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ABSTRACT
Israeli society in the first decades of statehood is thought of as a dichotomous one, with middle and upper class Ashkenazi Jews on one hand and on the other, lower class immigrants from Muslim countries. Though the emergence of a Mizrahi middle class is associated with the 1970s and 1980s, a deeper look into early-statehood Israel indicates that the ethnic/class dichotomy was already more nuanced in the 1950s. In fact, the social landscape of this period included a group of new Middle Eastern and North African immigrants of urban middle and upper classes, who managed to integrate into Israel's urban middle class. Most of them had come from Iraq. Scholarly discussion on this urban group presents methodological challenges, as documentation regarding it is scant and even rare. The current article concerns a particular sub-group of young middle-class immigrants from Iraq who published a journal documenting their world-view and activities. The article examines the characteristics of this group's integration process, its social and cultural perceptions, guiding aspirations, and dilemmas, placing particular emphasis on the identity and self-representation of these young people.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes on contributor
Esther Meir-Glitzenstein is Associate Professor at the Ben-Gurion Research Institute for the Study of Israel and Zionism, specializing in the history of Iraqi Jews in the twentieth century, their immigration to Israel and their integration into Israeli society. In recent years she has also investigated the immigration of Yemenite Jews to Israel.
Notes
1 Michael, “Israeli Identity,” 116.
2 For the sake of convenience, I will use the term “Mizrahim” in reference to the 1950s and 1960s as well, although a Mizrahi identity had yet to develop and the term “Mizrahim” was not yet used during this period.
3 Vingrod, “The Two Israels.”
4 Eisenstadt, The Absorption of Immigrants; Hacohen, Immigrants in Turmoil; Lissak, The Mass Immigration; Lissak, “The Demographic-Social Revolution.”
5 Smooha, Israel: Pluralism and Conflict; Smooha, “Class, Ethnic and National Cleavages”; Khazzoom, Shifting Ethnic Boundaries; Bernstein and Swirski, “The Rapid Economic Development.”
6 Bernstein, “Black Panthers”; Chetrit, Intra-Jewish Conflict; Bryan, The Mizrahi Era.
7 Cohen and Leon, “The New Mizrahi.”
8 Yuchtman-Yaar, “Continuity and Change”; Seroussi and Regev, Popular Music.
9 Gat, The Jewish Exodus; Meir-Glitzenstein, Zionism in an Arab Country.
10 Khazzoom, Shifting Ethnic Boundaries.
11 See: Tsur, “The Brief Career.”
12 On Iraqi middle class in Israel see: Bernstein, “Immigrant Transit Camps”; Amit, “The Validity”; Shenhav, The Arab Jews, 1–17 and especially Khazzoom, Shifting Ethnic Boundaries and Bashkin, Impossible Immigration.
13 Tsur, “The Brief Career.”
14 Ben-Moshe, “The Economic Integration.”
15 Meir-Glitzenstein, Between Baghdad, 148–9.
16 Eitan, Y., Deputy Mayor, “Ramat Gan in Numbers,” Yediot Ramat Gan, 1953: 4.
17 Avi-Amos, “From the Valley.” On Iraqi Jews in Ramat Gan see: Khazzoom, Shifting Ethnic Boundaries, 173–7.
18 “Haziratron” – A tent shaped structure which held circus and boxing events that attracted thousands of viewers.
19 Avi-Amos, “From the Valley.”
20 “Iraqi Jewry and its Absorption in Israel,” Bamàarakha, (14.7.1961): 15. Yehuda Assia published a memoir but in the 1950s he lived in Switzerland and was not involved in the integration of Iraqi immigrants.
21 Yediot Ramat Gan 11: 106.
22 Yediot Ramat Gan 16: 154.
23 Ben-Yaakov, The Jews of Iraq, 274–5.
24 Bashkin, New Babylonians, 61.
25 Niv Hamo`adon, The National Library, Jerusalem.
26 Snir, Arabness, 253–308.
27 See editor's review, Daniel Ben-Meir, Niv Hamo`adon 1, (1959): 4. At the end of 1957 the club began its operation at the “Maayan” hall in Ramat Gan. Until the beginning of 1959, it conducted about twenty lectures and symposiums. All lecturers were club members. Some of the events, such as the teachers’ event, did not draw a substantial audience.
28 Editorial, Niv Hamo`adon 10–11: 3.
29 Information on the two brothers is highly limited. It is unclear when they immigrated to Israel especially considering the high-level Hebrew in the journal. Daniel Ben-Meir was a member of the Ramat Gan city council in the 1960s. I have no additional information regarding his brother, Dr. Yitzhak Ben-Meir.
30 Snir, Arabness, 261–85.
31 Editorial, Niv Hamo`adon 2–3: 3.
32 Member Gad, ibid., 8.
33 Niv Hamo`adon 1: 2.
34 Niv Hamo`adon 7: 8; “Symposium: The contribution of Israeli journalism to Mizug galuyot,” ibid., 6.
35 Niv Hamo`adon 5–6 : 20.
36 Y. Ben-Meir, Niv Hamo`adon 7: 8.
37 Hirsch, “Infusion of New Blood,” 160–85; Okun and Khait-Marelly, “The Impact of Intermarriage.”
38 Ben-Meir, Niv Hamo`adon 7: 8.
39 Yehezkeli, “Immigrants from Muslim countries and Secondary Education,” Niv Hamo`adon 8–9: 15. Yehezkeli used data from studies by Dr. Moshe Smilansky that were published in Megamot journal.
40 On this impact on the education of young immigrants from Iraq, see: Khazzoom, Shifting Ethnic Boundaries, 183–5.
41 Swirski, Education in Israel; Yona and Saporta, “Preparatory Professional Education,” 68–104; Khazzoom, Shifting Ethnic Boundaries.
42 Yehezkeli, Niv Hamo`adon 8–9: 17.
43 B.M. (Ben-Meir), Niv Hamo`adon 4: 4.
44 Editorial, “Shutting Down the transit Camps: A Human and National Necessity,” ibid., 3.
45 Editorial, Niv Hamo`adon 10–11: 3.
46 Pinchas, “Eliminating Babylonian Exile: The Realization of the Vision of National Revival,” ibid., 13.
47 Kadmon Admon (Mizrahi), “Actions and Accomplishments,” Niv Hamo`adon, ibid., 27. For the sake of historiographic accuracy, it should be noted that the confiscation of Jewish property was only conducted on 10 March 1951, one year after the passage of the law enabling the emigration of Iraqi Jews.
48 Ezer, “The Decision Regarding the Immigration of Iraqi Jews,” Niv Hamo`adon, ibid., 14.
49 Bibi, “Looking Ahead,” ibid., 23.
50 Admon, “Actions and Accomplishments,” ibid., 27.
51 Bashkin, New Babylonians, 141–82.
52 These newspapers are widely expressed in Bashkin's book, Impossible Immigration, which focuses on the period of the transit camps in the history of Iraqi Jews in Israel. See also: Snir, Arabness, 286–304.
53 Katav, “On the Challenges and Achievements,” Niv Hamo`adon 8–9: 12–14.
54 Ben-Meir, ibid., 14.
55 Sharon, “The Dialectic.”
56 Ben-Yaakov, “Will Conclusions Be Made?” Niv Hamo`adon 7: 11.
57 Meir-Glitzenstein, Between Baghdad; Bryan, The Mizrahi Era.
58 B.M. (Ben-Meir), “Show us Actions,” Niv Hamo`adon 5–6: 4.
59 Yitzhak Ben-Meir, Niv Hamo`adon 10–11: 6.
60 Parties representing certain ethnic communities existed since the yishuv period and post-statehood—but these were single-group parties and none succeeded. See: Herzog 1986.
61 Niv Hamo`adon 1: 2, 5.
62 The list of activities appears on the first page of Niv Hamo`adon issues, and some are even described in detail.
63 Niv Hamo`adon 10–11: 1.
64 Helman, Becoming Israeli.
65 Katav, “I was Born in this Country,” Niv Hamo`adon 8–9: 2.
66 Sasson-Levi and Shoshana, “Ashkenazification,” 81–4.
67 On the literary work of Agassi see: Snir, Arabness, 256.
68 Agassi, “In Babylon,” Amot 10: 69.
69 Ibid., 75.
70 See Berry, “The Acculturation Process.”
71 Sasson-Levi and Shoshana, “Ashkenazification”; Schwartz, “Very Ashkenazi Iraqis.”
72 Y. Ora was an art critic in Iraq as well.
73 Y.O. “The Arab Film on the Israeli Cinema”, Niv Hamo`adon 5–6: 19.
74 These events were only deemed worthy of news coverage from the 1990s on. See: Perlson, The Musical Institutions, 96–9.
75 Mann, “Not Just a Language Barrier,” 212–9. On Iraqis on “Kol Israel in Arabic” see: Snir, Arabness, 257–8.
76 On Dabi, (1916–2002) see: Dromi, “The Authorities Warned.”
77 Perlson, The Musical Institutions, 103–98. On the oud player Yosef Shem Tov see: Karpel, “There is a Guru.” Shem Tov played in cafes and small clubs in Jaffa during the 1950s.
78 On Filfel El-Mtzri, born Albert Mugrabi, see Shalev 23.4.2015
79 Perlson, The Musical Institutions, 175.
80 Leon, “A Small Ethnic Tradition,” 11–37.
81 On the weight of modern presentation in the integration process of Iraqi immigrants see Khazzoom, Shifting Ethnic Boundaries.
82 Agassi, Husham from Baghdad.
83 Cohen and Leon, The Herut.
84 Schwartz, “Very Ashkenazi Iraqis.”
85 On the encounter see: Abutbul Selinger, “Hyridization.”
86 Tsur, “Israeli Historiography.”