The secular-religious dichotomy itself is an orientalist construct

Evidence

At the same time, the Mizrahi perspective also challenges the “secular”/“religious” dichotomy, another orientalist construct. Meir Buzaglo has suggested lately, following a critique of Zionist policies towards Mizrahi Jews, the figure of the “traditional Jew” who rejects this dichotomy and thereby also resists the dichotomy of East and West. — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 677

Categorization

• XREF: Extends the chapter’s theme that orientalism manufactures dualisms (West/East, secular/religious) that Mizrahi perspective dissolves. — connects to: Orientalism depicts MENA people as static and essentially religious despite modernity — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 101