Words and stones : the politics of language and identity in Israel

331 Pages·2007·21.43 MB·English

by  Lefkowitz, Daniel

Words and Stones
Oxford Studies in Anthropological Linguistics
William Bright, General Editor
Editorial Board
Wallace Chafe, University of California, Santa Barbara
Regna Darnell, University of Western Ontario
Paul Friedrich, University of Chicago
Dell Hymes, University of Virginia
Jane Hill, University of Arizona
Stephen C. Levinson, Max Planck Institute, The Netherlands
Joel Sherzer, University of Texas, Austin
David J. Parkin, University of London
Andrew Pawley, Australian National University
Jef Verschueren, University of Antwerp
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WORDS AND STONES
The Politics of Language
and Identity in Israel
DANIEL LEFKOWITZ
OXFORD
UNIVERSITY PRESS
2004
OXPORD
UNIVERSITY PRESS
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Lefkowitz, Daniel, 1961-
Words and stones : the politics of language and identity in Israel / Daniel Lefkowitz.
p. cm. — (Oxford studies in anthropological linguistics ; 26)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-19-512190-2
1. Anthropological linguistics—Israel. 2. Language and culture—Israel
3. Sociolinguistics—Israel. 4. Symbolism in communication. 5. Jews—Israel—Identity
6. Palestinian Arabs—Israel—Ethnic identity. I. Title. II. Series.
P35.5.I75L44 2004
306.44'095694—dc22 2003060956
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 21
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
For
Israel Szabo
and
Jimmy Craig
In Loving Memory
This page intentionally left blank
Preface
My title, 'Words and Stones," interweaves various strands of meaning that are central
to my book's content. Words stand for "language" in the popular imagination. We use
the simplifying metaphor of the word to approximate the unthinkably complex
materiality of human language. And though this book focuses on abstract dimensions
of language structure, such as phonology, intonation, and discourse, it begins with
words.
Stones stand for place and identity in the popular imagination of Israel/Palestine—
in short, for struggle. Stones mark Palestinian space within the Jewish State. Homes
built of stone pre-date the establishment of Israel, marking neighborhoods within Israeli
cities as Palestinian space. Old walls built of stone crisscross newer Israeli forests,
marking formerly Palestinian space as they outline vanished villages and homes. Most
recently stone represents Palestinian identity through the deployment of stone-throwing
as a weapon of insurrection in the intifada, the Palestinian national uprising. But stones
represent more than just Palestinian presence in Israel. Jewish Israelis also lay claim
to the image. While the dominant re-making of urban space in Israel replaced Palestinian
stone houses with cinderblock buildings, Jewish Israel has also appropriated the stone
tradition. Israel rebuilt the Jewish Quarter of the Old City in Jerusalem with stone
homes, stone streets, and stone benches. The most fashionable homes for middle-class
Jewish Israelis in Haifa are preserved stone houses that once belonged to Palestinians.
Haifa, a city built up a steep mountainside, is now crisscrossed with monumental
viii Preface
stone retaining walls, making way for roads, parks, and apartment buildings. Indeed,
the most powerful mark of Israel as Jewish space are the enormous stones of the
Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. Stones thus symbolize struggle in Israel/Palestine.
Juxtaposing "words" with "stones" also plays on the American childhood proverb,
"sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never harm me" My title plays
ironically on this proverb, for the book claims the opposite: that "words" have the
power to create what even the largest "sticks" cannot destroy. This book examines
how language—and especially the deployment of language in actual discourse—both
exerts and resists social power. Words are thus seen as an important locus of political
struggle.
The many people who have helped me with the research, writing, and publication
of this book are far too numerous to list here. Those I would like to single out for
special thanks include mentors Joel Sherzer, Anthony Woodbury, Avraham Zilkha,
and Tamar Katriel; colleagues Louise Meintjes and Lindsay Hale; relatives Aliyah
Dex, Dafnah, Nitzana, and Maya Strauss; editors Peter Ohlin and Mary Brohammer;
reviewer Bernard Spolsky; and friends Bethany Dreyfus, Ruti Shapira, Nabila Espanioli,
Amir Makhoul, Yaron Shemer, and Pamela Saunders.
Acknowledgments
The author thanks the following for permission to use copyright material:
Lori Grinker and Contact Press Images Inc. for figure 4.1, that appeared on the
cover of the 1986 paperback edition of David Shipler's Arab and Jew, Penguin.
The publishers of Yedioth Ahronoth for: figure 6.1, that appeared in the daily edi-
tion of that newspaper on May 25, 1992, p.l; figure 6.2, that appeared on May 25,
1992, p.3; figure 6.3, that appeared on May 25,1992, p.3; figure 6.4, that appeared on
May 25, 1992, p.5; figure 6.5, that appeared on May 25, 1992, p.2; figure 6.6, that
appeared on May 25,1992, p.7; figure 6.7, that appeared on May 25,1992, p. 1; figure
6.8, that appeared on May 25, 1992, p.l of the "24-Hours" section; figure 6.9, that
appeared on May 27, 1992, p.l; figure 6.10, that appeared on May 28, 1992, p.3;
figure 6.11, that appeared on May 25, 1992, p.l; figure 6.12, that appeared on May
25,1992, p.l of the "24-Hours" section; figure 6.13, that appeared on May 29,1992,
p.23; figure 6.14, that appeared on May 27, 1992, p.3; figure 6.15, that appeared on
May 25, 1992, p.6; figure 6.16, that appeared on May 26, 1992, p.l; figure 6.17, that
appeared on May 26,1992, p.3; figure 6.18, that appeared on May 29,1992, p. 1 of the
"Friday Supplement" section.
University of Pennsylvania Press for figure 7.1, which is based on William Labov,
Sociolinguistic Patterns, 1972, p. 114.