Ashkenazi Israelis: Do you hate Mizrahim?

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Want to know what Israelis and Palestinians in the Middle East really think about the conflict? Ask a question and I will get answers.

People ask Israelis questions. I go out and ask random people to answer. Clyde from the USA says he heard that Ashkenazi Israelis (Jews from European heritage) hate Mizrahi Israelis (Jews from Middle Eastern heritage). Is this true?

[leontorywalker]

Only a minority of Ashkenazim have a blonde/blue-eyed look about them, the rest are indistinguishable from Sephardim. We could perhaps say that only a minority of Mizrachim skew darker than the norm. You know there are "Arabs" who are blonde/blue-eyed anyway, in the hills of Lebanon and Yemen for example. The "Middle East" has, after all, been a complex patchwork for thousands of years and more.

[ShnoogleMan]

The funny thing is that most of these Ashkenazim look Middle Eastern.

[samferrell]

I grew up in the orthodox streams and I am Mizrachi and never got or even saw any hate from orthodox Ashkenazim, utter nonsense

[CoreyGilShusterAskProject]

Yes. I admit to buying into the bias that Ashkenazim are light, Mizrahim are dark- even though I am part sphardic myself :) Why do outsiders do it? They have to believe that the Zionists are foreign white European colonizers so they can insist that they leave. It is part of the template of indigenous vs. colonizer that makes good propaganda.

[thefelinelover]

Even Ashkenazis have an overwhelming Eastern looks and appearance! :) This country looks so diverse, multicultural and beautiful apart from the politics.

[Vebinz]

"hate" is such a strong word.

Perhaps "Do you think you're better/smarter than the Mizrahi?"  would have been better.

[CoreyGilShusterAskProject]

I know :) The questions are asked by people outside Israel (many from the Arab world) and I keep the questions exactly they way they are asked on purpose- the question itself shows the misinformaiton that people have and it allows the person being interviewed to say something about how silly the question is. Although people have been too polite and thought I was a crazy foreigner asking bizarre questions. After when I explain what I am doing in Hebrew they usually tell me how strange it was

[natanyat]

Some of the Ashkenazi look Mizrahi....

[velvy]

1:16 “How do you know about it?” “I know” creepy, Corey.

[abiryosefbenavraham]

We shouldn’t let our backgrounds separate us as Jews. As Jews, we should stick together regardless. At the end of the day an enemy of the Jew isn’t going to differentiate 1 Jew from the other. They’ll hate us simply because we’re Jews. They won’t see a difference. Jews for Jews and Judaism! Stick together!

[CoreyGilShusterAskProject]

You are right, most Israeli sphardic Jews feel very connected to Israel. As a canadian who is Ashkenazi, I feel Israeli culture is Mizrahi/Sphardic culture. I cannot find any Ashkenazi culture here other than in some homes. Public Israeli culture is Mizrahi.

[clbeob]

As a child who lived in Israel, just like in this video, , i don't recall labeling people Ashkenazi (european) or Mizrahi(middle eastern). Those labels are used for food or music. It is only while living in Canada, that I realized that the Jewish community here is divided between ASHKENAZI AND MIZRAHI. And thats a shame. Again, never have I witnessed such separation in Israel. What brings together different ethnicities in Israel is their Israeli citizenship or in other words their allegiance to the State. It's really a melting pot .

[Lagolop]

The Ashkenazi culture originated in the Rhineland. If they had any connection to Khazars, then why is there ZERO Khazar songs, folklore, food, dance etc in the Ashkenazi culture? And most important and telling, why is the mother language of Ashkenazim based on Medieval High German and NOT some Khazar tongue?

You fail miserably.

[talelyuval]

An Ashkenazi Israeli here. I grew up with friends of Persian, Iraqi, Turkish, Moroccan, Tunisian, Bulgarian-Sephardic & Lybian background. In my own family (and we've only been here for one generation, my parents made aliyah from the soviet union in the 70s) I already have people of Yemenite, Turkish, Moroccan, Tunisian, South-American Anusim & Bulgarian-Sephardic background (and I'm probably forgetting a bunch). So to ask whether I hate my very own family members, friends from childhood, neighbours and most importantly - fellow Jews.. beyond ridiculous. It is absolutely a non-issue for the vast majority of Israelis, we love each other and consider ourselves one people, because we are :)

[CoreyGilShusterAskProject]

You felt inferior? really? wow. My experience here being the only Ashkenazi in a very Mizrahi family and areas was that this sort of division no longer applies for many years here. I have personally never heard any Ashkenazis say anything hateful about Mizrahim.

[CoreyGilShusterAskProject]

The Khazar theory is a myth. Besides the fact that none of us look Georgian or Turkic or Mongolian, it is proven that we share common genome with Arabs.

[Kangozion]

Im Ashkenazim and a little bit mizrahi, Why would Ashkenazim hate Mizrahi? Isnt that like "biting the hand that feeds you"? They are both jews one is from europe/america the other a native to the middle east. Other than background there is not that much difference between the two.

[BYTHEHYMENOFOLIVIANEWTONJOHN]

I have been subscribed to your channel for at least a few years now and I really appreciate your content. Theology, Anthropology, and Ethnology have been very intriguing topics to me since my college days, and you always find a way to come up with new, creative questions to ask people. On a larger more political scale, I also believe your channel can, and does, help bridge the gap and open more dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians. Keep up the great work ☺️

[Yuval]

ashkenazies don't hate mizrahies. many of the israelies are mixed, like me for example. ashkenazies usually hate "arsim", which most of them are mizrahies, but not all mizrahies are like that. by the way through my life i met more cases of mizrahies who hate ashkenazies than the opposite.

[CoreyGilShusterAskProject]

They already are. Most asked why I would even ask such a silly question or who thinks about these ideas anymore. The questions about the differences come from outside Israel.