensional categorization,
withall Jewsbeingdefinedas closerto each otherthanto theculturesof
whichtheyhavebeen a part,is tantamount to dismembering a community's
And
identity.2 indeed, in the case of Middle EasternJews, the Euro-Israeli
separation ofthe"Jewish" and "MiddleEastern" partshasideologically facili-
tatedtheactualdismantling oftheJewishcommunities oftheMuslimworld,
whilepressuring theOriental JewsinIsraeltorealigntheiridentity according
to ZionistEuro-Israeliparadigms. Mypointis notto idealizethesituation of
has
theJewsofIslam,buttosuggestthatZionistdiscourse undermined com-
parativestudiesofJewsin theMuslimworldin relation to otherminorities.
The masternarrative ofuniversal Jewishvictimization entailing theclaim
that the "Jewish nation" faces a common "historicalenemy"-theMuslim
Arab-requiresa double-edgedamnesiawithregardbothtoJudeo-Islamic
historyandtothecolonialpartition ofPalestine.Falseanalogiesbetweenthe
ArabsandNazis,a symptom ofa Jewish-European nightmare projected onto
THE INVENTION OF THE MIZRAHIM 7

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

Fearingengulfment bytheEast,theEuro-Israeli establishmentattempted


to repressthe"MiddleEasterness" ofMizrahim as partofan effortto West-
ernizetheIsraelinationand to markclearbordersofidentity betweenJews
as Westerners andArabsas Easterners. ArabJewswereurgedto seeJudaism
and Zionismas synonyms, andJewishness andArabnessas antonyms. Thus
ArabJewswere proddedto choose betweenanti-Zionist Arabnessand a
pro-ZionistJewishness. ThisconceptualizationofEastversusWesthas im-
portantimplications inthisage ofthe"peaceprocess,"sinceitsidestepsthe
factthatthemajority ofthepopulation withinIsraelis fromtheMiddleEast-
PalestiniancitizensofIsraelas wellas Mizrahim.Peace as itis now defined
does not entaila truedemocracyin termsof adequaterepresentation of
thesepopulations orchanging theeconomic,educational, andcultural strati-
fications
withinIsraelisociety.

THE APORiAS OF NATIONALISM

In 1998,thesameyearas thegeneticexperiments referred to above,the


Arabwriter EliasKhouryconveneda conference in Beiruton theNakbaof
1948thatincludeda panelon ArabJewishperspectives. AlltheJewishpar-
ticipantson thepanelwerehighly vocalcriticsofZionism. Whilesome,such
as ShimonBallas,livein Israel,othersnow liveelsewhere-SimoneBitton
livesinParis,I liveinNewYork.Otherinvited ArabJews,suchas theMoroc-
canAbraham hadneverbeentoIsraelatall.Khoury's
Serfati, invitationscon-
tinuedan ongoing,if intermittent and unofficial,
dialogue.Nevertheless,
someSyrian-backed groupsinLebanonopposedtheinvitations to thepoint
thatmanyoftheArabJewswereeitheradvisednotto attendor themselves
decidednotto go forfearoftheirsafety.7
Thus,in thesameyearthatofficial IsraelfoundArabJewsto be geneti-
callyArab,someArabsfoundthem-eventhosewithstrong anti-Zionist cre-
dentials-tobe "insufficiently" Arab.Here we findan ironicvictoryfor
Zionism, sinceputatively
anti-Zionist ArabsseemtohaveabsorbedtheZion-
istpositionthatallJewsmust,intheirheartofhearts, necessarily be Zionist.
For theArabopponentsof Khoury'sinvitation, ArabJewsare alwaysand
everywhere Jewishandideologically
genetically Zionist,
regardless ofhistor-
icalorigins, cultural
affinities, and evenprofessed
politicalaffiliations, ideol-
ogies.Thus have ArabJewsbeen caughtup in the crosscurrents of rival
essentialistforms ofnationalism.8As longas thepoliticaldiscourse, whether
in Israelor in theArabworld,remainsessentialist-nationalist, thereis little
politicaland scholarlyplace forArabJewsor Mizrahim critical ofZionism.
Withthebirthofnationalism, a wholenew processbegan.Arabnessand
Jewishness wereformulated as nationalistconceptsin historically unprece-
of
dentedways.Attheheight imperialism, liberation
fromracialandcolonial
oppressioncould be formulated onlyalong nationalist lines.In orderto
merit theendofcolonialrule,third worldnationshadtobe invented accord-
ingto definitions suppliedbytheoftenEurocentric ideologies of the nation
THE LNVENTION OF THE MIZRAHIM 9

as a coherent unit.The nation-state was the"logicalresult" ofthedefinition


of thenationas one people withone languageand one culture(oftenin-
cludingreligion, evenifnotalwaysdeclaredas such)livingon a demarcated
land.
On a realpolitik level,thiswas a "reasonable" responseto colonialism.
Unfortunately, however,formerly colonizedpeople have oftenfalleninto
theverysameconceptualtrapsthatoppressedthemduringcolonialism. For
theArabMuslimworld,liberation fromEuropehas also markedtheend of
the overarching Muslimgeoculturalcivilization in which identitiesand
powerweredefineddifferently. The place ofall protected religiousminori-
tiesgradually shifted withtheintroduction of colonialism and nationalism.
The fragilepositionofAssyrians inIraq,whoseidentities and loyaltieshave
been constantly tested,is eloquentin thisregard.The place ofJews,simi-
larly,was nevercompletely secure,evenifon a superficial leveltheywere
partofthegreatArabnationandevenifsomeJewswereamongtheleaders
oftheanticolonial struggle.
ButwhatmadetheArabJewishstory morecomplicated thanthatofother
minoritiesintheArabMuslim worldwas thegradualriseofanother national-
istmovement, Zionism, whichassertedclaimsofpan-Jewishness. Forsome
ArabJews,tempted bytheimageofa placewhere"we"wouldno longerbe
a minority,thatpromisesoundedliberatory. Manywereexhilarated by the
messianicbeliefthatJewshadreacheda newreligious dispensation. Others,
suchas communists and somereligiousleaders,expressedviolentopposi-
tionto Zionism.Myfather tellsme thatin thelate 1930s,his highschool
teacher,thebrother of HakhamSassonKhdhuri (thereligioushead of the
Baghdadicommunity), reported abouthisvisitto Palestine. Recounting the
disdainhe encountered from EuropeanJews, and describing what he re-
gardedas their"non-Jewish" ways,he warnedtheyoungstudents notto go
to Palestine,becausethe"Jewstherearenotlikeus."Thisconceptof"Jews
notlikeus" was onlydimlyund&rstood at thetime,sincepeople likemy
fatherand hisclassmateshad had littlecontactwith"different" (European)
Jews,aliento their own Middle EasternJewish norms.
Zionistideologues,fortheirpart,had alwaysshownan ambivalent atti-
tudetowardtheJewsoftheEastprecisely becauseoftheirnon-Ashkenazi
"otherness."In theirtextsandcongresses, EuropeanZionists consistentlyad-
dressedthemselves to Ashkenazi Jewsand to thecolonizingempires that
mightprovidesupportfora nationalhomeland,whilerejecting the non-
Ashkenazis as "savage"and "primitive." Atthefirst ZionistCongress,they
opposed "Levantization," the"tainting" ofthesettlements in Palestinewith
of
an infusion "Levantine Jews."
Atthesametime,however,Zionistssaw theeconomicand politicalne-
cessityof attracting and occasionallyeven forcing"Jewsin the formof
Arabs"9to the "Landof Israel."10Fromthe earlydays of Zionism,non-
Ashkenazi Jewswereseen as cheap laborthathad to be maneuvered into
immigrating to Palestine.Creatinga Jewishnationalhomelandrequired,
10 JOURNAL OF PALEsrINE STUDIES

alongwiththepurchaseandtheexpropriation ofArabland,thecreation ofa


de factoJewishpopulationon the land-whencethe need forMizrahim.
showedambivalence
Evenduringthe1950s,Zionistofficials aboutthemass
importation Butonceagain,demographic
of"Levantines." andeconomicne-
cessityforcedtheZionisthand.The rescuefantasyconcerning the"Jewsof
the Orient,"in otherwords,maskedZionism'sown need to rescueitself
fromeconomicand politicalcollapse.Whilepresenting Palestineas an
emptyland to be transformed by Zionistenterprise,
the founding fathers
presentedMizrahim as passivevesselsto be reshapedby the revivifying
spiritofPromethean Zionism.1"

<__., A i.';-i,
r~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~1
X .

A Yemeni woman stands next to her tent in a transitcamp in Israel,


December 1949. (Photo courtesy of Ella Shohat)

The case of ArabJews,as a community on the "margins" of opposing


nationalisms,also suggeststhatnationalism itselfis neversimple.The very
conceptis contradictory,
sincenationalism is inevitablythesiteofcompeting
discourses,a featurethatcharacterizesbothZionist JewishandArabnation-
alismdespitethedifferences intheirhistoricaloriginsandtheiroppositere-
lationshipsto Westerncolonialismand imperialism. Quiteapartfromthe
and ideologicalambiguities
historical ofnationalism-the slippagebetween
theoriginalmeaningofnationas racialgroupanditslatermeaningas politi-
callyorganizedentity,andtheoscillation betweennationalism's progressive
and regressivepoles-nationalism changesitsvalencein different historical
and geographiccontexts. A proactiveEuropeannationalism, such as Nazi
Germany's lebensraum ambitions againstitsneighbors, cannotbe equated
withreactive nationalismslikethoseintheArabworld,a case wherenation-
THE INVENTION OF THE MIZRAHIM 11

alismis notdirectedagainstneighbors butagainstthehegemonicpowerof


Europeancolonialism.
Butin thecase ofZionism, theoppressiveand liberatory poles areinter-
mingledwithan unusualdensity ofcontradiction. Zionismfought Nazi anti-
Semitism at a geographical remove.It saw itselfas nationalliberation from
Europeananti-Semitic oppression,butatthesametimeitwas itself responsi-
ble fortheoppressionofPalestinians, way,ofArabJews.
and,in a different
Zionismfoundedone nationwhile destroying anothernation,gathering
Jewsfromthefourcornersof theglobewhileat thesametimedispersing
Palestinians tothefourcornersoftheglobe.TheMizrahim wereincluded,at
leastin laterstages,in Zionism'snationalproject(thoughin a subordinate
andambivalent position),whilethePalestinians wereconstructed as theper-
ennialenemythathadtobe expelled,oratleastdisempowered, fortheJew-
ishnationto exist.
ForPalestinians, nationalism has been a meansofcombating theZionist
colonization ofPalestine.YetwhatbothJewishandArabnationalisms have
shared,in discursive terms,is thenotionof a single,authentic (Jewishor
Arab)nation.Theybothhave assumedthatthe "national" is producedby
eliminating theforeign, thecontaminated, theimpure, so thatthenationcan
emergein all itsnativeglory.In thenameofnationalunity, contradictions
havingto do withclass,gender,religion, race,region,sexuality,
ethnicity,
language,and so forth tendto be erasedor glossedover.
The rigidity of theseparadigms has producedtheArabJewishtragedy,
sinceneither paradigmhas roomforcrossedand multiple identities.
While
Arabnationalism paid lip serviceto respecting thediverseethnicand reli-
giousminorities, infactmanygroups,forexampleAssyrians, Berbers,Copts,
Kurds,Nubians,and Turkomans, have been subdued by a norm that was
hegemonicandessentialist, ultimatelya Sunni-Muslim-Arab notionofwhata
"real"Iraqior Egyptian shouldbe. Butin thecase ofJews,because of the
aggressiveadvanceof Zionism,ArabJewishidentity was alwaysintensely
"ontrial"ina waythatwas nottrueoftheotherminorities. Alltheminorities
facedtheinsecurity engendered by marginalization, butArabJewshad to
faceas wellthebasicquestionoffinalallegiance:weretheyultimately loyal
to thehegemonicthreat, the"Zionistentity,"or to their"local"nationsof
residence? Did religionoutweighnation? Did theyaccepttheZionistequa-
tionof religionand nationalallegiance-i.e.,Zionismas theexpressionof
thereligious desireofallJews?Did theyeverhavea choiceeventoreflect on
thischoice,orthepowertomakesucha decision? Therigidities ofthesetwo
antagonistic nationalisms inscribedArabJewswithin twoveryrestrictive and
conflictingnarratives, neitherofwhichhad space fortheirnewlyinvented
contradiction.
The Zionistidea thatArabnessand Jewishness are mutually exclusive
gradually cametobe sharedbyArabnationalist discourse,placingArabJews
on thehornsof a terrible dilemma.The otherdimensionof Zionism'sdis-
placementofPalestinians was thedisplacement ofArabJewsfromtheArab
12 OF PALESTINESTUDIES
JOURNAL

world,whichtookplace,forthemostpart,without a consciousor compre-


hensiveunderstanding ofwhatwas atstakeandwhatwas yettocome.Most
ArabJews,forexample,couldneverfullyforeseewhattheimpossibility of
return to theircountries of originwouldmean.(The official term"aliya"-
ascent-does notcapturethecomplexity ofArabJewishdisplacement, just
as theterm"immigration" does notaccountfortheimpossibility ofreturn.)
The displacement ofArabJewsformspartofa moregeneralprocessofthe
formation ofthirdworldnation-states, whichofteninvolveda doublepro-
cess of joiningdiverseethnicities and regionspreviously separatedunder
colonialism whileat thesametimepartitioning regionsand peopleswithin
new regionaldefinitions (e.g.,Iraq/Kuwait) and cross-shufflingpopulations
(India/Pakistan).I am notarguing, as Zionistsoftendo, thatwhatoccurred
was a mere"population exchange"thatjustifies thecreationof Palestinian
refugees since"we"weredisplacedtoo.Butcritiquing thisZionistargument
shouldnotprevent a thorough studyofthewrongsdone to ArabJews.
Whatis needed,then,is a morecomplexanalysisof thecircumstances
thatforcedthedeparture ofArabJews.Suchan analysiswouldhaveto take
intoaccounta numberoffactors: thesecretcollaboration betweenIsraeland
someArabregimes (e.g.,Nurial-Sa'id'sinIraq),withthebackground orches-
trationof theBritish; of
theimpact thisdirector indirect collaboration on
bothArabJewsand Palestinians, now castintoantagonistic roleson oppo-
sitesidesofthepoliticaland ideologicalborder;Zionistattempts to place a
wedgebetweentheJewishand Muslimcommunities, forexampleby plac-
ingbombsin synagogues to generatepanicon thepartofJews;12 theArab
nationalism thatfailedto makea distinction betweenJewsand Zionistsand
thatdid littleto securea place forJews;and ArabJewishmisconceptions
aboutthesecularnation-state projectofZionism, whichhad almostnothing
todo withtheir own religiouscommunity ArabJewslefttheircoun-
identity.
triesoforiginwithmingledexcitement andterror but,mostimportantly, full
of Zionist-manipulated confusiQn, misunderstanding, and projections.Old-
fashioned messianic religiositywas co-optedintoa secularnationalist move-
ment.Attimes,evenArabJewishZionists(who condonedwhattheythem-
selvescalled"cruelZionism," theneedtouse violentmeanstodislodgeJews
fromexile)failedto graspthisdistinction and certainlyneverimaginedthe
systematic racismthattheywereaboutto encounter in the"Jewish" state.13
The Arab-versus-Jew binarismhas placed ArabJewsoutsidethe Arab
worldand has calledup somehistorical memories ofArabMuslimhostility
toJews-as-Jews. The fears,anxiety, and eventraumaprovokedbychantsof
"idhbahal-yahud"("slaughter theJews")arestilla burning memory formy
parents' generation, wholivedtheanti-Zionist struggle notas Zionistoccupi-
ersin Palestinebutas IraqiJewsin Iraqand as Egyptian Jewsin Egypt.And
whilethosechantscan be seen as directedat "theZionists," one cannot
overlookthewaytheymarkedthepsycheofJewsin Egypt, Iraq,and Syria.
Atthesametime,withthepressureofwavesofAshkenazi Zionistimmigra-
tion,and the of
swellingpower itsinstitutions, thedistinctionbetweenJews
THE INVENTION OF THE MIZRAHIM 13

and Zionistswas becomingevermoretenuous,to thebenefit ofEuropean


Zionism.The situationled thePalestinianArabsto see all Jewsas at least
potentialaccomplicesofZionism. Had theArabnationalistmovement main-
between"Jew"
tainedthedistinction as evensomeZionisthis-
and "Zionist,"
torianshaverecognized,itmighthavewonArabJewishsupportfortheanti-
Zionistcause.14Thustheidea ofa homogenous "Jewish evenwhen
Nation,"
articulatedby Arabsfroma presumably perspective,
anti-Zionist ironically
endsup reproducing theveryZionistdiscourses thatitopposes,specifically
theZionistclaimto speakon behalfofallJews.

THE MAKING OF MIZRAHI IDENTITY

Politicalgeographies and statebordersdo notalwayscoincidewith"im-


aginarygeographies,"15 whencethe existenceof "internal emigres," nos-
talgics,rebels-thatis, groupsof people who sharethesame passportbut
whoserelationship to thenation-stateis conflictual and ambivalent. Within
precisely
Israelitself, becauseitwas the state (Israel) thatcreated thenation
(Jewish), theMizrahi belonging tothenationbecamea stateprojectinwhich
thewholeeducationaland socialapparatuswas mobilized. Yet despitethe
effortsto transform ArabJewsintoIsraeliJews,Mizrahi withEuro-
affiliation
Israelis complex, ambivalent,and at times skeptical, even contingent.
In a roundabout way,theMizrahim as an "imagined community" are a
Zionistinvention.16 By provoking the geographical dispersalof theJews
fromtheMuslimworld,by placingthemin a new situation on theground,
by attempting to reshapetheiridentity as simply"Israeli," bydisdaining and
trying to uproottheirEasterness, bydiscriminating againstthemas a group,
ZionismobligedArabJewsto redefine themselves in relationto new ideo-
logicalpolarities,thusprovoking theaporiasofan identity constituted outof
itsown ruins.Jewsin theMuslimworldalwaysthought of themselves as
"Jews," buttheirJewishness was'assumedas partoftheJudeo-Islamic cul-
turalfabric.WithZionism, thatsetofaffiliations changed,resulting ina trans-
formedsemantics ofbelonging. Butthedelegitimization ofMiddleEastern
culturehas boomeranged thein face of Euro-Israel: out of themassiveen-
counterthathas takenplace betweenJewsfromsuchwidelyseparatedre-
gionsas the Maghreband Yemenemergeda new overarching umbrella
identity,whatcameto be called"theMizrahim."
The termbegan to be used only in the early1990s by leftistnon-
Ashkenaziactivists who saw previoustermssuchas bnei edothamizrah
("descendants oftheoriental ethnicities") as condescending; non-European
Jewswere positedas "ethnicities," in contradistinction to the unmarked
normof "Ashkenaziness" or Euro-Israeli "Sabraness," definedsimplyas Is-
raeli."Mizrahim" also graduallyreplacedtheterm"Sephardim" re-
(literally
ferring to those of Spanishorigin),which was also used oppositionally up
untilthelate1980s.Apartfromitsinaccuracy, "Sephardim" can be seen as
privileging linksto Europe while slightingthe East. The newer term
14 OF PALEsriNESTUDIES
JOURNAL

"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

Jewishness. (Thisattitude was at timesexpressedtowardAshkenazinew-


comersas well.)Theimmigrants fromthethird world,particularly fromArab
Muslimcountries, provoked"anti-Jewish" feelingsin thesecularly oriented
Sabraculturebothbecause ofthethreatening idea of theheterogeneity of
Jewishcultures and becauseofthediscomforting amalgamof "Jewishness"
and "backwardness." The Eurocentric IsraeliopennesstowardWesterncul-
ture,then,mustalsobe understood within therelational contextofa menac-
ingheteroglossia, as a reaction againstthevestigesofshtetl-Diaspora culture
as well as a projectedpenetration of "alien"Levantine Jews.
Deliberategovernment policyfavoredthe"modernization" of"primitive"
Easterners into "civilized"Israelis.As Mizrahimarrivedin Israel,violent
measuresweretakento stripthemoftheirheritage: Yemeniswereshornof
theirsidelocks,religiousartifacts were stolenby Zionistemissaries(with
falsepromisesofreturn), babieswerekidnapped, at timesliterallysnatched
fromtheirmothers and sold foradoptionto Ashkenazim. Mizrahim under
thecontrolofAshkenazi religiousauthorities,meanwhile, had to sendtheir
childrento AshkenaziOrthodoxschools,wheretheylearnedthe"correct"
formsofpracticing Judaism, including Yiddish-accented praying, liturgical-
gestural norms, andcenturies-old Polishsartorial codesfavoring darkcolors.
(Hereliethepartial origins oftheShasparty.) Although theMizrahi "aliya"to
Israelis describedby official ideology(and sometimes seen by Mizrahim
themselves) as a return"home,"in factthisreturn,
withina broaderhistorical perspective,can be seen For theArabJew,existence
as a new modeofexile.FortheArabJew,existence underZionism has meant
underZionismhas meanta profoundand visceral a profoundand visceral
schizophrenia, mingling stubborn self-pride withan schizophrenia,mingling
imposedself-rejection, typicalproductsof colonial stubbornself-pride withan
ambivalence.The assimilative projecthas partially imposedself-rejection.
"succeeded,"at leastin termsof dismantling a vast
civilizationoftheJewsoftheMuslimworld.Andalongwiththetraumaof
geographical exile,therecameanother exile-fromone'sownselfand com-
munity as one had knownit.
ExileforMizrahim can even taketheformof estrangement fromone's
ownbody.Dominant mediainIsraelhavedisseminated thehegemonicaes-
theticinherited fromcolonialistdiscourse,rendering homageto ideals of
whitenessand non-Semitic looks.The hegemonyof thisEurocentric gaze
explainswhydarkerwomenin Israeldyetheirhairblonde,whyIsraeliTV
commercials are oftenmoresuggestive of Scandinavia thanofa non-Euro-
pean majority country, and whywomenundergocosmeticsurgery to look
moreEuropean.(I am notsuggesting thatAshkenazim are notalso inferi-
orizedby thesehegemonicideals.)The mythical normsofEurocentric aes-
theticscometo inhabittheveryintimacy ofself-consciousness.
Mizrahim inIsraelweremadetofeelashamedoftheirdark,oliveskin,of
theirguttural language,ofthewindingquarter tonesoftheirmusic,evenof
theirtraditions ofhospitality. Children, trying desperately to conform to an
16 JOURNAL
OF PALESTINE STUDIES

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

popularcultures. Despitetheseparation fromtheArabworld,Mizrahicul-


ture is nourishedthroughthe enthusiastic consumptionof Egyptian,
Jordanian, and Lebanesetelevisionprograms, films,and musicvideo per-
formances thatrupture publicspherein a kindofsubliminal
theEuro-Israeli
transgressionof a forbiddennostalgia.In fact,some Mizrahimusicis pro-
duced in collaborationwithIsraeliPalestinians,whilemusicalgroupssuch
as theMoroccan-Israeli traveled
Sfatayim backtoMoroccoto producea mu-
sic video sungin MoroccanArabicagainstthesceneryofthecitiesand vil-
lagesthatMoroccanJewshaveleftbehind,justas Israeli-born Iraqisingers
suchas Ya'aqub Nishawisingold andcontemporary Iraqimusic.Thisyearn-
ingfora symbolic totheDiaspora"results
"return inan ironicreversal
ofthe
conventional of"nextyearinJerusalem,"
narrative anda reversalofthebibli-
cal expression "Babylon"
thatsubstitutes for"Zion":"BythewatersofZion,
wherewe satdown,and therewe wept,whenwe remembered Babylon."

RECONCEPTUALIZING IDENTITY: TowARD MizRAHi STUDIES

Whatis calledfor,I think, is a newfieldofinquiry: Mizrahistudies,along-


sideandinrelation toPalestinian studies.Thisfieldwouldcritique and even
bypassthefounding premisesofOrientalist representation and Eurocentric
discourse.Itwould,atone level,critique thefolklorization and exoticization
of Mizrahim withinZionistdiscourse, itsself-idealizing narrativeof rescue
and the concomitant demonization of ArabMuslimculture.Such studies
would interrupt themodernizing narrative in whichanthropology renders
Mizrahim as living"allochronically" in another"time," in whichsociology
attempts to explainMizrahicriminality, inwhichpoliticalscienceavoidsthe
relationship betweentheMizrahiand Palestinian issues,and so forth.This
interdisciplinaryfieldwould relocate the issues in a muchwidergeographi-
cal and historicalperspective.
Atanotherlevel,Mizrahistudi6swouldintervene at thepointofconver-
genceofmultiple communities anddisciplines. Rather thandemarcate neatly
fencedoffareasofexpertise, itwouldcrossthegeographical, and
historical,
disciplinaryborderserectedbythenationalist conceptualization ofidentities
andEurocentric disciplinaryformations. Suchan interdisciplinary framework
wouldtranscend puristnotionsofnationalidentity to makeroomforprolif-
eratingdifferences withinand beyondnation-states. We ArabJews,forex-
ample, crossed a borderand ended up in Israel,but our millennial
"Arabness" didnotthereby suddenly cease.Nordiditremainstaticin a pre-
vious historical How
incarnation. couldwe changeour language,our cui-
sine,our music,ourwaysof thinking overnight? Certainly, we have been
changed.Butto see Mizrahim as simplyIsraeliwouldbe likeseeingAfrican
Americans, despitetheircomplex,conflictual, and miscegenated as
history,
simplyAmericans. Atthesametime,to expectMizrahim to be simplyArab
wouldbe likereducing African Americans to simplyAfricans.
18 OF PALESTINESTUDIES
JOURNAL

To addresstheMizrahicase, one cannotsimplyproscribean either/or


paradigm ofJewishversusArabidentity, eventhoughitwas thetwooppos-
ing nationalist movements thathave shapedMizrahiidentity overthe last
half century.And certainlythe hegemonicstructures and conceptual
frameworks generatedover the past century cannoteasilybe vaporized.
One can no longerdeal todaywithsubaltern identities suchas Mizrahim or
Palestinian citizensof Israel(or thelargerMiddleEasterndiaspora)on the
basisofpuristdefinitions ofidentity thatoftenend up becomingahistorical
and evenoppressiveschematizations. Giventhedisplacement ofJewsfrom
the ArabMuslimworldand theircontemporary presencelargelyin the
"West"(Israel,France,GreatBritain, theAmericas), itis morethaneverim-
possibleto collapsea complex,layeredcultureintoa simplistic divisionof
EastversusWestor ArabversusJew.Diasporicidentities are nothomoge-
nous.Often,displacements are piledontoearlierdisplacements. For Arab
Jewishcommunities, thetraumatic moveto Israelcame in thewake of the
partitionofPalestine,a processoverwhichtheyhadno control andinwhich
they,likethePalestinians, weretheobjectsand notthesubjectsofhistory,
even ifthisobjectification forPalestinians tooka different, infinitely
more
violentform.(Thisis notto suggestthatonce in IsraelMizrahim have not
been partofthisviolenceagainstPalestinians.)
TodayMizrahim dailylivethecontradictions oftheiridentity, ina visceral
fashion.The accountsof the schismwithinIsrael,whichposita cliched
Right/Leftor secular/religious opposition, failto capturethecoiledconfu-
sion of Mizrahiidentity in thewake of Zionism.Nor do theycapturethe
deep rootsofMizrahi antagonism to theAshkenazi establishment, thevarie-
gatedformsof theirresistance-sometimes even unconscious,sometimes
evenpolitically misconceived, buta resistance thatcanbe foundinthecrev-
ices ofa socialsystem Mizrahim areslowlylearning to master,oppose,and
change.Evenifthishope forchangetakeswhatseemslikepolitically "dis-
torted"forms, thequestionis howwe readsuchforms. Sucha readingmust
avoidtheblindspotsoftheconventional modesofanalyzing Israelipolitics
and society;rigidassumptions aboutidentity do notaccountforcomplex
culturalformations liketheMizrahim. Whatis desperately neededforcritical
scholarsis a de-Zionizeddecodingofthepeculiarhistory ofMizrahim, one
closelyarticulatedwithPalestinian Rather
history.18 thansegregate Palestin-
ianandMizrahihistories as twounrelated events, we mustsee theirintricate
links.Thisconceptualization does not see theMizrahiquestionas simply
internalto thestudyofIsrael(as thoughoutsideofthequestionofArabna-
tionalism)orwithout implication forthequestionofPalestine. Makingsuch
linksservesto "re-orient" thedebate,bringing together twoabsolutely cru-
cial currentsofcritique withina multiperspectival analysis.
THE INVENTION OF THE MIZRAHIM 19

NOTES

1. Uzi Mahnaimiand MarieColvin, colonialcontext,resulting in a complex


"IsraelPlanningEthnicBomb as Saddam amalgamof colonialpracticeand liber-
Caves In,"Sunday Times,15 November atorydesires,carriedout notin relation
1998. to theEuropeanChristian oppressorsof
2. On thisconceptof a relational
ap- Jewsbutrather, in a displacedlogic,on
see Ella Shohatand
proachto identity, Palestinian land and againstPalestinian
Robert Stam, UnthinkingEurocentrism: people.
Multiculturalismand the Media (London: 9. ForZionistarguments in favorof
Routledge,1994). bringing "Jewsin theformofArabs"to
3. See Ella Shohat,Israeli Cinema: strengthen thehold on Palestine,see, for
East/Westand the Politics of Representa- example,Ya'acov Zrubnvel, Alei-Haim
of Texas,1989);
tion (Austin:University [Leavesof life](Tel Aviv:Y. L. PeretzLi-
and Ella Shohat,"Columbus, Palestineand braryPublication, 1960),and Arthur Rup-
ArabJews:Towarda RelationalApproach pin,PirkeiHayai [Chaptersof my life]
to Community in CulturalIden-
Identity," (Tel Aviv:AmOved, 1968).
tityand the Gravityof History:On the
10. Ya'acov TehonfromtheEretz
Work of Edward Said, ed. Keith Ansell- IsraelOfficewas one of thefirst Zionists
Pearson,BenitaParry, andJudith
Squires to propose,in 1908,theimportation of
(London:Lawrenceand Wishart, 1997). EasternJewsto "replace"theArabagri-
4. For moreon thelinksbetweenEu- culturalworkers.AndShmuelYavne'eli,
ropeancapitalismand theZionistcoloni- who called foran EasternJewishsolution
zationof Palestine,see MaximeRodinson, forthe"problemof theArabworkers,"
Israel: A Colonial SettlerState? trans. wrote in Hapoel Ha Tzair newspaper in
David Thorstand (New York:Monad 1910that"TheYemeniteof todaystillex-
Press,1973). istat thesame backwardlevel as thefel-
5. WhileIraqiJews,forexample,had lahin.... They can take the place of the
to giveup theirIraqipassportsto move Arabs."Yavne'eliengineeredtheimmigra-
to Israel,thepassportsof MoroccanJews tionof morethan10,000YemeniteJews
"disappeared"and wererecently "discov- beforeWorldWarI. See his memoir,
ered"in thestatearchives. Masu'Le Teiman Uoumey to Yemen]
6. Such attackswere made,forexam- (Tel Aviv:'Ayanot,1963).
ple, on ShimonBallas afterthepublica-
11. BothZionistand anti-Zionist histo-
tionof his novel,VehuAher [Andhe is
riography failto makethelinksbetween
an other](Tel Aviv:Zmora-Bitan, 1991),
theZionistsettlement of Palestineand the
as well as on myselfafterthepublication
in Hebrew of my Israeli Cinema (Tel
Mizrahiquestion.I began to addressthis
connectionin myessay,"Sephardim in
Aviv:Breirot, 1991).
Israel:ZionismfromtheStandpoint of Its
7. For a reporton thiscontroversy,
JewishVictims"[Social Text,nos. 19-20
see theeditorial, "Lubnan:Makhatir al-
(Fall 1988),pp. 1-35,whichwas repub-
Tatbi'am 'Uqdat al-Yahud?"[Lebanon:
lished in Dangerous Liaisons: Gender,
The dangersof normalization or theJew-
Nation, and Postcolonial Perspectives,
ish complex?];AntwanGharib,"al-'Aqida
al-Istila''ala ed. AnneMcClintock, AamirMufti, and
al-Yahudiyya Tatadamman
Ella Shohat(Minneapolis:Universityof
'Ardina"[TheJewishcreed includesthe
takeoverof our land];Elias Khoury,"al- MinnesotaPress,1997)].See especially
Suhyuniyya 'Unsuriyyawa Kadhalikaal- thesection:"'HebrewWork':Mythand
Hamla 'Alayna"[Zionismis racistand so Reality."
is the attackon us] in al-Wasat,no. 326 12. See Haolam Haze, 20 April1966;
(27 April1998). Black Panther Magazine, 9 November
8. I hastento add thatI am in no way 1972; Abbas Shiblak, 7he Lure of Zion
equatingAraband Zionistnationalism. (London:Al Saqi Press,1986);and G. N.
Whilehistorically Arabnationalism was Giladi, Discord in Zion (London: Scor-
framedin theMiddleEast/North Africaas pion,1990).
partof a thirdworldanticolonial struggle, 13. A numberof ArabJewishZionist
Zionism,as I have arguedelsewhere,was activists
came to lamentthattheyeverset
firstformulated withinEurope,withina footin Israel.Na'imGiladi,a former
Zion-
20 JOURNAL
OF PALESTINE STUDIES

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).

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