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“They Will Take the Country from Us”: L abor Z ionism, the Origins and Legacy of the “Other” in I sraeli Mass Media, and Hegemonic Narratives
Author(s) -
Frantzman Seth J.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
digest of middle east studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.225
H-Index - 10
eISSN - 1949-3606
pISSN - 1060-4367
DOI - 10.1111/dome.12042
Subject(s) - hegemony , elite , immigration , ethnic group , political science , narrative , denial , state (computer science) , sociology , politics , law , art , literature , algorithm , computer science , psychology , psychoanalysis
After 1948, I srael's governing elites embarked on a rigorous program of state building and settling hundreds of thousands of J ewish immigrants. In the process, the elites, primarily from the leading M apai party, developed a process of othering J ewish immigrants from A rab countries, A rab citizens, and O rthodox J ews. They were physically segregated in their own schools and communities, and the elite culture described them as a threat against the E uropean culture of J ewish immigrants from central E urope. The process targeted M izrahi J ews before moving on to deplore the “demographic threat” of O rthodox J ews and resulted in the current normative hegemonic discourse in I srael that paints numerous groups as threatening the state. This article proposes a four‐part model for understanding “the other” in I srael: contemporary denial and nostalgia for a homogenous past, the view of Z ionism as a civilizing mission, the application of separation of ethnic groups in planning, and demographic fear of the other. Altogether, they paint a picture of an I srael that has not come to grips with its past, and therefore continues the process of “othering” in its contemporary ethnocratic framework. Combining the analysis of geographic separation, and planning and media, it presents an innovative understanding of Israeli society.