Israel/Palestine
Related: About this forumIsrael’s Uncomfortable History of Racist Engineering
Believers in Eugenics Helped Birth Jewish State
By Seth J. Frantzman
Published April 21, 2014, issue of April 25, 2014.
Late in March, Ebony magazine apologized after one of its senior editors made a racially charged dismissive comment on Twitter. Last November, two students at Lee University apologized for wearing blackface, with one noting, We are deeply sorry for those we have upset.
Two recent incidents in Israel mirror these events, but the result was diametrically opposite. On December 22, Haaretz writer Gideon Levy, in a column ostensibly devoted to confronting anti-African racism, claimed that Israel had a million immigrants from Russia, a third of them non-Jews, some of whom were also found to have a degree of alcohol and crime in their blood. Called on to apologize, Levy posted a response in which he claimed that Russian olim in Israel were offended and furious and they accused me, of all people, of being a racist. He heaped more scorn on Russian Israelis, stating that many of those who recently moved to Israel from Russia have not done so for Zionist reasons.
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'Lynching' in Zion Square
In mid-March, during Purim, 15 students from the suburban community of Mevaseret Zion dressed up as members of the Ku Klux Klan, and three of their friends wore blackface. A principal of the school defended the actions, according to a report; the costume was designed to create interesting and important discussions
. This act essentially created a platform where discussion can exist.
What we see in Israel when it comes to issues of stereotyping in society is generally a collective shrug of the shoulders. Discriminatory actions are regarded primarily as a problem of the victims, who are deemed incensed but not taken seriously. And not as a societywide issue. Deeply offensive actions, such as dressing up like the KKK in a community where there are numerous Ethiopians, is poked fun at, with one paper calling it an epic fail. Surveys show that Israelis tend to be insular in their views of diversity; a 2013 Israel Democracy Institute survey found that 47% of Jews did not want to live next to an Arab family, while 41% of Arabs didnt want to live next to Jews. Commentators tend to see this as evidence of a society that is increasingly fraught with racism. But an examination of a history of ethnic and race relations in Israel, focusing particularly on mass media, tends to show that the problem is deeply rooted in the past. Contemporary society has never confronted this history, and it cannot begin the process of learning from it.
Read more: http://forward.com/articles/196719/israel-s-uncomfortable-history-of-racist-enginee#ixzz2zewT7luh
Mosby
(16,328 posts)Gee, what a surprise.
King_David
(14,851 posts)Israeli
(4,151 posts)read the op-ed that was referred to Mosby ?
Here it is for those that can be bothered :
The migrants aren't the problem- Israel's racism is
Israel should allow the migrants already here to rebuild their lives, and offer them the prospect of becoming citizens. Thats how its done in normal countries.
By Gideon Levy | Dec. 22, 2013
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.564683
and the follow up :
Blood, crime, Russian immigrants and racism; an apology
Gideon Levy responds to the flurry of accusations leveled at him by Russian immigrant readers incensed about an op-ed he wrote.
By Gideon Levy | Dec. 26, 2013
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.565459
Israeli
(4,151 posts)an American Republican that writes for the Jerusalem Post ......having a go at Gideon Levy and Shulamit Aloni amongst others and the Israeli Left past and present ....loved the addition of Dudu Topaz now that made me smile .
....... and just look at just who swallows it whole with the first two posts
R. Daneel Olivaw
(12,606 posts)Israeli
(4,151 posts)what is more interesting is what he left out of his article :
Writing in the Forward, the Jerusalem Post's opinion editor Seth Frantzman lists some recent and some not so recent examples of Israeli racism. And while his attempt to show American Jews how deeply racist much of Israeli society can be is important, his unusual choice of what to exclude from his article tells much about his grasp of the problem and his evident bias..................
http://failedmessiah.typepad.com/failed_messiahcom/2014/04/israels-uncomfortable-history-of-racism-345.html
azurnoir
(45,850 posts)cast the "Left" as racist, seems to be à la mode du jour