The Multicultural Challenge in Israel

by Avi Sagi (Editor), Ohad Nachtomy (Editor)

Overview

Delving into Israel’s multifaceted society, editors Avi Sagi and Ohad Nachtomy, along with their distinguished contributors, explore the many ethnic and religious communities that comprise modern Israel and the ways in which they interact and often misunderstand each other. Detailing both the tensions between Israelis and Arab minorities, as well as issues involving recent immigrants and the different religious sects within the Jewish community at large, this collection of essays covers diverse subjects such as Holocaust education, language rights, military service, and the balancing of religious with secular systems of law. An essential read for anyone searching for a better understanding of the challenges being faced in contemporary Israel.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781934843499
Publisher:	Academic Studies Press
Publication date:	11/01/2009
Series:	Israel: Society, Culture, and History
Pages:	360
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.81(d)

About the Author

Avi Sagi (Ph.D. Bar-Ilan University, 1988) is a Professor at Bar-Ilan Universityand Senior Research Fellow, Shalom Hartman Institute, Jerusalem. His recent books include Circles of Jewish Identity (with Zvi Zohar), Tel Aviv, 2000; ‘Elu va Elu‘ A Study on the Meaning of Halakhic Discourse, Tel Aviv, 1996. Ohad Nachtomy (Ph.D. Columbia University, 1998) specializes in 17th century philosophy, and above all Leibniz and Spinoza. He has also begun a major research project in the philosophy of modern biology, on genotype-phenotype relations.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Avi Sagi and Ohad Nactomy. Constitutional Incrementalism and Material Entrenchment - Hanna Lerner. Who is Afraid of Language Rights in Israel? - Meital Pinto. The Voice of the People: Language and State in Israel - Tamar Hostovsky Brandes. The Hand in Hand Bilingual Education Model: Vision and Challenges - Muhammad Amara. Cultural and Normative Duality in Israeli Society - Yedidia Z. Stern. Society and Law in Israel: Between a Rights Discourse and an Identity Discourse - Avi Sagi. Transcending the Secularization vs. Traditionalization Discourse: Jewish-Israeli Traditionists, the Post-Secular, and the Possibilities of Multiculturalism - Yaacov Yadgar. Service in the IDF and the Boundaries of Israel's Jewish Collective - Asher Cohen and Bernard Susser. Ideas vs. Reality: Multiculturalism and Religious-Zionism - Dov Schwartz. The Suffering of the Other: Teaching the Holocaust ot Arabs and Jews - Avihu Ronen. The Jewish Holidays as a Platform for a Multicultural Discourse of Identity - Rina Hevlin. The Multiple-Ethnic Synagogue in Israel - Nissim Leon. "We pay our Taxes and Serve in the Army": Ethnography and the Challenge of Multiculturism - Meirav Aharon. Multiculturalism in Israel: Linguistic Perspective - Michael Tanenbaum. Abstracts. Contributors. Index of Subjects. Index of Names.

Editorial Reviews

"Non-Jews make up one-fourth of Israel's population and represent a variety of racial, ethnic, and religious groups. Within the Jewish population, numerous different branches and geographic backgrounds are represented, reflecting different political and cultural perspectives. The Israeli state has no constitution which defines the rights on non-Jews in the country. How the various cultures interact and what influences result are the central theme of the contributed essays that make up this book. As a religious-based, democratic, multi-cultural state, Israel represents a fairly unique environment among the world's nations. This book examines the implications of this uniqueness."

Annotation ©2010 Book News Inc. Portland

"Non-Jews make up one-fourth of Israel's population and represent a variety of racial, ethnic, and religious groups. Within the Jewish population, numerous different branches and geographic backgrounds are represented, reflecting different political and cultural perspectives. The Israeli state has no constitution which defines the rights on non-Jews in the country. How the various cultures interact and what influences result are the central theme of the contributed essays that make up this book. As a religious-based, democratic, multi-cultural state, Israel represents a fairly unique environment among the world's nations. This book examines the implications of this uniqueness."

Annotation ©2010 Book News Inc. Portland

Non-Jews make up one-fourth of Israel's population and represent a variety of racial, ethnic, and religious groups. Within the Jewish population, numerous different branches and geographic backgrounds are represented, reflecting different political and cultural perspectives. The Israeli state has no constitution which defines the rights on non-Jews in the country. How the various cultures interact and what influences result are the central theme of the contributed essays that make up this book. As a religious-based, democratic, multi-cultural state, Israel represents a fairly unique environment among the world's nations. This book examines the implications of this uniqueness. (Annotation ©2010 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

From the Publisher