Israeli Media and the Framing of Internal Conflict: The Yemenite Babies Affair

239 Pages·2009·1.05 MB·English

by  Shoshana Madmoni-Gerber

I M F
SRAELI EDIA AND THE RAMING OF
I C
NTERNAL ONFLICT
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I M F
SRAELI EDIA AND THE RAMING OF
I C
NTERNAL ONFLICT
T Y B A
HE EMENITE ABIES FFAIR
Shoshana Madmoni-Gerber
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israeli media and the framing of internal conflict
Copyright © Shoshana Madmoni-Gerber, 2009.
Thanks to Cultural Studies for granting me permission to use the article
“Orientalism Reconsidered: Israeli Media and the Articulation of Resistance,”
Cultural Studies 17:2 (2003).
The journal’s website: http://www.informaworld.com.
Thanks to the Israeli government’s press office for permission to use the photos
included in the book.
Cover photo: “Yemenite Mothers and Their Children at the Ein Shemer Immigrant’s
Camp, September 9, 1950,” by Fritz Cohen. Courtesy of Israel’s Government Press
Office.
All rights reserved.
First published in 2009 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN® in the United States - a
division of St. Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, this
is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered
in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire
RG21 6XS.
Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has
companies and representatives throughout the world.
Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States,
the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.
ISBN: 978-0-230-61346-1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Madmoni-Gerber, Shoshana.
Israeli media and the framing of internal confl ict : the Yemenite babies affair /
Shoshana Madmoni-Gerber.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-230-61346-1 (alk. paper)
1. Jews, Yemeni—Israel—Public opinion. 2. Kidnapping—Israel—Public
opinion. 3. Children of immigrants—Israel—Public opinion. 4. Public
opinion—Israel. 5. Ashkenazim—Israel—Attitudes. 6. Jews, Oriental—Israel—
Social conditions. 7. Mass media and public opinion—Social aspects—Israel.
8. Israel—Ethnic relations. I. Title.
DS113.8.Y4M33 2009
305.23086'912095694—dc22 2008051020
A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library.
Design by Macmillan Publishing Solutions
First edition: August 2009
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America.
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Dedicated to the memory of my father, Aharon Madmoni, who inspired
me to research this story.
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Contents
List of Figures ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction: The Personal, the Political, and the Theoretical 1
1 P resent But Absent: Official Narratives and the
Untold Mizrahi History 19
2 I sraeli Media: History, Ownership, and the Politics of
Mizrahi Representation 43
3 Mapping the Media Coverage of the Yemenite Babies Affair 69
4 Media Discourse: Coverage, Cover-up, and Criticism 129
5 I sraeli Media and the Articulation of Resistance:
Rabbi Meshulam’s Revolt 159
6 M ulticulturalism and Unity: Future Implications of
the Unresolved Yemenite Babies Affair 175
Notes 193
Bibliography 211
Index 219
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List of Figures
3.1 A nurse teaching Yemenite immigrant mothers how
to diaper their babies at the Rosh Haa'yin camp,
October 1, 1949, by Kluger Zoltan 81
3.2 A Yemenite grandfather helping to look after his grandson,
January 12, 1949, by Eldan David 115
4.1 Tzila Levine and Margalit Omeisi, March 27, 1997,
by Amos Ben-Gershom 150
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