It is no secret that for decades, the Zionist left discriminated against Mizrahim, or Jews with roots in Arab and Muslim countries, treating them as second-class citizens and pushing them to the economic, political, and cultural margins of Israeli society.  

Mizrahim took matters into their own hands, forming political movements and parties of their own. Their resentment against the left pushed many of them into the arms of the right-wing Likud party. 

And yet, says +972 writer and veteran Mizrahi activist Orly Noy, more than 70 years after Israel’s founding, Mizrahim are still fighting for crumbs from the Ashkenazi elite, whether on the left or the right.

Mizrahim now have an opportunity to move beyond the politics that have kept them marginalized, Noy says, by standing alongside Palestinian citizens of Israel. 

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The music in this episode is by Ketsa.

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