JEWISH M142 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Menachem Begin, Herut, Irgun
Document Summary
One of israel"s goals has always been to be accepted as a middle eastern country. Accentuated by the great aliyah, aided by the american jewish joint distribution committee: non-selective form of immigration that brought to israel plenty of mizrahi jews. Ashkenazi cultural elitism: established by the mapai, i. e. it is not just about cultural background; it is also about seniority. Fate of mizrahis today: up till today, mizrahi jews are still underprivileged, 21 idf cofs, 16 are ashkenazi, 5 are mizrahi. Critical: jewish ethnicity is potent and persistent and not just symbolic . Political hegemony by mapai from 1930s until 1977. The change / the turnabout of 1977: broke the old social mold where only the ashkenazi were fit to rule, menachem begin relied heavily on mizrahi. An attempt to reconstruct the israeli metanarrative: who established the state, who/what made britain leave palestine in 1948, integration of revisionist history into national narrative.
