Unpacking Israeli History

The modern country of Israel is a country of immigrants, and many are Mizrahi, ie Jews from North Africa and the Middle East. They came, often running for their lives, from countries like Yemen, Morocco, Iraq, Egypt, and Syria, where they had lived -- and often, been oppressed. In this episode, Noam confronts the difficult history of the Mizrahi integration into Israel, and the formation of the Panterim Shchorim movement that emerged from that painful period. ~~~~ Unpacking Israeli History is generously sponsored by Alan Fisher and Barbara Sommer, and Jon and Rachie Teller.~~~~Learn more about Unpacked: https://jewishunpacked.com/about/Visit Unpacked on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/unpacked See more about the Yemenite Children Affair: https://unpacked.education/the-yemenite-children-affair-unpacked/See more on Mizrahi culture: https://unpacked.education/video/mizrachi-music/ https://unpacked.education/video/how-mizrahi-music-took-over-israeli-pop/See the full season of Unpacking Israeli History here: https://jewishunpacked.com/podcast-series/unpacking-israeli-history/~~~~Sources https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/immigrants-to-israel-1948-1952https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vA2q9yyLlX4https://www.haaretz.com/jewish/1.5280465 https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt21h4xqw.9?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contentshttps://www.haaretz.com/jewish/1.5280465https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3316015,00.html https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-this-haifa-quarter-symbolizes-dispossession-first-of-palestinians-then-of-jews-1.8187863 https://www.jta.org/1960/01/22/archive/leader-of-haifa-riots-released-from-jail-under-presidential-amnesty https://books.google.com/books?id=YxJbEgx6X8kC&pg=PA29#v=onepage&q=Musrara&f=falsehttps://www.pbs.org/hueypnewton/actions/actions_platform.html https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.5325/studamerjewilite.35.1.0077 https://www.jta.org/1969/02/24/archive/jerusalem-supersol-re-opens-for-business-2-young-bombing-victims-are-buried https://web.archive.org/web/20071227064213/http://news.independent.co.uk/people/obituaries/article3284869.ecehttps://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1080/17541320802063554https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1177/0044118X84016002002 https://www.nli.org.il/en/newspapers/dav/1971/03/04/01/article/20/?e=-------en-20--1--img-txIN%7ctxTI--------------1https://reuters.screenocean.com/record/549772https://israeled.org/israeli-black-panthers/ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PikiWiki_Israel_15327_Musrara_neighborhood_Jerusalem.jpg http://israelsdocuments.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-black-panthers-arent-nice.html https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium.MAGAZINE-the-guerrilla-filmmaker-who-caught-israel-s-black-panthers-on-tape-1.5975793?lts=1624818943350https://www.haaretz.com/1.4970675 https://electronicintifada.net/content/when-israels-black-panthers-found-common-cause-palestinians/26821 https://people.socsci.tau.ac.il/mu/noah/files/2018/07/Ethnic-origin-and-identity-in-Israel-JEMS-2018.pdf https://www.cjnews.com/perspectives/rise-mixed-ethnicity-israelis~~~~Unpacked is a division of OpenDor Media

Begin and Ben Gurion had some epics battles, but one of the biggest ones happened in 1952, as these two Israeli giants battled about whether to take German reparations after the Holocaust. In this episode, Noam looks all the way back at this crazy story, and leaves us asking, who was right? ~~~~ Unpacking Israeli History is generously sponsored by Alan Fisher and Barbara Sommer, and Jon and Rachie Teller. ~~~~ Learn more about Unpacked: https://jewishunpacked.com/about/ Visit Unpacked on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/unpacked  See the full season of Unpacking Israeli History here: https://jewishunpacked.com/podcast-series/unpacking-israeli-history/ ~~~~ Sources https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/06/the-case-for-reparations/361631/ https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/19/us/ta-nehisi-coates-reparations.html https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/67de380e-8b71-412c-8d06-70af9b31da25 https://www.ushmm.org/exhibition/displaced-persons/daily2.htm https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/israel-breaks-50-year-record-for-most-rainfall-613693 tastecooking.com/truth-israeli-couscous/ https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/144226014.pdf https://www.npr.org/2019/03/07/700356426/thousands-of-israelis-now-call-berlin-home-and-make-their-cultural-mark https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/labor-and-internment-camps-in-north-africa https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110255386.100/html http://auschwitz.org/en/history/punishments-and-executions/ https://blog.nli.org.il/en/reparations-agreement/ https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.12657/28248/1001729.pdf?sequence=1 https://www.aicgs.org/2019/11/the-september-1952-reparations-agreement-between-west-germany-and-israel-the-beginning-of-a-remarkable-friendship/ https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/german-holocaust-reparations Menachem Begin: The Battle for Israel's Soul, by Danny Gordis Ben-Gurion: Father of Modern Israel, Anita Shapira ~~~~ Unpacked is a division of OpenDor Media

On Nov 10, 1975, the UN General Assembly passed Resolution 3379, determining that Zionism is "a form of racism and racial discrimination.” That’s quite a loaded description! In this episode, Noam Weissman breaks down what led to this infamous resolution, the UN’s relationship with Israel, and what it means to us, almost 50 years later. ~~~~ Unpacking Israeli History is generously sponsored by Alan Fisher and Barbara Sommer, and Jon and Rachie Teller. ~~~~Learn more about Unpacked: https://jewishunpacked.com/about/Visit Unpacked on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/unpacked Teaching about this topic? Check out our relevant educator resources here: https://unpacked.education/video/un-resolution-3379-is-zionism-racism/~~~~Sourceshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dlr1ioQIxa4https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpC2HdL-95M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uv8Hqlubst4&t=44shttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7chKW7H6s8M https://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/761C1063530766A7052566A2005B74D1 https://www.haaretz.com/.premium-nostalgic-for-the-ussr-on-the-kibbutzim-1.5233153 https://www.marxists.org/subject/jewish/caution-zionism.pdf https://www.jta.org/1952/10/07/archive/bonn-charges-ussr-exports-nazi-anti-semitic-films-to-arabsSachar, A History of the Jews in the Modern World http://proceedings.informingscience.org/InSITE2019/InSITE19p035-070Cohen5666.pdf https://mfa.gov.il/mfa/foreignpolicy/peace/guide/pages/the%20khartoum%20resolutions.aspx https://history.state.gov/milestones/1969-1976/oil-embargohttps://www.wsj.com/articles/SB106419296113226300https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/642340?ln=en https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1973/10/23/issue.html https://content.ecf.org.il/files/M00901_UNGARes3379DebateEnglish.pdf https://www.jta.org/1975/11/12/archive/kristallnacht-at-the-united-nations-100000-in-rally-to-protest-against-anti-zionist-resolution-mass https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuJXdAvPCrU&t=252s https://unwatch.org/moynihans-moment-the-historic-1975-u-n-speech-in-response-to-zionism-is-racism/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1991/12/17/un-repeals-resolution-linking-zionism-to-racism/70349a7c-ae07-40ea-b37d-ee711e0636eb/~~~~Unpacked is a division of OpenDor Media

Have you heard about Israel's secret nuclear weapons in Dimona? Yeah, we haven't either. In this episode, Noam digs deep into how Israel's not-so-secret nuclear program came to be, and asks, does the nuclear program make Israel safer?   ~~~~ Unpacking Israeli History is generously sponsored by Alan Fisher and Barbara Sommer, and Jon and Rachie Teller. ~~~~ Learn more about Unpacked: https://jewishunpacked.com/about/ Visit Unpacked on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/unpacked  Teaching about this topic? Check out our relevant educator resources here: https://unpacked.education/unpacking-operation-solomon-30-years-later/ ~~~~ Sources https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.2968/066004008 https://journals.sagepub.com/na101/home/literatum/publisher/sage/journals/content/bosb/2010/bosb_66_4/066004008/20170817/images/large/10.2968_066004008-img2.jpeg https://americanhistory.si.edu/subs/history/timeline/different/nuclear_deterrence.html https://www.britannica.com/place/Russia/The-Khrushchev-era-1953-64 https://books.google.com/books?id=si1oUnk5N3QC&pg=PA61#v=onepage&q&f=false https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/background-and-overview-israel-war-of-independence https://gould.usc.edu/why/students/orgs/ilj/assets/docs/18-1%20Seidman.pdf https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/israel-studies-an-anthology-israel-s-economy: https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/first/c/cohen-israel.html https://www.britannica.com/topic/Suez-Canal https://books.google.com/books?id=jGtVsBne7PgC https://www.jstor.org/stable/30245572?seq=1 https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/france https://fas.org/nuke/guide/israel/nuke/ https://www.atomicheritage.org/history/israeli-nuclear-program jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/jfk-in-history/nuclear-test-ban-treaty https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/israel/documents/reveal/index.html https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium.MAGAZINE-how-a-standoff-with-the-u-s-almost-blew-up-israel-s-nuclear-program-1.7193419?v=1623033435057 https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/dc.html?doc=5983539-National-Security-Archive-Doc-04-Director-of https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10801564#:~:text=Eventually%2C%20a%20U.N.%2Dbrokered%20ceasefire,heavily%20populated%20Palestinian%20West%20Bank. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/15/truth-israels-secret-nuclear-arsenal https://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/29/world/middleeast/29nixon.html http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/7/newsid_3014000/3014623.stm https://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/21/international/middleeast/israeli-who-revealed-nuclear-secrets-is-freed.html https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/15/truth-israels-secret-nuclear-arsenal https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/09/the-point-of-no-return/308186/ https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/select-quotations-of-david-ben-gurion ~~~~ Unpacked is a division of OpenDor Media

You might have heard of the Beta Israel, the community of Israel’s Ethiopian community. In this episode, Noam Weissman tells their story - not only their rich Jewish heritage and history, but also the story of how they got to Israel, in Operation Solomon, and their integration into Israeli society over the last thirty years. It’s thrilling, inspiring, but also complicated, and difficult at times. In other words, it’s a microcosm of the entire state of Israel, and the Jewish community the world over. ~~~~ Unpacking Israeli History is generously sponsored by Alan Fisher and Barbara Sommer, and Jon and Rachie Teller. ~~~~ Learn more about Unpacked: https://jewishunpacked.com/about/ Visit Unpacked on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/unpacked  Teaching about this topic? Check out our relevant educator resources here: https://unpacked.education/unpacking-operation-solomon-30-years-later/ ~~~~ Sources https://www.timesofisrael.com/after-backlash-barkan-winery-says-ethiopian-workers-to-work-as-usual/ https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/05/11/10-key-findings-about-jewish-americans/ft_2021-05-11_jewishkeyfindings_01/ https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-32813056 https://www.britannica.com/topic/Beta-Israel https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/the-history-of-ethiopian-jewry/ https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/timeline-of-ethiopian-jewish-history https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/who-are-the-ethiopian-jews https://minorityrights.org/minorities/beta-israel/ https://tamidnyc.org/passover-around-world/ https://www.timesofisrael.com/outcry-as-barkan-winery-shuns-ethiopian-workers-over-doubts-of-their-jewishness/ https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1996-07-29-1996211101-story.html https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/ethiopian-jewry-no-longer-a-lost-tribe/ https://www.jpost.com/opinion/op-ed-contributors/rabbi-ovadia-yosef-and-the-ethiopian-jews-328178 https://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/sites/default/files/public/halakhah/teshuvot/19861990/saltzman_ethiopian.pdf https://www.aish.com/sp/so/My-Treacherous-Journey-across-the-Ethiopian-Desert.html https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-israel-lifts-sweeping-ban-on-ethiopian-israeli-blood-donations-1.5483820 https://www.timesofisrael.com/ministry-lifts-ban-on-ethiopian-blood-donations/ https://www.enp.org.il/en/background.php https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kebra_Nagast https://www.torahmusings.com/2017/12/rav-ovadya-yosef-whether-ethiopian-jews-need-reconvert/ https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/05/11/10-key-findings-about-jewish-americans/ft_2021-05-11_jewishkeyfindings_01/ Lewin-Epstein, Noah; Cohen, Yinon (18 August 2019). "Ethnic origin and identity in the Jewish population of Israel". Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. 45 (11): 2118–2137. Steven Kaplan, "A Brief History of the Beta Israel", in The Jews of Ethiopia: A People in Transition ~~~~ Unpacked is a division of OpenDor Media

When Air France Flight 139 took off from Tel Aviv on the morning of June 27th, 1976, no one could have suspected that the soon-to-be-hijacked flight was about to lead to one of the world's most daring and risky rescue missions. In the first episode of season two, Noam Weissman unpacked Operation Thunderbolt, Israel's successful secret operation to rescue the passengers, and asks, does this story have enduring lessons for us today? ~~~~ Unpacking Israeli History is generously sponsored by Alan Fisher and Barbara Sommer, and Jon and Rachie Teller. This episode is generously sponsored by Marci and Alex S. Kaufman. ~~~~ Learn more about Unpacked: https://jewishunpacked.com/about/ Visit Unpacked on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/unpacked  Teaching about this topic? Check out our relevant educator resources here: https://unpacked.education/video/operation-thunderbolt-entebbe/ ~~~~ Sources https://www.amazon.com/Skies-Belong-Us-Terror-Hijacking/dp/0307886115 https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/sept11/2001/10/01/elal-usat.htm#more http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1578183.stm https://www.npr.org/2019/03/30/708229313/opinion-remembering-pilot-michel-bacos-hero-of-the-1976-entebbe-hijacking https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-lod-massacre https://www.haaretz.com/1.5353488 https://www.amazon.com/Entebbe-Balfour-Books-Iddo-Netanyahu-ebook/dp/B003ZUYQG6/ https://www.amazon.com/Operation-Thunderbolt-Entebbe-Airport-Audacious/dp/0316245399/ http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/7/newsid_2496000/2496095.stm) http://web.stanford.edu/group/tomzgroup/pmwiki/uploads/1377-1976-08-KS-a-RCW.pdf https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3qkquLvk6g https://www.jpost.com/Diplomacy-and-Politics/Analysis-Israel-and-Kenya-blood-ties-326880 https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/11701064/Israels-raid-on-Entebbe-was-almost-a-disaster.html https://www.airforcemag.com/PDF/MagazineArchive/Documents/2010/December%202010/1210entebbe.pdf https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vycaXjr7vhQ https://archive.jewishagency.org/secret-service/content/25326 tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/entebbes-forgotten-dead https://www.haaretz.com/1.5353488 https://www.amazon.com/Memoirs-Expanded-Speeches-Photographs-Afterword/dp/0520207661 https://www.amazon.com/Operation-Thunderbolt-Entebbe-Airport-Audacious/dp/0316245399/ ~~~~ Unpacked is a division of OpenDor Media

Presenting: This Week Unpacked. Unpacking Israeli History is all about excavating the past, but my colleagues at Unpacked have been working on a new podcast, one that I think will really complement this one. Each week, my colleagues Sara and Avi will be diving deep into something going on in the contemporary Jewish and Israeli world (and in only 15 minutes!). In a world that is hyper polarized and partisan, we take a different approach, and frankly, I hope it’s refreshing. Have a listen to last week’s episode, which is all about understanding the coalition that Bennett and Lapid put together this week. And make sure to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. ~~~~ The Unpacking Israeli History Podcast series is sponsored by Andrea and Larry Gill ~~~~ Learn more about Unpacked: https://jewishunpacked.com/about/ Visit Unpacked on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/unpacked  ~~~~ Unpacked is a division of OpenDor Media

The news coming out of Israel is scaring and confusing all of us. Is Sheikh Jarrah a housing dispute, or something bigger? Who is responsible for the protests and riots all over the country? Why are thousands of rockets being launched, and what does it mean for the region? What is going on?? Here at Unpacking Israeli History, we’re here to make sense of the present by exploring the past. Our goal is always to explore the questions of Israeli history — to really get to know the stories, including the confusing grey areas, and to make meaning of the present. To be transparent, and give the real context to the complicated, messy world of Israel, which has a few warts perhaps, but is also full of wonders. Only with that nuanced approach will we really understand Israeli history, and only when we understand that history will we be able to understand the very textured Israeli present. ~~~~ The Unpacking Israeli History Podcast series is sponsored by Andrea and Larry Gill ~~~~ Learn more about Unpacked: https://jewishunpacked.com/about/ Visit Unpacked on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/unpacked  ~~~~ Unpacked is a division of OpenDor Media

In the final episode of the season, Noam Weissman delves into one of the most divisive events in Israel’s history — the disengagement from the Gaza Strip. He looks at the historical context, the political and religious debate leading up to the pull-out, the trauma it caused for Israelis, the effect that the disengagement had on the peace process and whether the results were worth the suffering it caused. ~~~~ The Unpacking Israeli History Podcast series is sponsored by Andrea and Larry GillThis episode is sponsored by Dr. Neil and Pam Weissman~~~~Learn more about Unpacked: https://jewishunpacked.com/about/ Visit Unpacked on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/unpacked Teaching about this topic? Check out our relevant educator resources here: https://unpacked.education/video/israels-disengagement-from-gaza/ ~~~~Sources https://www.haaretz.com/1.4682702 https://www.jewishhistory.org/sinai-again/ http://www.itamarrabinovich.tau.ac.il/publications/127-bold-decisions-three-israeli-prime-ministers-who-went-against-their-grain.html https://www.haaretz.com/1.4682702 http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/5347 https://www.jta.org/1978/09/27/archive/behind-the-headlines-the-fate-of-yamit https://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Former-chief-of-staff-Ariel-Sharon-designed-Gaza-disengagement-to-save-West-Bank-settlements-412213 https://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Former-chief-of-staff-Ariel-Sharon-designed-Gaza-disengagement-to-save-West-Bank-settlements-412213 https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/gaza-disengagement/ https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gz.html https://www.terrorism-info.org.il/en/18536/ https://history.state.gov/milestones/1993-2000/oslo https://imeu.org/article/what-is-the-palestinian-authority https://www.counterpunch.org/2005/07/09/the-war-of-the-colors-in-israel/ https://reason.com/archives/2005/07/08/israels-color-war https://www.timesofisrael.com/housing-prices-continue-upward-climb-state-report-shows/ https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2016/12/29/507377617/seven-things-to-know-about-israeli-settlements https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ariel-Sharon https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/jcs/article/view/220/378 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2000/dec/10/israel http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/ForeignPolicy/Peace/MFADocuments/Pages/Disengagement%20Plan%20-%20General%20Outline.aspx https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-gaza-disengagement-insight/shadow-of-israels-pullout-from-gaza-hangs-heavy-10-years-on-idUSKCN0QF1QQ20150810 https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/a-decade-later-israelis-see-gaza-pullout-as-big-mistake/2015/08/14/21c06518-3480-11e5-b835-61ddaa99c73e_story.html https://www.timesofisrael.com/ten-years-of-limbo-gush-katif-evacuees-still-in-trailers/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxqHStC9hMI https://forward.com/news/israel/318228/gaza-withdrawal-10-years-later/ ~~~~Unpacked is a division of OpenDor Media

To appreciate the current Israeli and Palestinian psyches, it’s vital to understand the first five years of the 21st century — the period of the Second Intifada. Noam Weissman gets to the heart of the issue and asks why this serious attempt at peace between Israel and the Palestinians ended in one of the bloodiest periods in the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict, and how the effects of those defining years are still felt to this day. ~~~~ The Unpacking Israeli History Podcast series is sponsored by Andrea and Larry GillThis episode is sponsored by Dr. Neil and Pam Weissman ~~~~ Learn more about Unpacked: https://jewishunpacked.com/about/ Visit Unpacked on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/unpacked  Teaching about this topic? Check out our relevant educator resources here: https://unpacked.education/video/the-second-intifada/  ~~~~ Sources: https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/background-and-overview-of-al-aqsa-intifada https://web.archive.org/web/20050310043812/http://jewishweek.org/news/newscontent.php3?artid=3846 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qb5fIP-MfAc https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Arafat-ordered-Hamas-attacks-against-Israel-in-2000-189574 https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Suha-Arafat-admits-husband-premeditated-Intifada https://www.timesofisrael.com/we-were-in-a-craze-to-see-blood/ https://web.archive.org/web/20150526210520/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4570672.html https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/background-and-overview-of-israel-s-security-fence https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-mohammed-al-dura-case http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3677206.stm https://2001-2009.state.gov/p/nea/rls/22698.htm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3677206.stm https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-middle-east-quartet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_map_for_peace http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3677206.stm https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-temple-mount#aksa ~~~~ Unpacked is a division of OpenDor Media