Opportunities and Challenges of Mizrahi and Sephardic Inclusion in Jewish Life, Source Sheet

“In the course of my work, I have found three most prevalent fallacies that impair Jewish diversity projects: the idea that all diverse Jews are the same, that nonwhite or diverse Jews are all progressive, and rampant tokenism.  

Many have a well-meaning but mistaken impulse to flatten the differences within and between diverse Jewish populations. They assume that all Syrian Jews, for instance, have the same political orientations or that all Black Jews would feel uncomfortable with security details at synagogues.   

Others commit this flattening between groups, lumping together Black, Asian and nonwhite Middle Eastern Jews as if they all see themselves as parts of the same communities with shared goals and interests. One example is the way some use the term “Jews of color” as a catchall phrase that includes all kinds of populations — Black Jews, Middle Eastern Jews, sometimes even all Sephardic Jews and Hispanic Jews.”

Access Text #1 Many Jews of color and diverse Jews are politically conservative — and many voted for Trump by Dr. Mijal Bitton. JTA, November 19, 2020

Tell me, you’re from Israel? 
Yes, I’m from there. 
Oh, and where in Israel do you live? 
Jerusalem. For the last few years I’ve lived there. 
Oh, Jerusalem is such a beautiful city. 
Yes, of course, a beautiful city. 
And do you…you’re from West…or East… 
That’s a tough question, depends on who’s drawing the map. 
You’re funny, and do you, I mean, do you speak Hebrew? 
Yes, of course. 
I mean, that’s your mother tongue? 
Not really. My mother’s tongue is Arabic, but now she speaks Hebrew fine. 
Oh, ‘Ze Yofi,’ I learned that in the kibbutz. 
Not bad at all. 
And you are, I mean, you’re Israeli, right? 
Yes, of course. 
Your family is observant? 
Pretty much. 
Do they keep the Sabbath? 
Me, no, depends, actually… 
Do you eat pork? 
No, that, no. 
Excuse me for prying, but I just have to ask you, are you Jewish or Arab? 
I’m an Arab Jew. 
You’re funny. 
No, I’m quite serious. 
Arab Jew? I’ve never heard of that. 
It’s simple: Just the way you say you’re an American Jew. Here, try to say “Europeans Jews.” 
European Jews. 
Now, say “Arab Jews.” 
You can’t compare, European Jews is something else. 
How come? 
Because “Jew” just doesn’t go with “Arab,” it just doesn’t go. It doesn’t even sound right. 
Depends on your ear. 
Look, I’ve got nothing against Arabs. I even have friends who are Arabs, but how can you say “Arab Jew” when all the Arabs want is to destroy the Jews? 
And how can you say “European Jew” when the Europeans have already destroyed the Jews?

Access Text #2 Who Is A Jew And What Kind of A Jew? Getting to Know a Friendly American Jewish woman: Conversation by Sami Shalom Chetrit