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Israel

Michèle Lamont, Graziella Moraes Silva, Jessica S. Welburn, Joshua Guetzkow, Nissim Mizrachi, Hanna Herzog, and Elisa Reis

in Getting Respect: Responding to Stigma and Discrimination in the United States, Brazil, and Israel

This chapter examines the experiences and responses of Arab Palestinians, Ethiopian Jews, and Mizrahi Jews in Israel to stigmatization and discrimination. It first explains the historical and ... More

This chapter examines the experiences and responses of Arab Palestinians, Ethiopian Jews, and Mizrahi Jews in Israel to stigmatization and discrimination. It first explains the historical and socioeconomic context for the three groups, taking into account the legacy of Zionism that shapes their experiences, the status of Arab Palestinians in the Jewish polity, and questions of ethno-national identity, exclusion, and inclusion affecting Mizrahim and Ethiopians in Israel. It then provides an overview of the Tel Aviv–Jaffa metropolitan area, the research site, before discussing the role of national belonging, race, and ethnicity in the formation of groupness among the respondents, with emphasis on self-identification and group boundaries. It also analyzes the groups' experiences of stigmatization and discrimination, and especially assault on worth, before concluding with an assessment of their reactions to such incidents as well as their views about the best ways to deal with social exclusion.Less

Palestinian Midrash: Toward a Postnational Poetics of Hebrew Verse

Lital Levy

in Poetic Trespass: Writing between Hebrew and Arabic in Israel/Palestine

This chapter turns to the Hebrew poetics of Palestinian Arab writers. It presents a close reading of poetry by Anton Shammas and his contemporaries Salman Masalha and Na'im 'Araidi. It argues that ... More

This chapter turns to the Hebrew poetics of Palestinian Arab writers. It presents a close reading of poetry by Anton Shammas and his contemporaries Salman Masalha and Na'im 'Araidi. It argues that their poetry offers us a different window onto the question of Hebrew writing in a Palestinian hand. It reads their Hebrew verse as a poetics formed between languages, cultures, and national traditions, replacing the hermeneutics of antithesis (Palestinian or Israeli? Israeli or Jewish?) with one of “in-betweenness.” Furthermore, the chapter moves away from debating the identitarian definition of Hebrew to explore the nuanced relationship of Palestinian writers with Hebrew's cultural heritage and with the traditional Jewish modes of reading and interpretation embedded therein. Through an analysis of allusion and metalinguistic discourse in Palestinian Hebrew poetry, it illustrates the intertextual practice called “Palestinian midrash.”Less

Utopia and its Collapse

Hillel Cohen and Haim Watzman

in Army of Shadows: Palestinian Collaboration with Zionism, 1917-1948

Collaboration took different forms during these years, depending mostly on the way Zionist decision makers analyzed the state of the conflict. This chapter highlights the unique feature of the ... More

Collaboration took different forms during these years, depending mostly on the way Zionist decision makers analyzed the state of the conflict. This chapter highlights the unique feature of the Palestinian national movement. A national movement generally faces the difficulty of disseminating its ideology among an internally divided public. The Palestinian Arabs also had to confront the intensive penetration of their ranks by a rival national movement. The discussion also considers the Zionist ideology and praxis in this regard. After more than a decade of effort, the Zionist movement abandoned its strategy of establishing or encouraging organizations and parties to constitute an alternative leadership for Palestine's Arabs. The Palestinian national movement, for its part, tried from time to time to impose a boycott on Jewish products. It sought to harm the Jewish economy and to prevent the Zionists from depicting the relations between Jews and Arabs as mutually beneficial.Less

Treason and Defeat: The 1948 War

Hillel Cohen and Haim Watzman

in Army of Shadows: Palestinian Collaboration with Zionism, 1917-1948

The war of 1948 ended with the severe defeat of the Arabs of Palestine and the Arab countries that came to their aid. Palestinian Arab political institutions collapsed. The Palestinian Arab state ... More

The war of 1948 ended with the severe defeat of the Arabs of Palestine and the Arab countries that came to their aid. Palestinian Arab political institutions collapsed. The Palestinian Arab state envisioned by the partition plan was aborted. Instead, the greater part of Palestine became a Jewish state that encompassed a much larger territory than that decreed by the United Nations. Accusations of treason were made by, and directed at, almost everyone who took part in the political or military aspects of the war. But others maintained that war with the Jews would bring catastrophe to the Arabs. Avoidance of war and even agreement with the Jews were, in their view, best for the Arab nation. As far as they were concerned, those who tried to prevent fighting were the real patriots, while the mufti, who declared an open war against the Jews, was self-centered, detached from his people.Less

The Diaspora and the Meanings of Palestinian Citizenship, 1925–1931

Lauren Banko

in The Invention of Palestinian Citizenship, 1918-1947

This chapter contextualises the discourses, influences, notions, and political transformations that informed Palestinian Arabs' understanding of nationality and citizenship in the diaspora ... More

This chapter contextualises the discourses, influences, notions, and political transformations that informed Palestinian Arabs' understanding of nationality and citizenship in the diaspora (particularly in Latin America) and at home in the years leading up to and just after the 1925 Citizenship Order-in-Council. Importantly, it focuses on the impacts of these understandings in Palestinian society and as part of Arab relations with Great Britain as the mandatory power. It offers an entirely new history of the emigrants and their reactions to, and counter-definitions of, the type of legal and apolitical nationality and citizenship that Palestine Mandate and colonial officials attempted to craft during the same time period. The impact of citizenship legislation on the diaspora frames the introduction of debates, discussions and slogans within Palestine, such as the demand for the ‘right to return’ and letters of protest to the British and international community that underscored the grievances of the emigrants who lacked citizenship.Less

The Palestine Revolt and Stalled Citizenship

Lauren Banko

in The Invention of Palestinian Citizenship, 1918-1947

This chapter chronicles the changes to the various meanings of citizenship and civic identity during the three years of the Palestinian Arab Revolt. Effectively, citizenship claims became rather ... More

This chapter chronicles the changes to the various meanings of citizenship and civic identity during the three years of the Palestinian Arab Revolt. Effectively, citizenship claims became rather ‘stalled’ in Palestine upon the outbreak of the nationwide revolt against the British. Rural rebels and revolt commanders co-opted certain claims, which in turn influenced newer meanings of patriotic loyalty and practices of citizenship. In particular, the Peel Commission report, which offered recommendations on policy in Palestine following the initial disturbances, is described in terms of its impact on citizenship in order to offer a historical explanation of the continuities and changes of both the British and the Arabs' perceptions of nationality, citizenship and rights by 1937.Less

Introduction

Hillel Cohen and Haim Watzman

in Army of Shadows: Palestinian Collaboration with Zionism, 1917-1948

In the 1940s, Sheikh 'Abd al-Fattah Darwish Darwish was the chief of a nahiya, a cluster of villages southwest of Jerusalem. In the stories told by the men, he appeared as a hugely powerful man who ... More

In the 1940s, Sheikh 'Abd al-Fattah Darwish Darwish was the chief of a nahiya, a cluster of villages southwest of Jerusalem. In the stories told by the men, he appeared as a hugely powerful man who lorded over the region's villages and became a prominent figure in Jerusalem as well. For villagers who were active in the Arab rebellion of 1936–39, 'Abd al-Fattah was a traitor. But for others he was their leader. This chapter introduces these mixed points of view, briefly describing the scholarly literature on the Mandatory period and the 1948 war. The book aims to retell the stories of Darwish and other local leaders, and thus of the entire Mandate. In addressing local events and putting them in their broader context, it seeks to incorporate into the historical narrative the point of view of the Palestinian Arab “collaborators” with the Jews.Less

Conclusion

Hillel Cohen and Haim Watzman

in Army of Shadows: Palestinian Collaboration with Zionism, 1917-1948

The study of Palestinian history during the British Mandate generally focuses on the national movement led by the mufti of Jerusalem, Hajj Amin al-Husseini. Arabs who opposed al-Husseini or ... More

The study of Palestinian history during the British Mandate generally focuses on the national movement led by the mufti of Jerusalem, Hajj Amin al-Husseini. Arabs who opposed al-Husseini or collaborated with the Zionists are treated as marginal. This chapter argues that this is a prejudiced view. It ignores the fact that cooperation and collaboration were prevalent, in a variety of forms, throughout the period and among all classes and sectors. Collaboration was not only common but a central feature of Palestinian society and politics. The actions of many so-called collaborators were not inconsistent with Arab nationalism, yet collaboration was regarded by the mainstream as treason. Zionist institutions shared interests with the Arab rural leadership, with part of the urban elite, and with some members of the public at large. These common concerns and the cooperation that resulted were factors in the defeat of the mainstream nationalists.Less

Contested Landscape: Palestinian Arabs and Zionist Antimalaria Projects

in Healing the Land and the Nation: Malaria and the Zionist Project in Palestine, 1920-1947

This chapter examines the antimalaria projects of Palestinian Arabs and Zionists in mandate Palestine. It explains that the issues of land disease brought about the interaction between the ... More

This chapter examines the antimalaria projects of Palestinian Arabs and Zionists in mandate Palestine. It explains that the issues of land disease brought about the interaction between the Palestinian Arab population and the Yishuv because Zionist antimalaria efforts were extended to the Palestinian Arab population primarily when the health of the Jewish community was threatened. The chapter argues that the Zionist images of the Palestinian Arab population in antimalaria measures reveal the place of the Arab community within the wider ideological project of transforming the health of the Yishuv and of Palestine's landscape.Less

Introduction

Lauren Banko

in The Invention of Palestinian Citizenship, 1918-1947

This introductory chapter sets out the book's purpose, namely to present a new understanding of the Arabs' reactions to colonialism and Jewish immigration into Palestine by framing resistance to ... More

This introductory chapter sets out the book's purpose, namely to present a new understanding of the Arabs' reactions to colonialism and Jewish immigration into Palestine by framing resistance to mandate policies and the early stages of the development of the political project of Palestinian nationalism through the articulated appeals, discussions, ideologies and demands for a political, as opposed to simply legal, identity. The book aims to trace how, and to what extent, citizenship became politically linked to nationality and civic identity as a reaction to the legal parameters of the British-created citizenship status in the post-1918 period. An overview of the subsequent chapters is also presented.Less

The Impact of Conflicts over Holy Sites on City Images and Landscapes: The Case of Nazareth

Rassem Khamaisi

in Choreographies of Shared Sacred Sites: Religion, Politics, and Conflict Resolution

This chapter focuses on the city of Nazareth in order to illustrate the theoretical and practical implications of ethnoreligious conflict among Arab Palestinian citizens in Israel that arises out of ... More

This chapter focuses on the city of Nazareth in order to illustrate the theoretical and practical implications of ethnoreligious conflict among Arab Palestinian citizens in Israel that arises out of competing claims over the nature, essence, and representation of a holy place. It argues that conflict over holy sites is a manifestation of stakeholder competition over political power and socioeconomic resources. Multifaceted conflicts between stakeholders impact the ethnoreligious development of the city by overdetermining its character and the way in which it is perceived at local, national, and international levels. The chapter begins by discussing the theoretical role that holy sites play in shaping the sociocultural imagery, political structure, and representational function of cities, followed by a general historical review of the Nazareth region. It then describes how conflict over holy sites contributes to the deterioration of relations between different ethnic and religious minority groups in the city. This is followed by a discussion of the role of outsiders (national and international stakeholders) in aggravating a conflict and the ways in which the locals (domestic stakeholders) benefit from the conflict.Less

The Acute Multicultural Entrapment of the Palestinian-Arab Religious Minorities in Israel and the Feeble Measures Required to Relieve It

Michael M. Karayanni

in Mapping the Legal Boundaries of Belonging: Religion and Multiculturalism from Israel to Canada

This chapter considers how liberal multiculturalism relates to religious-minority groups that adhere to practices viewed as illiberal for which they seek religious accommodation, known as ... More

This chapter considers how liberal multiculturalism relates to religious-minority groups that adhere to practices viewed as illiberal for which they seek religious accommodation, known as “multicultural entrapment.” This chapter reflects upon how multicultural entrapment can be remedied or contained. The Palestinian-Arab minority presents a singular illustration of acute multicultural entrapment, since the minority group is actively encouraged to maintain its religious identity and concurrently, no inclusive civic identity is fostered in Israel. Its case study will be employed here to explore the jurisdictional authority accorded to the Palestinian-Arab religious communities in Israel in matters of family law. This chapter suggests that the acute state of multicultural entrapment can be more effectively dealt with through more nuanced and particular measures rather than criminal sanctions; these include the adoption of similarly situated family law reforms, further judicial accountability, transparency through publication and concurrent jurisdiction as competing jurisdiction.Less

The Trauma of al-Nakba: Collective Memory and the Rise of Palestinian National Identity

Issam Nassar

in Trauma and Memory: Reading, Healing, and Making Law

This chapter evaluates in detail the emergence, construction, and reconstruction of Palestinian identity in relation to the 1948 trauma of “al-Nakba.” It also argues that the experience of ... More

This chapter evaluates in detail the emergence, construction, and reconstruction of Palestinian identity in relation to the 1948 trauma of “al-Nakba.” It also argues that the experience of dislocation is foundational for Palestinian identity. The events of 1948, which have been referred to as al-Nakba, form the promptest reason for the failure of development of Palestinian nation-state. The al-Nakba presented a crucial rhetorical shift, rather than the beginning or ending of an era. This term was first introduced in 1948 by one of the chief theorists of Arab Nationalism, Constantine Zurayk. It is found that the experience of al-Nakba and the rhetorical shift that accompanied it did not impact all Palestinian Arabs. Moreover, the reductive transformation of the Palestinians into a single group worsened those who lived the al-Nakba experience of their “Palestinianness”.Less

The Hard Borders of the City

Michael Dumper

in Jerusalem Unbound: Geography, History, and the Future of the Holy City

This chapter examines the legal issues concerning the construction of “hard” borders in the city of Jerusalem. The construction of a barrier to separate Israeli Jewish Population from the Palestinian ... More

This chapter examines the legal issues concerning the construction of “hard” borders in the city of Jerusalem. The construction of a barrier to separate Israeli Jewish Population from the Palestinian Arab Population is regarded as one of the largest infrastructural projects in Israeli history. The barrier is comprised to a large extent of fencing, ditches, razor wire, and a buffer zone. It stretches up to 70 meters wide along the Armistice Lines, and serves as a huge gash in the countryside, cutting through farmland, gardens, olive groves, and pasture. Legally, the most controversial element of the construction of the barrier has been its excessive route. The length of the Armistice Lines is 320 kilometers, but the route taken by the barrier is approximately 708 kilometers, extending over twice its length and slicing off parts of the West Bank where some borders of Palestinians are located.Less

Growing Pains: The Politics of Bedouin and Palestinian Populations

Alon Tal

in The Land Is Full: Addressing Overpopulation in Israel

This chapter discusses how high birth rates among Israel's Bedouin citizens in the Negev, and Palestinian Arabs in Gaza and West Bank remain a source of considerable anxiety for the Jewish majority. ... More

This chapter discusses how high birth rates among Israel's Bedouin citizens in the Negev, and Palestinian Arabs in Gaza and West Bank remain a source of considerable anxiety for the Jewish majority. The Israeli governments closely follow demographic developments and think about ways to retain a clear Jewish majority. But there is no consensus about what the future will hold. There are those who believe that present Palestinian and Bedouin demographic trends no longer threaten Jewish supremacy. Much like the pattern emerging among the majority of Israel's Arab citizens, they are convinced that it is only a matter of time until fertility also drops in these two communities. Others see Palestinian and Bedouin birth rates as threats to long-held Zionist axioms of a “Jewish and democratic state”—threats that require dispassionate and decisive interventions.Less

Catastrophe in Gaza

Nancy Gallagher

in Quakers in the Israeli–Palestinian Conflict: The Dilemmas of NGO Humanitarian Activism

During the Second World War, the British military had vast army bases stationed in Gaza but they abandoned them in 1948. When Zionist forces attacked towns and villages throughout southern Palestine, ... More

During the Second World War, the British military had vast army bases stationed in Gaza but they abandoned them in 1948. When Zionist forces attacked towns and villages throughout southern Palestine, tens of thousands of Palestinians fled or were expelled from their homes. Many sought safety in a part of Gaza that was still held by the Egyptian army. Palestinian Arabs were being made to pay for the mistakes and bad politics of Europe. They had nowhere to go and no work to do. People needed food, clothing, bedding, tents, medicines, and medical care. The Egyptians had performed great deeds for relief, but could not do everything alone. Refugee relief was not the goal of the AFSC unit in Gaza. The AFSC had accepted the invitation to participate in the Gaza relief effort with the expectation of assisting in the repatriation and reconciliation process.Less

Under British Rule, 1918–1921

Anita Shapira

in Yosef Haim Brenner: A Life

The British occupation of Palestine brought with it a sea change. Zionist hopes rose. Brenner did not share these hopes. He remained skeptical and continued to view the Yishuv as one of many Jewish ... More

The British occupation of Palestine brought with it a sea change. Zionist hopes rose. Brenner did not share these hopes. He remained skeptical and continued to view the Yishuv as one of many Jewish diasporas, not the core of a future Jewish state. His book Shkhol vekishalon was published and gained critical acclaim in Palestine and abroad. He published a new journal, Ha'adama, which presented to the Hebrew readership a new, Palestine-educated, generation of poets and writers. He became involved with the rising Labor movement. He wrote a new novella, Mehatkhala (From the beginning), based on his experiences as a teacher in the gymnasium. Whereas in previous periods he viewed Arab animosity as intractable, now he started to blame Arab hatred on the incitement of the feudal Arab leadership and the British imperialists.Less

Introduction

Michèle Lamont, Graziella Moraes Silva, Jessica S. Welburn, Joshua Guetzkow, Nissim Mizrachi, Hanna Herzog, and Elisa Reis

in Getting Respect: Responding to Stigma and Discrimination in the United States, Brazil, and Israel

This book explores the stigmatizing or discriminatory experiences of ordinary people and how they respond to such experiences, along with the factors that affected their courses of action. Drawing on ... More

This book explores the stigmatizing or discriminatory experiences of ordinary people and how they respond to such experiences, along with the factors that affected their courses of action. Drawing on more than 400 in-depth interviews with African Americans in New York suburbs, Black Brazilians in and around Rio de Janeiro, and Arab Palestinians, Ethiopian Jews, and Mizrahi Jews in Israel, the book investigates how national configurations of cultural repertoires and group boundaries influence experiences of and responses to stigmatization and discrimination. To this end, the book describes the incidents where respondents—middle- and working-class men and women—were treated unfairly and the interactions where they felt underestimated, overscrutinized, misunderstood, feared, overlooked, shunned, or discriminated against. This introduction explains the book's approach for analyzing how groupness is organized around race, ethnicity, phenotype, nationality, or religion, as well as the challenges and questions it addresses, and how the study was undertaken.Less