Intra-Jewish Conflict in Israel This is the first book in English to examine the political history of Mizrahi Jews (Jews from the Muslim world) in Israel, focusing in particular on social and political movements such as the Black Panthers and SHAS. The book analyzes the ongoing cultural encounter between Zionism and Israel on one side and Mizrahi Jews on the other. It charts the relations and political struggle between Ashkenazi- Zionists and the Mizrahim in Israel from post-war relocation through to the present day. The author examines the Mizrahi political struggle and resistance from early immigration in the 1950s to formative events such as the 1959 Wadi-As-Salib rebellion in Haifa; the 1970s Black Panther movement uprising; the ‘Ballot Rebellion’ of 1977; the evolution and rise of the SHAS political party as a Mizrahi Collective in the 1980s, and up to the new radical Mizrahi movements of the 1990s and present day. It examines a new Mizrahi discourse which has influenced Israeli culture and academia, and the nature of the political system itself in Israel. This book will be of great interest to those involved in Middle East studies and politics, Jewish and Israeli studies and race and ethnic studies. Sami Shalom Chetrit (PhD), a Moroccan born Hebrew writer and scholar, is Assistant Professor in the Department of Classical, Middle Eastern and Asian Languages and Cultures at Queens College, CUNY, in New York city. He is the author of numerous books and articles on Israeli society, culture and politics. Routledge Studies in Middle Eastern Politics 1 Algeria in Transition Reforms and development prospects Ahmed Aghrout with Redha M. Bougherira 2 Palestinian Refugee Repatriation Global perspectives Edited by Michael Dumper 3 The International Politics of the Persian Gulf A cultural genealogy Arshin Adib-Moghaddam 4 Israeli Politics and the First Palestinian Intifada Political opportunities, framing processes and contentious politics Eitan Y. Alimi 5 Democratization in Morocco The political elite and struggles for power in the post-independence state Lise Storm 6 Secular and Islamic Politics in Turkey The making of the justice and development party Ümit Cizre 7 The United States and Iran Sanctions, wars and the policy of dual containment Sasan Fayazmanesh 8 Civil Society in Algeria The political functions of associational life Andrea Liverani 9 Jordanian-Israeli Relations The peacebuilding experience Mutayyam al O’ran 10 Kemalism in Turkish Politics The republican people’s party, secularism and nationalism Sinan Ciddi 11 Islamism, Democracy and Liberalism in Turkey The case of the AKP William Hale and Ergun Özbudun 12 Politics and Violence in Israel/Palestine Democracy versus military rule Lev Luis Grinberg 13 Intra-Jewish Conflict in Israel White Jews, black Jews Sami Shalom Chetrit Intra-Jewish Conflict in Israel White Jews, black Jews Sami Shalom Chetrit First published 2010 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 270 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2009. To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk. © 2010 Sami Shalom Chetrit English translation: Oz Shelach All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Chetrit, Sami Shalom, 1960- Intra-Jewish conflict in Israel : white Jews, black Jews / Sami Shalom Chetrit. p. cm. — (Routledge studies in Middle Eastern politics) Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Jews, Oriental—Israel—Social conditions—20th century. 2. Jews, Oriental—Israel—Political activity. 3. Panterim ha-shehorim (Israel) 4. Protest movements—Israel. 5. Social movements—Israel. 6. Intergroup relations—Israel. 7. Israel—Ethnic relations. I. Title. HN660.Z9S6255 2010 305.80095694—dc22 2009011027 ISBN 0-203-87035-2 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 10: 0–415–77864–6 (hbk) ISBN 10: 0–203–87035–2 (ebk) ISBN 13: 978–0–415–77864–0 (hbk) ISBN 13: 978–0–203–87035–8 (ebk) In memory of Sa’adia Marciano, a Black Panther Contents Preface ix Acknowledgments xiii Introduction: cultural conflict or class struggle? 1 1 The encounter: Ashkenazi Zionism and the Jews of the Muslim world, sociohistorical background 16 2 The first decade: from shock to protest 43 3 “Either the pie is for everyone, or there won’t be no pie!” HaPanterim HaSh’horim (the Black Panthers Movement): the generating collective confrontation 81 4 The old crown and the new discourse: the era of radical awareness—1981 to the present day 141 Conclusion 225 Notes 242 Bibliography 272 Index 287 Preface The title of a talk I recently gave in New York included the phrase, “White Jews, Black Jews.” In the discussion following the lecture, a friendly woman warmly suggested that I not use the terms “white and black” in the Jewish context; she found it off-putting and thought it distracted from the main point. And what is the main point? I asked politely. The main point is the social problems, she replied. Then she explained: “After all, there are no black Jews in Israel, apart from the Ethiopians.” Another participant asserted that today, in 2009, all this talk of ethnic tensions and economic gaps between Ashkenazi Jews and Mizrahi (Middle Eastern) Jews in Israel is antiquated and meaningless, since, he argued, the State of Israel has already achieved full equality among all ethnic groups, and no one cares which ethnicity you belong to anymore. “For example,” he added, “I am half Ashkenazi and half Mizrahi, and neither half really interests me.” Those two comments, which I have heard on many other occasions in response to my presentation of this book, embody the entire domestic-Jewish ethnic debate in Israel. The first speaker was averse to the parallelism which I draw not only in the title, but also in the book itself, between black–white relations in the United States, and Ashkenazi–Mizrahi relations in Israel. She recognized the existence of tensions among Jews, but would like to believe that they are based on economic status and not ethnic origin. After all, as she said, there are no black people in Israel. She was referring purely to color. Whereas I, of course, am talking about black socioeconomic status, black political consciousness. And indeed, things are not so clearly black and white. There are Mizrahim in Israel with a totally white consciousness, and they despise any Mizrahi claims of oppression and discrimination. Conversely, there are Ashkenazim in Israel with a completely Mizrahi consciousness. And in between are many shades of grey. This is also the situation in the United States, of course. The second speaker wished to believe, as do most Jews in the West, that all of Israel’s political problems revolve solely around the national question, meaning, conflicts between Jews and Arabs or between Israelis and Palestinians. The reality, as we all know, is quite different, but it is more comfortable to imagine this sort of Jewish unity in face of the Arabs. In this narrative, Jews never star as the baddies. It is difficult for Western supporters of Israel, Jews and Christians alike, to contend with the fact that there is not only constant conflict between Jews and Arabs in x Preface Israel, but also ethnic tensions and vast economic discrepancies within Jewish society, between Europeans and Mizrahim, or, as the title indicates, between white and black people. In other words, Israel, much like the United States, features all the characteristics of a polarized society, with plainly oppressive economic relations, in which most European Jews are in the upper echelons of the social ladder, and most Mizrahi Jews and Arabs are on the lower rungs. As in any place with such polarization, the oppressed groups struggle for their existence and status in society. Much has been written regarding the Palestinian Arabs’ resistance to political and social oppression. This book, however, is concerned with the social and cultural struggle of Jews from Arab and Muslim states in Israel—the Mizrahim. The book seeks to throw open the front door to the critical narrative of Mizrahim in Israel, which has been resolutely and persistently denied by European–Zionist historiography in Israel and in the world, in both public and academic realms. As a result, most of the population in Israel and in the West labors under a forced ignorance of this dimension in the annals of Zionism and Israeliness: the cultural encounter between Zionism and the state of Israel on the one hand, and the Jews of Arabia and Muslim countries on the other, together with all the social and political implications of this encounter. This ignorance breeds fear and aversion, which prevent us all from taking a brave look in the mirror, aimed at recognition, thought, and action for change. Having studied some six decades of Ashkenazi–Mizrahi relations and the Mizrahi struggle, which has always been the central social struggle, I can say with confidence and a great degree of sorrow that the regime’s ability to oppress and control the protest and resistance has never been greater or more confident as it has during the last decade. Today, there is no organization or movement, nor a coalition of movements, with the capacity to threaten the extant economic order—not even the labor unions, which always have one eye on the seat of power.