By Erez Ben-Ari, JTNews Correspondent
There’s no denying the Jewish people have been victimized by racism more than most any other minority group throughout history. Every boy and girl in Israel studies the history of anti-Semitism and the Holocaust from an early age, and the topic is discussed nationwide on the annual Holocaust Remembrance Day. This being such a major part of Israeli or Jewish culture, one would expect the modern Jew to be as open- minded and opposed to racism as possible. Yet this, according to some, is not the case. Have we learned something from our enemies?
Racism is defined as a belief that inherent differences among various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one’s own race is superior and has the right to rule others. Racism often manifests itself as hatred, intolerance or discrimination against another group of people.
In reality, things are more complicated. Is an Israeli that crosses the street when he sees a group of Arab-looking young adults doing so out of racism, or is it just common sense, given the history of violence that afflicts Israel? Yossi Gurvitz, a journalist from Petach Tikva, feels that despite having been persecuted, the Jewish people are still plagued with racism.
“The law in the state of Israel is not racist, but you will frequently find legislation that is,” he says. “For example, the Jewish National Fund holds a significant part of the land in Israel and by definition does not sell it to non-Jews. Another example is the fact that marriage in Israel can happen only between two Jews, and that forces many to travel abroad to marry, because they are not, or because their religion is called into question,” Gurvitz says.
Shmulik Brantz, of Jerusalem, feels quite the opposite.
“This is a complicated topic, because there are so many groups in this country, and each has its own interests,” he says. “It’s not easy to draw the line where things are truly racial, or just action that has no significance to that end.”
Brantz admits to having heard of cases where a certain individual has been badly treated, but feels it is rare and on a personal level.
“A government official would never mistreat a citizen on a racial basis,” he reiterates.
Gil Halamish, a resident of Modi’in, concurs that the government is not racist, but, rather, mistreats everyone equally.
“It’s easy to look at the government, because it has a high profile,” he says, “but you can find racism lurking away in private organizations.”
For example, Halamish has seen high-tech companies that will hire only Russian-born Jews, and quite a few employers won’t hire religious women, he says.
“They don’t think of themselves as racist, but rather excuse their behavior as pragmatic, claiming that a religious woman would be away for several weeks every year with childbirth leave and that’s a problem for the business,” he says.
Boaz Bismut, a journalist from Tel Aviv, believes racism issues go back a long way — to Israel’s origins as a country of immigrants.
“There’s a process of sorts, where there’s a new immigration every generation, and the latest wave always takes the worst beating,” says Bismut, who wrote about the latest two immigration waves.
“The state of Israel has invested so much in bringing the Ethiopian Jewish community here,” he says, “but now we hear stories about horrifying discrimination and racial cruelty popping up. At least we can see the enormous response by the local press, and that reflects our desire to eject this sort of thing from our midst.”
In the past 20 years, Israel has absorbed a huge number of immigrants. The early ‘90s saw a huge Russian migration, and shortly after, a considerable influx of Ethiopians. Has there been any change in the way the local population sees these newcomers? This is an interesting question, especially considering that many of the current population were themselves new immigrants just a handful of years before that.
Gurvitz feels the situation is deteriorating rapidly.
“It is becoming harder and harder to be secular in Israel, and I fear that within five to 10 years, we might be at a civil war between Jews and Arabs, and the entire state might become Orthodox. Even now we see incidents of parties trying to pass racist laws,” he says. “Just last April, there was an incident where some missionaries tried to distribute copies of the New Testament, and the city administration had them collected back and burned.”
Halamish and Bismut, on the other hand, feel the opposite is occurring and that radical views are decreasing.
“We were born and raised here,” notes Halamish, “so we don’t share our parents’ views, and are therefore less prone to discriminate.”
“It takes about two generations for an ethnic group to adapt to the culture, so with time, things are better,” says Bismut, a sentiment shared by Brantz. However, everyone agrees that the responsibility to foster change falls on their own shoulders. Bismut notes that schools and the army have the best means to enlighten the public to fight racism, but education has to start at home.
Brantz adds that shapers of public opinion such as academia, musicians, authors and journalists should carry this burden. “Of course, these are processes that take many years to [come to] fruition,” he notes.
Halamish stresses it’s also very important to delegitimize any display of racism, and exposing it when it occurs is crucial.
“The rules and regulations are already here, “he says, “but we have to make the public aware.”
Where there is varied opinion on whether racism does exist in Israel, the idea of political correctness, or the use of more euphemistic terms to describe a group of people’s characteristics is met with universal derision.
“The rest of the world is used to tip-toeing around the subject,” says Brantz, “but we see that as absurd — a type of hypocrisy. Israelis feel they are being open and honest by not using politically correct terms, and if you are part of this culture, it’s easier to accept this and not see it as racism.”
That opinion includes the institutionalizing of concepts often seen as political correctness: “One thing I’m really glad we didn’t adopt yet,” says Halamish, “is affirmative action.”