The Arab Jews III

What do the terms really mean?

In my previous articles Arabic Jews I and Arabic Jews II, I discussed the terms Arab Jews, Mizrahi, and Sephardi, looking at the migration and integration of Jewish communities from Arab lands into Israel. While these terms are useful for understanding historical contexts, they also carry deeper implications. In this follow-up, I will focus on how the Arab identity of these Jews was erased, and how, in my view, this reflects systemic racism.

This erasure not only further marginalized these communities but also hindered the potential for building understanding, and maybe even solidarity, with Palestinians—a tragic lost opportunity in the shared struggle against discrimination and marginalisation.

The Erasure of Arab Identity
For centuries, Jewish communities in the Arab world lived as Arab Jews. This identity was not merely linguistic but deeply cultural, encompassing shared customs, cuisines, and histories with their Muslim and Christian neighbours. However, with the establishment of Israel, this identity became inconvenient for the Zionist narrative, which framed Arabs as the eternal "other"—backward, hostile, and incompatible with the modern Jewish state.

Following the creation of Israel, Jewish immigrants from Arab lands, despite their deep-rooted Arab identities, were subjected to an aggressive process of assimilation. The term “Mizrahi” — meaning 'Eastern' in Hebrew — became the label imposed upon them, erasing their Arab heritage in favor of a Zionist narrative. This was no neutral rebranding; it was a calculated effort to sever the bond between Jews and Arabs, forcibly aligning these immigrants with the Zionist cause while pushing them away from their own cultural roots. By rejecting the term 'Arab Jews,' Israeli society sought to erase the shared history and cultural ties between Jews and Arabs, painting Arab identity as something alien and undesirable. Many, under the pressure to conform, embraced this new identity. Yet, others resisted—not only the pressures of assimilation but also the very Zionist project that sought to divide them from their Arab heritage. These individuals, in my view, stand on the right side of history.

Racism in the Terminology Shift
The shift from 'Arab Jews' to 'Mizrahi' highlights the racial divisions in Israeli society. The term 'Mizrahi' groups together different communities in a way that suggests they are exotic and inferior. This created a hierarchy where European (Ashkenazi) Jews were at the top, while Mizrahi communities were treated as second-class, facing social and economic discrimination.

This change in language wasn’t just about fitting in; it was part of a plan to make Mizrahi Jews part of the Zionist project, but at the cost of their Arab identity. It wasn’t about integration—it was about dominance, pushing a Jewish-European identity while dismissing Arab culture as backward and unwanted. I came across a quote from Ze'ev Jabotinsky, a key figure in the early Zionist movement, that really highlights this mindset:

We Jews have nothing in common with what is called the ‘Orient,’ thank God. To the extent that our uneducated masses have ancient spiritual traditions and laws that call the Orient, they must be weaned away from them, and this is in fact what we are doing in every decent school, what life itself is doing with great success. We are going in Palestine, first for our national convenience, [second] to sweep out thoroughly all traces of the ‘Oriental soul.’ As for the [Palestinians] Arabs in Palestine, what they do is their business; but if we can do them a favor, it is to help them liberate themselves from the Orient.

(One Palestine Complete, Tom Segev)

And in the end, the effort succeeded. As Arab Jewish scholar Ella Shohat notes in the same source, this was quite successful:

“in a generation or two, millennia of rooted Oriental civilization, unified even in its diversity,” had been wiped out. Jews from Arab countries were forced to choose between being either Arab or Jewish, but they could not be both. ( Ella Shohat, “Sephardim in Israel: Zionism from the Standpoint of its Jewish Victims,” Social Text, No.19/20 (1988))

A Missed Solidarity
The erasure of Arab identity had a deep impact, not only on Mizrahi Jews but also on Israeli society as a whole. By distancing Mizrahi Jews from their Arab roots, any chance of understanding between them and Palestinians was lost. Both groups faced discrimination and marginalisation, but instead of uniting in their struggles, they were often set against each other.

Imagine if Arab Jews had kept their identity and stood with Palestinians for justice and equality. This kind of solidarity could have challenged the divisions that Zionist policies worked to create. But instead, the erasure of Arab identity kept the divide between Jews and Arabs— even those who shared a common history— from being bridged.

Conclusion
The story of Arab Jews isn’t just about migration or fitting in; it’s about loss—losing their identity, culture, and potential connections. A common myth is that they were all thrown out of Arab countries, but that’s not completely true. Many left for different reasons, like rising tensions, but most were not forced out. By looking at the terms used to describe them, we can understand how racism shaped the experiences of Mizrahi Jews and created divisions in Israeli society. This is similar to the racial regime in Apartheid South Africa, where some groups were treated as inferior and forced to live separately. Mizrahi Jews were placed lower than Ashkenazi Jews and kept apart from Palestinians, even though they shared common struggles. The self-hate that resulted from this system can be seen in the way some Mizrahi Jews treat Palestinians, much like how oppressed groups in South Africa were sometimes made to turn against each other. As for the political dynamics between these groups, we’ll explore that in Arab Jews IV.