r/JewsOfConscience • u/Yakel1 • Apr 12 '24

History Who are Mizrahi Jews? The untold story of Arab Jews and their solidarity with Palestinians

https://www.vox.com/world-politics/24122304/israel-hamas-war-gaza-palestine-arab-jews-mizrahi-solidarity
184 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

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u/e_shamis Non-Jewish Ally Apr 12 '24

Thanks for sharing, very beautiful. It’s interesting that they’re all lumped as “mizrahi.” Does this term erase their culture? Because it seems to alienate them from their Arab origin.

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u/[deleted] Apr 12 '24

Just had arguments on IG with many many Mizrahi Jews who think Arab Jew as a term erases their identity. They hate Arabs so much they cannot fathom being called anything close to one. It's sad.

Edit to ADD: Mizrahi was a term invented only when Israel was created. It lumped all of them into one group.

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u/[deleted] Apr 12 '24

Yea Mizrahi as term to describe identity is inherently rooted in Zionist ideology. There are actually many facets of the modern Hebrew language that are shaped by Zionist ideology. Probably deserves its own post

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u/xGentian_violet Non-Jewish Atheist, Anti-Zionist Sep 07 '24 edited Sep 07 '24

maybe terms like "yemenite jewish", "palestinian jewish" and "iraqi jewish" (etc) would not erase any identity, they paint MENA jews in all of their variety. Arab jew sounds like sort of a secondary broad group identity.

I have to say I understand many people's ambivalence about or even opposition to using the term Arab for themselves (not only jews, but also lebanese, syriacs and so on), because of how many people were Arabized. This doesnt need to be zionist in nature, but it is also true that there is no actual dichotomy between arab and jew, and this should be a personal decision.

Plus some self identified mizrahi stem from non-arab and non-arabised areas like georgia (caucasus)

But in israel, Mizrahim from arab/arabized areas are very hostile to both the idea of identifying with their source jewish group, and the term arab alike, they just want to identify with this westernised, new constructed militarist israeli "we are one if we all hate the palestinians" mentality

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u/[deleted] Sep 08 '24

It’s a pretty complicated topic, there’s not really any “right” answer in regards to what we should call ourselves. It’s all subjective.

I generally call myself an Arab Jew or an Iraqi Jew. Half my family are indigenous to Palestine/Levant area, but calling myself a “Palestinian Jew” feels inappropriate to me. I normally just state that my family and ancestors came from Jerusalem and the Galilee area.

Check out this link for a really interesting discussion around this ⬇️

https://jewishcurrents.org/the-fraught-promise-of-arab-jewish-identity

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u/xGentian_violet Non-Jewish Atheist, Anti-Zionist Sep 08 '24

It’s a pretty complicated topic, there’s not really any “right” answer in regards to what we should call ourselves. It’s all subjective.

yeah that sort of what i was hinting at because the term Arab jew isnt really synonymous w whatever Mizrahi is used as in Israel, the term Mizrahi, though it experienced a shift in use in Israel, actually appears to predate Israel, and i understand the perspectives of arabised peoples.

I think people calling themselves after the specific group they are from, or even mizrahi, esp if they have lost their culture generations ago, or have a very mixed eastern background (e.g. Iraqi, Georgian, Moroccan Jewish mix), is not the problematic part in and of itself, it can just be more honest in some situations (e.g. a mizrahi that grows up in israel to similarly assimilated parents). The issue is the Zionist ideology, and when "mizrahi" is used speficially to serve zionist goals

Check out this link for a really interesting discussion around this ⬇️

https://jewishcurrents.org/the-fraught-promise-of-arab-jewish-identity

thanks. Yeah i have listened to Avi Shlaim before on youtube, Ive also seen discussions on his position and perspective on this sub. some people noted that his perspective has a few limitations (him having been from a rich/upper class rather westernized iraqi jewidh family), but i overall enjoyed most parts of his interviews. I might seek more material over time, im still in the process of learning more.

I have myself done some Reading on Mizrahim sofar, and impulsively posted some of my thoughts here on the sub. Here's an example that consisted of an article.

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u/reenaltransplant Mizrahi Apr 13 '24 edited Apr 13 '24

Re: your edit, "popularized" in Israel would be more accurate. Contrary to the well known article "invention of the Mizrahim" in AlJazeera based on Ella Shohat's scholarly paper of the same name, the term was already being used in both derogatory and reclamatory ways in interactions between Ashkenazi and Palestinian Jews in Palestine even prior to the British Mandate.

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u/[deleted] Apr 13 '24

At least in my experience my grandparents were forced out at gun point from the arab world. They were told you cannot be a jew and be arab from the countries they lived in, so they felt cut out of the arab national identity right when it was forming. This same has permeated to future generations in my opinion.

Mizrahi culture is different and it is its own thing, it also differs by country. I'm ashkenazi on my other side so I see similarities and differences, and I have many muslim/christian arab friends where we share things in common but also have many differences. I understand how those people feel you speak of where they feel their culture is different, they're reclaiming the word Mizrahi as an identity. You saw black americans do this in the US with reclaiming certain racial slurs as a form of artistic expression (I realize that's not a great example but its the only similiar thing I can think of).

Personally, I don't feel like saying arab jew erases our culture (but I am in the minority on this) but I also don't think its inherently wrong to use Mizrahi.

But jews from the Arab world and North Africa are very diverse, a jew from Algeria say might have a very different feelings then a jew from Iraq for example.

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u/e_shamis Non-Jewish Ally Apr 13 '24 edited Apr 13 '24

In regards to your last line, this is true for Arabs even. Each country has its own customs, food, dialect, culture, etc… you can spot the difference between a Syrian Arab and an Algerian Arab a mile away and they probably won’t understand each others dialect.

I’m sorry your family was forced out at gun point. These countries are absolutely corrupt (I’m from them). I’m a fan of old Arab movies, and the amount of Arab Jewish actors we had compared to obviously zero now…

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u/[deleted] Apr 13 '24

Yes MENA is very diverse, it's one of my favorite things about that part of the world.

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u/DeadlyPython79 Apr 14 '24

Not about race or ethnicity but the reclamation of the word “queer” I think is a good example

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u/Yelophant Aug 08 '24

I think it's understandable that the Jews from Morocco, Iran, etc feel resentment towards the people that exiled them from their homes. The same way it's understandable that Palestinians feel resentment towards those who exiled them from their homes. Two sides of the same coin.

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u/reenaltransplant Mizrahi Apr 13 '24

Some feel it does, especially some West African anti-zionist Arab and Amazigh Jews because they aren't even from anywhere east of Israel (Mizrahi meaning "easterner"). Others disagree. And then there's the simple reality that many Mizrahi Jews are just plain not Arab, such as the Persians and Indians and Kurds and Turks. It comes up regularly when we try to organize together.

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u/Cornexclamationpoint Ashkenazi Apr 12 '24

Mizrahi is not a synonym for Arab. Jews from the Caucasus and Central Asia are also Mizrahi, even though those are Turkic areas.

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u/[deleted] Apr 13 '24

This is true, but many Mizrahim themselves will still think both terms are related and call the entire "East" Arab or the Middle East, so when they see the term Arab Jew, they think it's about them. Even without reading the whole article

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u/[deleted] Apr 13 '24 edited Apr 13 '24

Yes the term was intended to alienate us from the rest of the Arab world. Altho it was also meant to be used as a broad term that also includes the Persian Jews, Bukharan/Mountain Jews, and the very small community of Indian Jews. It’s almost a shorthand for the English term “Oriental”. And it still holds this purpose today, but it is upheld by ourselves now. Combination of Zionist conditioning, personal and ancestral trauma, and a lack of education around what the term “Arab” actually means. At least this is the pathology of the “Musta’arabim” Jews

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u/[deleted] Apr 12 '24

[deleted]

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u/BolesCW Mizrahi Apr 12 '24

the term was created by the Ashkenazi (Labour) establishment as something of an insult to distinguish Arab Jews from southern European/Ottoman Jews. Think of it this way: Mizrahim generally spoke a vernacular like Judeo-Arabic or Judeo-Persian (and a few other localized dialects) while Sepharadim spoke Judeo-Espanyol (popularly called "Ladino" which is just too odd from a cultural and linguistic perspective) and Judeo-Greek and Judeo-Italian, and a smattering of other dialects. More importantly, most Sepharadim spoke the local languages of the majority population, so it was very common in the 19th and first half of the 20th century for Sepharadim to speak four or five different languages at home and at work and in the street (check out The House on Chelouche Street to hear the seamless transitions of languages). It was impossible for the Ashkenazi establishment to dismiss Sepharadim as ignorant. But they definitely could denigrate those Jews who looked and sounded like Arabs-- as "Orientals" (which is what Mizrahi means, with a similar racist connotation as the English term). By labeling them Mizrahim, the Ashkenazim could also drive a wedge between them and Arabs, whose cultures they often shared. See the works of Ella Habiba Shohat for more detailed explanations, especially this essay https://www.jstor.org/stable/466176?origin=crossref

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u/reenaltransplant Mizrahi Apr 13 '24

The Ella Shohat essay is great, with the caveat that later work, such as that of Moshe Behar, has highlighted that the term Mizrahi was already being used in both derogatory and reclamatory ways regularly long before 1948, and even before the British Mandate, when Ashkenazi immigrants to Palestine interacted with Palestinian Jews.

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u/BolesCW Mizrahi Apr 13 '24

that the term itself was in use prior to 48 is clear, especially if you look at non-Ashkenazi prayer books (the phrase is "according to the customs of the Sepharadim and the Communities of the East -- 'edoth ha-Mizrah), but the weaponization of it as derogatory is an invention of the Labour-dominated yishuv. (the evolution of the term goy -- neutral in Hebrew, derogatory in Yiddish and other vernaculars -- is similar.)

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u/Cornexclamationpoint Ashkenazi Apr 12 '24

The thing is that Ashkenazi Jews, while having noticeable differences across countries, are a MUCH more homogenous group that Mizrahi Jews are. A Jew from Yemen, Azerbaijan, and Uzbekistan are all under the "Mizrahi" umbrella, despite having monumentally different cultures.

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u/[deleted] Apr 13 '24 edited Apr 13 '24

Exactly🎯 Ashkenazi can be considered a cohesive sub-group of Jews. There’s good scientific evidence that the Ashkenazi descend from a group of only 200-300 individuals who migrated north from Italy up the Rhine into Central Europe, so it’s a specific group. For me, “Mizrahi” is almost the same as the English term “Oriental”. It’s meaning heavily steeped in politics and colonial relations.

For anyone who is unfamiliar with the “oriental” term, or anyone who wants to deepen their anti-Zionist thought, Edward Saïd’s “Orientalism” is obligatory reading 🙌🏼

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u/[deleted] Apr 13 '24

ok but just because the Ashkenazim are more ethnically similar, aren’t all three terms based just on directions: north, south, east? Like maybe the whole taxonomy isn’t as racialized as it became later.

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u/[deleted] Apr 15 '24

I’d have to do a deeper dive into the etymology of each term to give a sufficient answer. The origin of the terms Ashkenazi and Sefardi seem to be in line with what you’re suggesting. But the term Mizrahi definitely appears to be a heavily politicized identity rooted in a western worldview. It doesn’t make any sense to group my family (Iraqi Jews and old yishuv Jews who never left the land) with a family of Mountain Jews from the Caucuses. At least not from an ancestral and genetic perspective, and definitely not a cultural and linguistic perspective. I have very high percentage of Canaanite ancestral DNA, no different than indigenous Palestinians. Mountain Jews have a more even percentage of Persian and Canaanite ancestral DNA. The cultural and language differences are even more pronounced. I mention all of this just to illustrate that grouping us together seems to logically be a result of colonial relationships rather than a practical taxonomy of North/South/East/West directions

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u/[deleted] Apr 15 '24

Didn’t someone in another comment say that Mizrahi means East? I think East of Israel? I have to dig more too, but my understanding of these terms has been that they aren’t necessarily about ethnicity and instead they are a reference to what direction the ancestors migrated away from Israel.

Here’s ChatGPT on it:

The terms Ashkenazim, Sephardim, and Mizrahim refer to different groups within the Jewish community, distinguished largely by their historical regions of settlement and the resulting cultural, linguistic, and religious differences.

  1. Ashkenazim: This term originates from the Hebrew word "Ashkenaz," which is used in the Hebrew Bible and medieval rabbinic literature to refer to Germany. Over time, the term came to refer more broadly to Jews of Central and Eastern European descent. The Ashkenazi Jews developed a distinct liturgy and cultural traditions, and they primarily spoke Yiddish as their vernacular.

  2. Sephardim: This term comes from "Sepharad," a Biblical location identified by Jewish tradition with Spain. Hence, Sephardim originally referred to Jews of the Iberian Peninsula. Following the expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492, and from Portugal in 1497, the term grew to include those who resettled in areas such as the Ottoman Empire (including modern-day Turkey, Greece, and the Balkans), North Africa, and the Middle East. Sephardic Jews have their own unique liturgical rites, religious customs, and they traditionally spoke Ladino, a language derived from Old Spanish.

  3. Mizrahim: The term Mizrahim comes from the Hebrew word "Mizrach," meaning "east." Mizrahi Jews are those who lived in North Africa and Asia, including countries like Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Egypt, and Syria, among others. They have their own distinct traditions and languages, which were influenced by their respective local cultures. The liturgical practices and some customs of Mizrahi Jews differ both from Ashkenazim and Sephardim, reflecting the diverse environments in which they lived.

Each of these groups represents a rich tapestry of traditions, languages, and religious practices shaped by their historical and geographical contexts.

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u/[deleted] Apr 15 '24

more from ChatGPT

Yes, besides Ashkenazim, Sephardim, and Mizrahim, there are several other Jewish ethnic groups, each with their own unique historical backgrounds, cultural practices, languages, and geographic origins. Some of these groups include:

  1. Beta Israel: Also known as Ethiopian Jews, the Beta Israel community has a history that dates back to ancient times. They have unique religious practices distinct from mainstream Rabbinic Judaism and historically spoke Ge'ez and Amharic.

  2. Yemenite Jews (Teimanim): Originating from Yemen, this group has preserved ancient Jewish religious practices that are distinct in liturgy and customs. They traditionally spoke Yemenite Hebrew and Judeo-Arabic.

  3. Bene Israel: Located primarily in India, particularly in and around Mumbai, the Bene Israel maintained distinct religious and cultural practices. They have a history that possibly dates back to the 1st century BCE.

  4. Cochin Jews: From the Cochin (Kochi) region of India, this group has a history that could be as old as the Jewish presence in Babylon. They have historically been divided into the "White Jews" and "Black Jews," based on historical socio-economic divisions rather than ethnicity.

  5. Romanian Jews (Romaniotes): This group has a presence in Greece and the Balkans and predates both the Ashkenazim and Sephardim in Europe. They have unique liturgical practices and historically spoke Yevanic, a Greek-Jewish dialect.

  6. Mountain Jews (Juhuro): Originating from the Caucasus Mountains, particularly in what is now Azerbaijan and Dagestan, Mountain Jews speak Juhuri, a language that blends Persian and Hebrew elements.

  7. Karaites: While not an ethnic group per se, Karaites are a religious group within Judaism that rejects Rabbinic Judaism and follows only the Hebrew Bible. They have communities in several countries, including Israel, the United States, and Turkey.

  8. Krymchaks and Crimean Karaites: These are Turkic-speaking Jews from the Crimea. The Krymchaks practice Rabbinic Judaism, while the Crimean Karaites adhere to Karaite Judaism.

Each of these groups adds to the diversity of the global Jewish community, with distinct traditions, languages, and interpretations of Jewish law and customs.

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u/[deleted] Apr 15 '24

Yes it does ultimately mean east just going by the roots of the word itself. I just have such a hard time seeing its use as any different from the English term “Oriental”… I think anti-Zionist Jews like myself can have a difficult time interrogating our current beliefs, as we have already done this with our former Zionist beliefs. It creates a notion that we no longer hold historically or current inaccurate ideas around Jewish identity/Zionism/Israel. But facts are not beholden to any ideology, if I can find good logic and evidence that Mizrahi is not as politically charged as I believe it to be, I would change my position

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u/specialistsets Non-denominational Apr 15 '24

Contrary to popular belief in the anti-Zionist community, Israel did not coin the term Mizrachi/Mizrahi (literally "Eastern") to refer to the Jewish communities of the east. Mizrach (East) is a positive and even romanticized term in both Ashkenazi and Sephardic tradition, as it is the direction in which prayer/synagogues were oriented toward Jerusalem and came to refer to Jerusalem and the holy land itself. The quintessential example of this is the famous medieval Sephardi philosopher Yehuda Halevi who coined the popular phrase "libi ba'Mizrach"/"my heart is in the east" (https://americansephardi.org/news/simoct15/) to refer to the religious yearning for a return to Zion. Many centuries later this phrase became a rallying cry of Zionism and the biggest early religious Zionist political organization is called "Mizrachi", which was founded by Ashkenazim and is now mixed Ashkenazi/Sephardi/Mizrahi. There was never a negative connotation to the word "Mizrach" or Mizrachi/Mizrahi. Early Ashkenazi Zionists wanted to be "Eastern" and abandon their "Western" roots.

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u/PunkAssBitch2000 LGBTQ Jew Apr 12 '24

Holy shit. I didn’t know about the Yemenite Children Affair. Thats so insane and horrifying.

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u/Specialist-Gur Ashkenazi Apr 12 '24

Do we have any mizrahi (or Arab) Jews here? The comments section seemed very offended by this article.. so I’d love to hear from you if you’re in this group!!!

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u/[deleted] Apr 12 '24 edited Apr 13 '24

I’m here 👋🏼 The vox article was amazing. Might be the best explanatory journalism of our history re: Zionism and the Israeli state. For those who want to learn further, Ella Shohat and Avi Shlaim are two amazing Mizrahi academics who serve as a great starting point.

I can understand why others would be offended by this piece, but it comes from a place of ignorance. Many don’t understand what ‘Arab’ identity is, and incorrectly assume it inherently refers to people who originate in the Arabian peninsula. So they feel that “Arab Jew” strips their identity as Jews. Many of our families also had some pretty traumatic ‘exits’ from the ancient MENA Jewish communities we lived in, as the article describes. In 1947, Iraq went from having a 2,500+ year old Jewish community that was loved and valued by society, to becoming a very unsafe, oppressive, and deadly place for Jews to live..

..I have a more nuanced and deeper understanding of Arab identity, so I don’t have any qualms with the term.

On a side note, the mods should create flair for those of us who prefer to identify as “Arab Jew” instead of “Mizrahi”

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u/Specialist-Gur Ashkenazi Apr 13 '24

Happy to hear from you!! Thank you!!! :) and if any Jews of conscious had issues with it I’d love to hear from them too!! Love hearing all your perspectives :)

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u/reenaltransplant Mizrahi Apr 13 '24

I'm an Arab Jew and this is article is one of the best takes I have ever seen. I have only minor quibbles, such as with this sentence:

"For centuries, Mizrahi Jews had enjoyed high status in their countries of origin in the Middle East and North Africa, which ranged from Iraq to Egypt to Morocco" -- if you made it "many" Mizrahi communities it would be fine. It wasn't generally the case in Iran for example until the Pahlavi dynasty.

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u/[deleted] Apr 13 '24

I'm half Ashkenazi and half Mizrahi. I think the vox article was good, it did good in some parts and I thought was weak in others, but overall pretty good. I wish it talked about more of how they actually came to Palestine. At least for my grandparents, them being forced out shaped their world view.

Personally Arab Jew or Mizrahi means the same to me, they're interchangeable but I realize many people feel differently than me about that.

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u/rzenni Apr 13 '24

I’m here,but I’m not Arab. My family is from India (though we have a lot of Muslim cousins, as there’s a lot of Muslim’s in India.)

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u/allyouneedislovv Apr 13 '24

My daughter is Sephardic (Polish & Moroccan refugees), Yemenite and Lithuanian. I understand this ethnic divide is still persvasive, but it would put my mind at ease if I knew when a shared identity will comeforth, and Jews will stop using this as what it is - a divide :/

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u/[deleted] Apr 13 '24

I'm half Mizrahi half Ashkenazi, I think it depends on the country. My grandparents were forced out from Egypt and Syria, they didn't go to Palestine they actually met in Lebanon as they both fled there then came to the states. Lebanon was a very different country back then.

The article I thought did a good job in some bits, but very bad in others. My grandparents were forced out at gun point from their home countries and I know many other people who come from families who were the same. I also wish they talked more about the history of how many ended up in Israel and across the world. They were both proud arab jews so it very much hurt them when they felt their countries turned on them.

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u/Fit-Extent8978 Non-Jewish Ally Apr 13 '24

I am an Egyptian, and actually it's heartbreaking to hear what happened to your family. Actually Egyptians were very much affected by the uprising nationalism back then, especially having Israel and the west on the borders, the nationalist propaganda created an anti-jewish that people failed differentiate between Jews and Israelis.

My aunt was raised with an Egyptian jewish family that used to live in the same building, she used to tell how she enjoyed too much when she was young playing with their kids, and eating Kosher, and how they were so funny. Actually Egyptian jews were so famous of having a good sense of humor. Many of our classic Egyptian actors, actress and singers were Jews and until now we love them. Stephan Rosti was the best, would recommend you watch some of his movies.

Fortunately, there is a rise of Egyptian revisionists who have begun to revisit and shed light on the injustices faced by Egyptian Jews in the past, helping to alleviate the impact of that period of nationalism. I suggest watching this recent documentary if you are interested in delving deeper.

I feel really sorry for what happened to your family, and I hope you are safe any where you are.

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u/[deleted] Apr 14 '24

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u/Fit-Extent8978 Non-Jewish Ally Apr 17 '24

Thank you so much for your reply, I am really happy to hear these words from you directly. I understand how traumatic the history was for many Jews, and I feel related to all what many minorities see right now. I try as much as I can to avoid speaking about it, since I am not Jewish I can't fully understand or feel what they have been through, but talking about it is inevitable within the current conflict. All my arguments come from the idea that what happened to the Jews is very attached to how colonialism and nationalism treat minorities worldwide, assuring that we are all attached to one big struggle, in which we all need to get free from our oppressors. It's a shame that Jews were pushed to believe that they will be only safe in this place. Only if they become part of the imperialist machine, instead of granting them safety everywhere. For me that doesn't look sustainable even if the Palestinians vanished, power is not lasting forever. If Jews are the majority in Israel, but they are still a minority in the world, their safety is very attached with the safety of other minorities not a separate cause.

I hope that we reach a moment where we all can live freely without oppressing each other to please dominant powers that only live on our struggles.

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u/[deleted] Apr 18 '24

[deleted]

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u/Fit-Extent8978 Non-Jewish Ally Apr 20 '24

Your elaboration cannot be more accurate. While I didn't experience what happened to the Jews in Europe, and I agree that I cannot comprehend. My opposition to Zionism is not only focused on the Palestinian struggle. If I see any signal that this project would lead to the safety of the Jews I would support it, but in reality I cannot see this project providing any safety on the long term for the Jews, as I said it's not sustainable at all. Relying on colonial powers to be safe (especially when they have long history with antisimitism), doesn't guarantee the sustainability of the project. This safety is only guaranteed by being their colonial arm against the people of the Middle East. Focusing on the role in which Israel plays in the Middle East, their interest is not only against the Palestinans, it extend to every nation and country in the Middle East to help the current dominant power (USA).

This is dangerous for the Jews, even if the Palestinian cause get solved, Israel is still showing all evidences that they don't want to co-exist in this region and they continuously grow hostile conditions with neighbouring countries. They support Authoritarian regimes and dictatorships like the Egyptian and Jordanian ones, they support backward regimes like the Saudis and UAE, they supported Iraq invasion, libya invasion, and their position in Syria. They work so hard to maintain American imperial interests in the region. With this position you only create a country surrounded by populations that know their freedom is against Israel's interest. When this colonial chain is broken one day, Israel will be in a significant danger, and so its citizens.

The idea that Jews are still dying everyday for this state, is very alarming regarding their safety. It's the only country that Jews are dying consistently in the moment.

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u/[deleted] Apr 20 '24

[deleted]

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u/Fit-Extent8978 Non-Jewish Ally Apr 20 '24

Thank you! I have been also reading this book for a couple of days now, and I think it has a bunch of sufficient historical analysis of the Zionist movement.
https://www.marxists.org/history/etol/document/mideast/agedict/index.htm

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u/[deleted] Apr 13 '24

Thank you you're very kind. Thank you for the resources as well! Yes, I'm in the US and sadly we both are a part of countries were the goverment does not represent the will of the people. Much love to Egypt and the Egyptian people!

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u/Fit-Extent8978 Non-Jewish Ally Apr 13 '24

 sadly we both are a part of countries were the goverment does not represent the will of the people

Yesss! that concludes everything! Thanks, and nice to meet you!

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u/[deleted] Apr 12 '24

Amazing essay

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u/Ok_Treacle_9839 Apr 13 '24

I saw a lot of upset folks about this article. so I’m not sure how accurate it is. Not to say that people can’t have different perspectives.

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u/specialistsets Non-denominational Apr 12 '24

The confusing thing with this article is that these Jewish communities never identified as "Arab" historically. Mizrahi Jews have big communities in North America and South America and most identify as "Sephardi" and/or with their specific place of origin such as Persian, Morrocan, Syrian, Bukharian, Yemenite/Temani", etc. Plenty of Mizrahi groups never even spoke Arabic, particularly not by the time they immigrated to Israel in the 1950s-70s.

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u/[deleted] Apr 12 '24

Delineating between Sefardim and Mizrahim is kind of confusing, because those terms get used interchangeably a lot. For me, Sefardim are the ancestors of Jews who lived in the Iberian peninsula from the time of the mid-late Roman Empire until the expulsion in 1492, and then spread around Europe, North Africa, parts of the Middle East, and the new world. “Mizrahi”, such as myself, are the descendants of Jews who existed prior to the integration of the exiled Sefardim, and never left the Levant/Middle East/North Africa. Historically, we referred to ourselves as “musta’arabi”

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u/specialistsets Non-denominational Apr 13 '24

That's very interesting, which communities identify as "musta'arabi" historically with limited Sephardi history/influence? Most Mizrahim in the world today identify as Sephardi communally even if they are not directly descended from exiled Sephardim, or have a very mixed combination of Sephardi and Mizrahi ancestry over centuries. But as communities, they have adhered to Sephardi customs for hundreds of years and have adopted a Sephardi identity that spans many unique Mizrahi communities.

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u/[deleted] Apr 14 '24

This is where things get even more confusing, because as you mention, many communities that identify as musta’arabi also had a big influx of Sefardim after the Alhambra decree. This is especially true for the North African Jews. For example, I have a brother-in-law who’s fam come from the Jewish community of Djerba in Tunisia. Many of them can draw direct lineage from Jews who fled Judea around the end of the Roman-Jewish wars and went directly to Djerba. But they heavily ‘mingled’ with the Sefardim when they arrived. It can be impossible at times to know when Mizrahi customs, ethnicity, and even familial ancestry ends and Sefardic ones begin, or vice versa🤷🏻‍♂️

I would say there are three main Mizrahi or musta’arabi communities that had very little if any Sefardic influence. These are the Jewish communities of Iraq, Persia, and Yemen. There are many other smaller ones, these are just the most significant.

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u/specialistsets Non-denominational Apr 15 '24

Thank you for sharing this detailed answer. Iraq has a mix as well, as a wave of Syrian Sephardim moved to Baghdad in the 19th century, I believe after a plague devastated the community. There were even notable Ashkenazi Jews in Baghdad in the late 19th and early 20th century. Persian and Temani Jews seem to be the most distinctly non-Sephardic of the large Mizrahi communities.

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u/reenaltransplant Mizrahi Apr 13 '24 edited Apr 13 '24

The part about never identifying as Arab historically is not quite correct. Some among them did at various times, for example during World War 1, Arabic speaking Ottoman Jews in diaspora who wanted to disaffiliate themselves with enemy Turkey responded to being derogatorily called Turks with "no, we are Arabs." Meanwhile, large groups of non Jewish people who call themselves Arab (and would never be doubted for it) today also didn't start doing so until the rise of Arab nationalism simultaneously with the growing influence of Zionism in the region.

Arab is a very ethnolinguistic identity: it's built into the language with the root of the word Arab tied to good speaking of Arabic. It makes sense to me to identify as an Arab Jew because Arabic was the primary language of my Jewish ancestors.

I do intervene whenever anyone tries to use Arab Jew as a synonym for Mizrahi Jew, because even though more than 95% of Mizrahi Jews in the world are of Arabic speaking ancestry (I did the math with population statistics once), those of us in the Arab-Mizrahi majority have a responsibility to make space for the non-Arab Mizrahim.

ETA: The Vox article itself actually links the paper by Levy that explains pre-zionist usage of the term "Arab Jew"

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u/residentofmoon Apr 13 '24

That's my understanding as well from what I've been told