r/JewsOfConscience • u/xGentian_violet Non-Jewish Atheist, Anti-Zionist • Apr 16 '24
History A sociological analysis of Israeli culture and history, the hypocrisy outlined.
Israel often claims that Israel existing means all Jews can now be in tune to their heritage and cherish the history.
Yet most of the very religious Jews in Israel, regardless of of descent, even if they are Mizrahim or Sephardim, dress in 19th/early 20th century Polish Ashkenazi fashion. The assimilation into the dominant eurocentric western culture has not preserved, but extirpated most unique Jewish traditions from various different Jewish groups around the world.
At the same time Israel en masse constantly devastates historical archeological sites (primarily by bombing them), and the environment of this new land that they colonised (and continue to colonise). The famous example of the cutting of ancient olive trees planted by Palestinians illustrates a complete lack of genuine connection to this land, which is seen as an entity to be dominated and brutalised, to be colonised and settled.
What is the land they supposedly see as the "Holy Land" made into? a slew of shopping malls and car centric concrete wastelands.
When Israel was created by Zionist ashkenazim, it was created knowing that the lives of one million Jews in Muslim countries will be jeopardized by the establishment of a Jewish state.” They were warned and knew that such a move would lead to geopolitical instability and that all Jews in arab countries would be seen as supporters of Zionism, that even Arab countries which previously maintained religious tolerance or had been on a path of progressive improvement would turn on Jews within their borders as a result
But this was all in line with the plan, as these people were intented as an underclass to be exploited anyway.
When Mizrahim got off the planes that brought them to Israel, first they were sprayed with the insecticide DDT to “disinfect” and “delouse” them. Then they were sent to live in transit camps known as ma’abarot — tent cities with no electricity, running water, or basic sanitation. Originally seen as completely inferior and barbarous, they were brought over with a false promise just to serve as an underclass of servants (thus the Israeli Black Panthers) for much wealthier Ashkenazi families.
Now, many decades later, a pseduo-acceptence has been achieved by assimilating into the monolithic Israeli western settler colonial culture, by Mizrahi kids just being told over and over again while growing up (including at school) that they are fundamentally different to and better than "the Arabs" (whom they share genetic ancestry and physical appearence with the majority of the time).
It's a twisted union through erasure of variation, assimilation and a shared sense of racist hatred directed at a third group. This is behind the general Mizrahi rightward political shift over the decades; attempts by Mizahim as a group to assert themselves as real Israelis.
Israeli culture behaves like any other racist colonial culture that has ever existed, it is alien to the land it finds itself in, it dominates and brutalises both the native inhabitants of this land (Palestinians) and the land itself, it appropriates some of the traditions of supposedly "savage", inherently "terrorist" Palestinians/Arabs (e.g. food) to be sold to tourists as curiosities and rebranded as uniquely Israeli culture (as opposed to non-speciifc and shared various various Arabs/Arabised peoples, but ironically not between European Jews and MENA Jews).
EDIT: minor edits were made post-hoc in a couple spots for the sake of better readability, and higher specificity/accuracy, for any future readers. 09/24
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u/specialistsets Non-denominational Apr 16 '24
I really don't like how many in this sub and in the anti-Zionist community talk about Mizrahim. As someone who is very close to multiple Mizrahi and Sephardi communities, one of the good things about Israeli society is how it has enabled Mizrahi cultures and traditions to thrive.