Guest: Asaf Elia-Shalev is an Israeli American journalist based in Los Angeles. He is a staff writer for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. He is the author of Israel's Black Panthers: The Radicals Who Punctured a Nation's Founding Myth.
Guest: Asaf Elia-Shalev is an Israeli American journalist based in Los Angeles. He is a staff writer for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. He is the author of Israel's Black Panthers: The Radicals Who Punctured a Nation's Founding Myth.
Wow. Very revealing and makes a lot of sense. I’ve always disliked calling it complicated because of the obvious deflection. But this conversation does a lot to bring out the nuances Thank you both very much!!!
So many awesome interviews! I read that there were Yemenite Jews moved to Israel as Operation Magic Carpet. This interview expands the information on Mizrahi. Thank you!
Thanks for this education.
Wow how informative..Excellent interview; thanks Mitch!
🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation: 00:01 *🗺️ Introduction to the Mizrahi Jews in Israel* - The Mizrahi Jews are Middle Eastern Jews who came to Israel in the mid-20th century. - In Israel, they were considered "black" and similar to African Americans, facing discrimination and segregation. - The Mizrahi eventually formed their own Black Panther Party in response to the discrimination. 01:22 *🌍 Defining the Mizrahi Jews* - Mizrahi refers to Jews with roots in Middle Eastern countries like Morocco, Iraq, Syria, Egypt, and Iran. - Mizrahi Jews had diverse backgrounds but were grouped together due to their shared experience of being racialized in Israel. - The term Mizrahi encompasses different Jewish communities like Sephardic and Yemenite Jews. 03:37 *🕊️ Ashkenazi vs. Mizrahi Jews in Israel* - Ashkenazi Jews, with European roots, were seen as the dominant group in Israel. - Mizrahi Jews were perceived as "black" and inferior, leading to their discrimination and segregation. - Mizrahi Jews were relegated to lower-status jobs, housing, and education compared to Ashkenazi Jews. 06:37 *🌍 The Influx of Mizrahi Jews to Israel* - After Israel's establishment in 1948, many Jews from the Middle East were pushed out of their home countries and came to Israel. - This demographic shift created anxiety among Israel's leadership, who saw the Mizrahi as a threat to the European-style state they envisioned. - Mizrahi Jews were subjected to racist rhetoric and policies that relegated them to second-class citizenship. 11:38 *🏠 The Living Conditions of Mizrahi Jews in Israel* - Mizrahi Jews were often forced to live in segregated, impoverished areas on the outskirts of cities. - Many were assigned to former Palestinian homes or tent encampments, with limited access to government services and economic opportunities. - The marginalization of Mizrahi Jews made them vulnerable to violence from neighboring Arab countries during times of conflict. 13:35 *📜 The Complex Relationship between Mizrahi Jews and Arab Nationalism* - Before the establishment of Israel, Mizrahi Jews had a more fluid identity, participating in both Jewish and Arab communities. - With the rise of Zionism and Arab nationalism, Mizrahi Jews were increasingly seen as suspicious and not allowed to participate in Arab nationalist movements. - Israel actively recruited Mizrahi Jews, sometimes in the face of real dangers they faced in their home countries. 17:12 *🏡 Mizrahi Jews and the Confiscation of Palestinian Homes* - Mizrahi Jews were often assigned to live in former Palestinian homes that had been confiscated or abandoned during the 1948 conflict. - Some Mizrahi families refused to move to isolated development towns and instead insisted on settling in Jerusalem, occupying homes in the "no man's land" between Israeli and Jordanian-controlled areas. - These Mizrahi families faced a lack of government services and harsh living conditions in their segregated neighborhoods. 23:14 *🧠 The Author's Approach to Interviewing Reuven Abergel* - The author, Assaf Avidgor, met Reuven Abergel, a founder of Israel's Black Panthers, and they decided to conduct extensive interviews. - The interviews allowed Abergel to share his story and perspective, which had been confined within Israel's borders due to his lack of English skills. - The author gained valuable insight into Abergel's worldview and way of speaking, which helped him capture Abergel's voice authentically in the book. 25:41 *🗣️ The Legacy and Remembrance of Israel's Black Panthers* - The Black Panthers were a major force in Israel, dominating headlines and public discourse for over a year with their protests and activism. - Despite their popularity at the time, younger generations in Israel are not well-educated about the Black Panthers and their significance. - Surprisingly, the Israeli right-wing has tried to co-opt the legacy of the Black Panthers, despite the movement's leftist origins. 27:43 *🥛 Operation Milk: The Black Panthers' Iconic Protest* - In 1972, the Black Panthers carried out a symbolic protest called "Operation Milk," where they stole milk from the doorsteps of the wealthy and delivered it to poor neighborhoods. - This action was a powerful publicity stunt that garnered significant media attention and highlighted the Black Panthers' goal of fighting inequality. - The Black Panthers in Israel, unlike their American counterparts, were not hardcore revolutionaries but rather a civil rights movement seeking equality. 31:29 *🇮🇱 The Mizrahi Desire to Belong and Contribute* - The Mizrahi Jews in Israel yearned to belong and participate fully in Israeli society, which they had been excluded from. - Their anger stemmed from being denied opportunities in education, employment, and military service, despite being invited to help build the Jewish state. - The Black Panthers represented the Mizrahi desire to be recognized and integrated, rather than a separatist revolutionary movement. 34:25 *🇵🇸 The Mizrahi and Palestinian Relationship Dynamics* - The Mizrahi community had diverse reactions to the Palestinian cause, ranging from solidarity to animosity, depending on individual experiences and the political climate. - In the period after the 1967 unification of Jerusalem, there was a flourishing of coexistence and cooperation between Mizrahi Jews and Palestinians in the city. - However, in other cases, Mizrahi Jews bore the brunt of violence from Palestinian militants or during times of conflict, leading to a more complex and strained relationship. 40:28 *🗳️ The Mizrahi's Shift towards the Right-Wing Likud Party* - The Likud party, led by Menachem Begin, was able to capitalize on the Mizrahi's desire to belong and be recognized by offering them a prominent role in the party. - By positioning themselves as more nationalist and militant towards Arabs than the traditional left-wing parties, Likud appealed to the Mizrahi's sense of grievance and marginalization. - This alliance between Likud and the Mizrahi voting bloc has been an important factor in the party's electoral success over the years. 46:45 *🤝 Ongoing Tensions between Mizrahi and Ashkenazi Jews in Israel* - Despite progress, there are still underlying tensions and inequalities between the Mizrahi and Ashkenazi communities in Israel. - Certain Ashkenazi cultural and political figures have been known to make racist comments about Mizrahi Jews, revealing the persistence of discrimination. - While Mizrahi Jews have made significant strides in various fields, they are still underrepresented in the most powerful government positions and institutions. 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Very informative. Thank you to you both.
In the thirties & forties there was in NY a sefardi paper that was written in spanish with hebrew letters
That sounds awesome, what's the name?
as always! 🙌🏽❤
Thank you
Mind blown. 👍
This was really good
Fascinating. They associate with revolutionary groups when it suits their needs, yet turn their backs on the very same people that supposedly inspired them.
Thank you KZhead for this recommendation
Not just the aestetic and look of the Black Panther Party, but the political philosophy as well.
Hatered of the native with in
That was an excellent video but I really wish the host had said: WHAT can we do to get the mizrahi to realize that their current stance which is in violation or in contrast to the earlier stance toward the Palestinian Arabs is NOT serving them ,& it's not serving Israel and it is detrimental to the survival of the people.
If changing people's minds weren't near impossible, somebody would have come up with an answer to that question.
Incredibly, Asaf has a resemblance to Yasser Arafat.
Middle East, Africa, & India.
“They were literally considered to be black” So what were black people called then LOL? Kushi?
I’ve seen recent comments from former American panthers who claimed that the Israeli panthers were a recognized branch of the BPP.
I would like to know about the Mizrahi Palestinians and how they evolved since the creation of Israel?
Mizrahi, it's insulting N's name. A projection of the name Ostjuden is the name the Ashkenazis are known in Europe.
ISRAEL PARA LOS MIZRAHI Y PALESTINOS NO SIONISTAS EUROPEOS
If your premise is that jewishness is an ethnicity, your whole argumentvia flawed. Jewishness is a religous ideology which originated from the levant. It came to Europe through greece.
Jews are not an ethnicity? I mean, I get contemporary ashkenazim since they are danites, and not Judeans, but that still makes no sense as these populations can be pinned to certain dna segments no other groups share, that's how an ethnicity is created. It's how we know who is who behond simply looking at them. Ethnicity is just an amalgamation of other, older ethnicities, Judaism ties everyone together. Lots of levantines used to be hebrews, but they changed their ethnic identity, lebanese, jordanian, syrians, palestinians, etc, they shared dna with jews but each carries their own identity BEYOND religion. Is there something I am missing?
@@BBWahoo You should go watch Black Myths Podcast *”Myth: Ancestry DNA Test Determines Race Pt. 2 w/ Dr. Shay-Akil McLean”* It was a great episode, on how we ended up studying DNA wrong from the start.
@@BBWahooconfusing ethnicity and nationality.
@@BBWahoo Jewishness is a religous ideology. Book: the invention of Jewish people by professor Shlomo Sands (a professor from tel Aviv)
@@BBWahoo There's no DNA marker for religious people. I wonder how that would work since there were/are people of jewish faith in places like ukraine, Russia (most bulshiviks were were people of jewish faith), Iran, Syria, iraq, Morocco, Ethiopia, yemen and many other countries. There's a book by a reputable author that talked about how european zionists went to Arab countries to convert them to judaism. Most of thr pogrom against East European jews (mostly Ukrainian jews), were sanctioned by zionist founders who despised European jews because, they believed that real jews are arabs not Europeans. I don't recall their names. Anyways, there are many resources out there that'll shed more light to what I'm spewing here.