Yesterday I linked sabrina_il to an Israeli gospel song that I really like; it was performed on our Israeli Idol type show so the quality is not amazing, but I’ve always found it happy and uplifting. In the middle, sabrina_il starts to laugh because of the lyrics that went: "A day of rejoicing for the black man", which -- what black man do you speak of in our fair land?

At that point I promptly had to show her a video of the original 1972 performance of the song, where the performers were all sporting pretty hideous afros and African jewelry. It was part of a musical that came out that year, called "Don’t Call Me Black". This is its CD cover. The musical was influenced by the American civil rights movement, and talked about "discrimination of blacks and Biblical stories" (summary from Wikipedia), and all of the songs were written in a style entirely new to Israeli music – gospel/soul.

Following the whole cultural appropriation debates, it occurred to us that there might be people in the US who would find this whole display hugely offensive if they saw it today, having this bunch of white folks with afros singing about the black man’s plight. And we got into a whole discussion about whether or not someone who knew the cultural context of the song, and of racial issues of Israel in the ‘70s, would still be offended. And people are kind of good at recognizing context, as leiascully said.

This post started in one place, and ended up going someplace completely different. I’d intended to ask you guys -- my trusted flist -- if you think that, knowing the cultural context of the song in 1970s Israel, some people might still be offended by it. In order to explain the context, though, I had to go back -- way back -- to the establishment of the state, and to the history of Ashkenazi and Mizrahi relations in Israel. It’s a subject that I’ve wanted to write about, on some level, for a long time. Not because it’s particularly close to me or because I feel the need to educate anyone, but because LJ has a tendency to, on occasion, turn political, and talk about racism and the like, and this is the arena closest to me in which I place myself in these discussions. So, for future reference, and current events, and also to explaining the political reasoning behind the afros --



A short history of Ashkenazi/Mizrahi relations in Israel
(Sadly, this is not the fannish kind of slash.)

I’ll begin earlier, in order to clarify. There are two big categories into which you can divide Israeli Jews, and in particular, divide the first generation of immigrants, before intermarriages began:

1. Ashkenazi Jews, who are originally from European (mostly Germany) and Eastern-European countries. Ashkenazi is both a religious and a cultural/ethnic classification. Ashkenazi Jews developed the Yiddish language; most American Jews are Ashkenazi. Most of the Jews who populated the country of Palestine from the 1880s on and who founded the state of Israel were Ashkenazi; they were the ones who led Zionism. And therefore, once the country was founded, they were the ones in power.

2. Mizrahi Jews, who are originally from Middle Eastern and North African/Mediterranean countries (communities mostly originating from the Jews who were expelled from Spain in 1492). Mizrahi is a very wide cultural/ethnical definition, and a person is more likely to identify himself these days as Moroccan, Yemenite, Iraqi, and so forth. Their religious tradition is Sephardic. They developed the Ladino language, which disappeared in these parts even faster than Yiddish did. The majority immigrated to Israel right after the state was founded, in '49-'52 and the early '50s, although it's worth remembering that there has always been a small community of Jews living in Israel since Biblical times, and I assure you that community was not Ashkenazi.

There is virtually zero representation of Sephardic Jews in Hollywood TV/movies; even characters who visually appear to be Mizrahi Jews are assumed to be Ashkenazi, tossing the occasional Yiddish phrase and joking about gefilte fish. (BTW, I personally think Ziva David is a Mizrahi Jew, based on both her physical appearance, the profile she fits, and the actor who plays her dad. I doubt the NCIS creators are aware of this, though.)

Okay, so:

1948-1950s: how it started.

In 1948, the population of Israel was 870,000. In the next few years, the country absorbed over 1.5 million immigrants, both Holocaust survivors and Mizrahi Jews. Mizrahi immigrants were placed in hastily-erected and rudimentary tent cities, called Ma'abarot (photos here) -- "temporary" placement that actually lasted for years; later they were sent to development towns on the peripheries of Israel. As new immigrants who'd left most of their property abroad, their socio-economic status was low and when it came down to it, they didn't receive as much help from the government as the European immigrants did. In 1952 80% of the tent city residents were Mizrahi Jews, despite the fact that they only composed 50% of the immigrants.

In addition to all of this, the official government policy about immigrant absorption in those first few years of statehood was the "melting pot". They wanted to create one homogenous Jewish community from the different cultures the immigrants came from. This was performed on several state-mandated levels, such as: state education for the children, military service, intermarriage, forcing citizens to choose Hebrew names.

Zionism had built itself around the image of the "New Jew", trying to distance itself from how Jews were perceived back in Europe (weak, feminine, zealous, study-bound, victimized... I could go on). Still trying to maintain and perpetrate that image, the government saw its role as saving the Mizrahis from poverty, ignorance, and Arab persecution in their home countries, and leading them into a democratic Western country. According to this orientalist approach, the Mizrahis suffered from the "gap" -- the gap between the living conditions and education of European Jews and "Arab Jews". Their problem was that they'd come from pre-modern countries, from sexist and illiterate and large-familied societies. No fear, though: we, the enlightened, will fix them.

The melting pot's government-sponsored programs were supposed to desocialize Mizrahis, shedding them of all their defective cultural baggage, and then resocialize them, giving them the tools so that they can become equal to the Ashkenazis. The result of this benevolent and condescending approach was the de facto creation of a hierarchy, with Ashkenazis at the top and Mizrahis at the bottom, and a system that prefers the characteristics of Ashkenazis to those of Mizrahis.

The melting pot policy also left no room for an Arab-Jewish identity. Since the Arabs are our enemy, you cannot be an Arab too. Mizrahi history was taught very little at school, and barely researched; the rich culture and history of Mizrahi Jews was channeled into a narrative of victimization, as if Jews had always been equally persecuted around the world. Zionism wanted to create the New Israeli Jew because its European past was traumatic; the trauma of Mizrahi Jews, on the other hand, was the uprooting from the homes in their former countries.

From discrimination to demonstration

Because of the system that preferred Ashkenazis, discrimination was subtle and not actually legal, but definitely there. The few Mizrahi protests of the '50s were easily put down. And now we arrive in the '70s, when a protest movement of second-generation Mizrahis rocks the establishment with demonstrations and protests and the demand to be heard: the Black Panthers.

Their chosen name, of course, was no coincidence. They were directly influenced by the American Civil Rights Movement and the African-American Black Panthers, who were an inspiration in spirit, message, methods, fashion, and rhetoric. Mizrahis were known as 'black'; I'm not sure whether the term predated the struggle or not, but it stuck. Even today, if you hear someone referred to as black -- not PC, but common enough in daily use -- it's more likely that they're Mizrahi than the probability that they're, say, Ethiopian.

So the Black Panthers called for social justice and recognition of the discrimination against Mizrahi Jews that had existed since the establishment of the state. They coined the term "A Second Israel", and said that the melting pot was a myth, that there wasn't one Jewish nation in Israel, but two: Ashkenazis and Mizrahis. This is an interesting document that lays out some of their issues. Its grammar is atrocious and it's hard to read, but a few sample questions they ask are (pardon my paraphrasing for grammar):

4. Why is it that in every Histadrut [=labor federation] election they don't even bother with numerus clausus?

5. Why has it been that for 22 years, the Police Ministry has been held by a SEPHARDI [=Mizrahi]? Why not the Education Minister? The Social Affairs Minister? The Labor Minister?

7. Why is it that the Oriental pupils in the first Grade are 63% -- and B.A. students only 4%?

If you scroll to the end -- and like I said, it's a little hard to read -- you can see how fiercely they called for revolution. Edited for grammar/sp again: "Despotic rulers, neither your helmeted policemen nor your truncheons frighten us. You are roaring: we are in power; by virtue of this power, we will remain in power. Your ferocity is just another proof of the universal characteristic of all decadent social systems, which look most ferocious in their final death-bed struggle. [...] It is impossible to found a state on fear and hatred and cruelty. It would disintegrate. It would commit suicide by the sword of justice."

Where pop culture fits in
Young Mizrahis were inspired by and identified with the African-American struggle. And imitation is a form of flattery, and elements that showed identification with black America caught on quickly. The fashion, the attitude, the afro (or Jewfro).

So -- this was the cultural context of the musical. When "Don’t Call Me Black" talked about African-American discrimination, it was actually very relevant to Israel in the 1970s. The lyrics of the song, "Yom Yavo" -- "The Day Will Come" -- are based on phrases from MLK’s last speech.

On a lighter note, I can’t let the moment pass by without offering this piece of utterly delightful crack from the 1974 musical Kazablan. It’s a story about a young Mizrahi gang leader, Kazablan, who falls in love with the beautiful Ashkenazi Rachel, part of an Israeli film genre of cross-ethnic romantic comedies that was popular in the 1970s. Kazablan and his gang are signified as Black Panthers, which is why Rachel’s father won’t let her be with him. ANYWAY, at some point he starts singing about how much respect he used to get back in Morocco, and how much respect he gets now, and how he’s the bravest, machoest, manliest man ever, with the repeating chorus: "Everybody knows who gets more respect". (The song has since become one of the most well known ad popular Israeli songs; lots of military units have their own versions of it.)

The relevancy to our discussion: the appearance and the attitudes of Kaza’s gang members; a tribute to black power. They even have power necklaces!
And now the true reason: Jesus Christ, the choreography. When the manly macho men start prancing around in the middle, there are... no words. Oh 1970s, where did you come from, and can I go to there?

While on the subject of pop culture (but barring the subject of Mizrahi music because I have a limit), here are two more notable scenes from films, which you should feel free to skip:

1. Arriving at the ma'abara transit camp, from Sallah Shabati (1964). The film is about Sallah Shabati, a Mizrahi immigrant in the early '50s, who has just immigrated to Israel with his family and spends the movie waiting endlessly to get permanent housing. The film is a social satire that criticizes the Ashkenazi establishment on many levels, but the Mizrahi portrayal is problematic and stereotypical. Ironically (or not so much), Sallah is played by Haim Topol of Fiddler on the Roof fame. Still, it's a good movie, popular, and it's a way to see the glorious reception of Mizrahi immigrants.

2. The final scene from The Policeman (1971), which fills me with tears. The film is about an honest and naive policeman, who hasn't been promoted in 20 years, and whose contract isn't going to be renewed. In this scene he finally receives a promotion (following his actions in a robbery situation), and promptly gets dismissed from the service. The character isn't laid off because he's Mizrahi, but you can still read a lot of subtext in the character dynamics of the scene and the wonderful acting. The Inspector's name is, of course, Levkovich. Both of these films were nominated for Academy Awards, by the way.

Where are we now

It would be mean to stop in the ‘70s without finishing the story. In 1971, a violent protest with 74 arrested and 20 hospitalized caused the government to finally hear out the Black Panthers seriously. A committee was formed to address the issue, and its conclusion was that Mizrahis had indeed been discriminated against in the past. The budget for social issues and lower class welfare was significantly increased; however, in 1974 the Yom Kippur War broke, and the funds went instead to national security as it returned to top priority.

1977 is the year of the mahapach -- the "revolution" -- a dramatic turning point in Israeli politics. For the first time since the establishment of the state, the elections went not to the left-wing Mapai (later Labor) party, but to the right-wing Likud, and a lot of it was due to the power of the Mizrahi demographic.

Today, things are better, but indirect discrimination still exists, and Ashkenazis still come from a more privileged starting point. It should be noted that Mizrahis are not a minority in Israel -- they're nearly half the Jewish population. Ashkenazi/Mizrahi intermarriage is around 30%, but that doesn’t help reduce the socio-economic gap between classes. Ashkenazis are still more likely to receive higher education and Mizrahis more likely to go into working trades. The salary difference between Ashkenazi and Mizrahi men is higher than the same difference between whites and blacks in the US (according to Wikipedia). When unemployment rises, more Mizrahis lose their jobs.

Politically, Mizrahi voting patterns tend towards right-wing and traditional-religious parties. While Ashkenazi Jews went through a process of religious secularization/radicalization in 19th-20th century Europe, Mizrahis in Mideast/North African countries didn’t, and many identify as traditional-religious, which aligns better with the right-wing parties. In addition, there’s still distrust toward the left-wing Ashkenazi establishment because of the way Mizrahis were absorbed into the state.

This is a (Hebrew, sorry) news segment from sometime in the past couple of years, where they took two actors, one Ashkenazi and one Mizrahi, and gave them a series of tasks. The first was to be hitchhikers on one of Israel’s main highways. The Ashkenazi actor caught a ride within a few minutes; the Mizrahi actor waited for a few hours. In another experiment, they asked them to open profile pages in an online dating site. The Ashkenazi guy got 100 views and 40 replies. The Mizrahi guy opened two identical pages, using the same photo and details, but two different last names. The page with the Ashkenazi last name (Horowitz) got 40 views and 10 replies. The page with the Mizrahi last name (Bitton) got a single reply. It’s not a serious piece of investigative journalism or academic research, but it does give a small taste for what it’s like for some people.

To conclude

Some people today view the "melting pot" policy was a necessary means for building to building a common society. Others criticize it heavily for wiping the distinct cultural heritages of so many different groups. Inequality in Israeli society remains, mostly in the difference between the upper/middle class and the lower class, and the economic situation kind of feeds itself.

Israeli society is not, of course, made up only of Ashkenazis and Mizrahis, which are generalizations of many ethnicities to begin with. We are also divided into religious and secular, left-wing and right-wing, Jewish and Arab, third-generation sabras and immigrants. Other major groups who’ve made an impact and I didn’t mention at all are Ethiopian Jews who immigrated to Israel over the ‘80s and ‘90s, and the big immigration from the former Soviet Union countries which brought over a million people here over the ‘90s. The absorption of these groups was by no means perfect, but it has successes as well as failures. Having no melting pot policy allows groups to keep their own cultures -- and also slows down the cultural absorption into the rest of the society. Many live in relatively closed communities. And that is a whole subject I will not even touch, because there’s no way I’m getting it right, and as there are actually people on my flist who live these issues, I’ll shut up about them.

So this was a small taste of some of Israel’s social issues, hope you enjoyed. They will probably never get addressed anyway, because as long as we’re in a state of conflict with our neighbors nothing else seems to matter.

When I see discussions about living in racist and antisemitic societies on LJ, this is how they relate to me: I am Ashkenazi in Israel and I am a Jew in a Jewish state, and privileged either way. I really cannot participate meaningfully in those discussions. But I can point to this post and say, I think I maybe know what you mean.

Extra Resources:
Here is an excellent round up of links, including pages about Mizrahi women, a whole other subject I know less than less about.

Recommended fiction:
Yehoshua Knaz's Infiltration
A.B. Yehoshua's Five Seasons
Eli Amir's Jasmin and Scapegoat.

Recommended films:
Turn Left at the End of the World (2004) -- beautiful film about the friendship between two immigrant girls in a small peripheral town in the '60s, one from India and the other from Morocco.
The Band's Visit (2007) -- hands down the best Israeli film of 2007. A look at another peripheral southern town, this time from the perspective of an Egyptian police band who made a wrong turn.
Aviva, My Love (2006) -- about a working class mother/cook from Tiberias who tries to follow her dream of becoming an author.

And thank you sabrina_il, eumelia, hannarorlove, and the others who listened to me and pitched in. Comments and questions welcome; I hope I know enough to answer.