Los Tiempos: The Development and Effects of Zionism Among Sephardic Communities

Author: Erin Keating

Field of Study: Linguistics

Program Affiliation: Source Project Research Program

Faculty Mentors: Bryan Kirschen, Dina Danon

Easel: 112

Timeslot: Midday

Abstract: Mizrahi—and by extension Sephardi—Jewry has played a controversial role in the creation of the state of Israel. At its inception, Ottoman Jewish communities were generally skeptical of the European-born ideology of political Zionism. After the fall of the Ottoman Empire, Jewish communities in Ottoman lands continued to generally stand in opposition, with many arguing for a unique connection between “Oriental” Jewry and Palestinians. After The Holocaust, Ashkenazi Zionists pushed for the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine. Despite suffering harsh, unequal treatment during the early state-building efforts of Israel, Mizrahi and Sephardi Jews rapidly migrated to the new nation due to efforts to destabilize Jewish life in Muslim lands by multiple parties. This paper analyzes this change in perception of Zionism by Sephardim with the aid of two newspapers with the title of El Tiempo, one from late-Ottoman Istanbul, and one from early Tel-Aviv.