JØDER, ARABERE OG ARABISKE JØDER: Udviklinger inden for nationalitetsforståelse i Israel

Abstract

Maia Feldman: Jews, Arabs, and Arab

Jews. Developments within the Concept

of Nationality in Israel

The social development in Israel since the

1950s is an example of ho w groups of people

- in this case Jews of respectively European

and Middle Eastem origin - can experience

marked cultural and biological differences

between one another, and how in a relatively

short period of time, a powerful sense of

sameness can emerge. This process is

reflected in the Israeli concept of “nationality”

and has implied an essentialized

meaning of Jewishness and by implication of

“Arabs”. This article examines how the

perception of “Jews” and “Arabs” as two

essentially different “kinds” is expressed,

and in some cases opposed, by Israeli Jews

of Middle Eastem/Arab origins.