Influential in its absence: The relationship between refusing to embrace sub-national ethnic identities and openness to inter-national coexistence among Jews and Arab/Palestinians in Israel

What is it about?

This article looks at the the meaning and implications of refusing to embrace an ethnic or racial identity in a society that is characterized by deep ethnic or racial division. Specifically, it asks how among the Jewish national majority in Israel, refusing to claim common ethnic identities such as Ashkenazi or Mizrahi affects the attitudes toward and social relationship with members of the Arab/Palestinian minority. The findings show that, in contrast to what previous studies suggest, at least in contemporary Israel, refusal to embrace ethnic identities does not mean "acting white" (pretending as if ethnicity does not matter in order to maintain social privileges), but rather amounts to a radical challenge of the system of ethnic division and domination, which therefore opens the door for greater coexistence among Jews and Arab/Palestinians.

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Why is it important?

This study is important for several reasons: 1. Refusing to claim ethnic/racial label is often treated as "missing information" or as not meaningful, but this study shows that in some cases it is actually a meaningful act of identification with social and political consequences. 2. This article presents a conceptual and analytical approach to the issue of refusals to claim ethnic/racial identities. 3. This study uses a nationally representative study, thus avoiding the biases of previous research that used convenience samples. 4. The findings and discussion shed new light on the ties between ethnic identification (and non-identification) and the attitudes and relationships of Israeli Jews with the Arab/Palestinian minority.