Mizrahim had to conceal their Arab culture, not their religion, in Israel

Evidence

“Arab-ness” was not an identity; it was a cultural-linguistic reality, expressed first and foremost through language, but also through a deep sense of belonging that persisted long after their immigration to Israel (although sometimes secretly, given the disapproval on the part of the dominant society). In Israel, Mizrahim became the new Marranos; in this case, however, it was not their religion that had to be concealed, but their culture. People had to hide their Arabic culture, afraid to listen to the music that preserved their contact to a cultural framework considered hostile and primitive. — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 662

Categorization

• XREF: The ‘new Marranos’ inversion of concealed religion into concealed culture echoes Marrano studies and Iberian crypto-Jewish history.
• SEED: An essay on cultural cryptopreservation: people secretly keeping a music, language, or practice deemed primitive by a dominant culture, today extended to Arabic music in Israel.