Mizrahi critique only works when framed as Jewish, not class-based

Evidence

A Mizrahi writing of history would therefore mean, first of all, writing Zionist history from a Jewish perspective. A Mizrahi perspective is the framework from which a critique of Zionism can emerge and can take on constructive meaning, moving toward a comprehensive redefinition of the Jewish collectivity in Palestine. To write history from the oriental (as opposed to orientalist) perspective means to write against the present still de-Arabized consciousness, while at the same time overcoming romantic-idealistic perceptions of the Orient that inevitably reproduce the dichotomy. The “in-betweenness” of the Mizrahi condition holds the potential for a bi-national perspective; that is to say, one that combines the Jew and the Arab and thus challenges the West/East dichotomy. — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 676 (#complicates, via linked claim)

At the same time, for all their successful economic conquests, middle class Jews retained certain hallmarks of non-conformity that set them off from other members of that same middle class. From ghetto times on, while willing to use every means to gain individual achievement on the ladder of economic and social success, they continued to respect specific Jewish ethical and religious valuessuch as learning, intellectual achievement, social betterment and the things of the spirit'; in consequence they never completely accepted stable patterns of economic activities or the standards of social behavior customary to their social setting. — <cite>Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 388</cite> (#complicates`, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Israeli textbooks erased Mizrahi history as non-Jewish; Binary Jew-Arab framing forces Mizrahi resistance to take religious form; Mizrahi identity had to be torn apart to fit the Zionist Jew-Arab binary — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 650 (+7 more)

Broader Connections

• Mizrahi in-betweenness enables a bi-national perspective joining Jew and Arab #complicates (0.80) — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 676
• Jewish marginality produced a radical critique of society paralleling working-class alienation #complicates (0.80)
• Bourgeois Jews retained non-conformist values that set them apart from their class #complicates (0.79) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 388
• The Jew-Arab hyphen marks an unresolved wound rather than a reconciliation #complicates (0.75) — Gil Anidjar, The Jew, the Arab, 336