Israel’s Black Panthers: The Radicals Who Punctured a Nation’s Founding Myth

by: Asaf Elia-Shalev (Author)

Publisher: University of Califoia Press

Publication Date: 19 Mar. 2024

Language: English

Print Length: 344 pages

ISBN-10: 0520294319

ISBN-13: 9780520294318

Book Description

The powerful story of an activist movement that challenged the racial inequities of Israel.  Israel’s Black Panthers tells the story of the young and impoverished Moroccan Israeli Jews who challenged their country’s political status quo and rebelled against the ethnic hierarchy of Israeli life in the 1970s. Inspired by the American group of the same name, the Black Panthers mounted protests and a yearslong political campaign for the rights of Mizrahim, or Jews of Middle Easte ancestry. They managed to rattle the country’s establishment and change the course of Israel’s history through the mass mobilization of a Jewish underclass. This book draws on archival documents and interviews with elderly activists to capture the movement’s history and reveal little-known stories from within the group. Asaf Elia-Shalev explores the parallels between the Israeli and American Black Panthers, offering a unique perspective on the global struggle against racism and oppression. In twenty short and captivating chapters, Israel’s Black Panthers provides a textured and novel account of the movement and reflects on the role that Mizrahim can play in the future of Israel.