Resources and Articles by Sergio Rotbart

Every Sixth Israeli:  The Arabs of Israel (Part 1)
One of the most crucial problems of Israeli democracy is the status of Israel’s ethnic minorities. Although Israel is far from the worst culprit in the treatment of its minority groups, the theme of the Israeli Arabs, or perhaps better put, Israelis of Palestinian Arab origin, is cause for worry. And these Israeli citizens themselves made it amply clear that there was great room for improvement-in October, violent demonstrations erupted in Arab villages throughout Israel. There was a certain degree of anti-Jewish rhetoric present in these protests. But they were short-lasting, and the list of complaints had nothing to do with the El-Aqsa uprising. [Full article...]
Israel > Israeli Arabs

The New Israelis:  The Arabs of Israel (Part 2)
Once the Israeli Arabs had re-encountered their Palestinian brethren in the territories taken by Israel in the Six Day War, the former undertook a lengthy and complex process of redefining their national identity, simultaneous with the consolidation of an economic infrastructure. They were doubly marginalized: they were the victims of inequality within the sphere of Israeli society, nor could they really be accepted among the ranks of Palestinian nationalism. But a lot of time, and social changes, have occurred since then. [Full article...]
Israel > Israeli Arabs

Society and Education in Israel:  The Decadence of Secular Humanism
If the movers and shakers of secular humanism cannot uphold their truths when they actually attain positions of power and influence, why should we be shocked that religious nationalism and its concommitant, ultraorthodoxy, continue to be on the rise? A return to roots, to the foundation of the State of Israel and to the 1950’s, flesh out the response to this fairly rhetorical question. [Full article...]
Israel > Politics
Judaism > Israeli Judaism

Response to 'Trance and Israeli Society' by Julian Schvindlerman.:  An indignant Zionist protests the globalization of Israeli culture
Things are heating up in Hagshama’s on-line e-magazine. In our previous edition we offered our readers two markedly different visions of post-Zionism and its effects on Israeli society at all levels. Our correspondent Julian Schvindlerman launched a diatribe at the trance craze raging in Israel’s discotheques, looking upon it as incontrovertible proof of the decadence of Zionist values and a direct result of galloping globalization and post-Zionist thought….as well as a sad expression of the decline of moral value in Israel’s highly politicized culture. But for Rothbart, who prefers to answer Julian’s stance directly - globalization does indeed have its dark side - but for other reasons. [Full article...]
Israel
Zionism > Zionism Revisited

52nd Anniversary of the Creation of the Jewish State:  Who Is Afraid Of The Post Zionists?
For the author of this piece, post-Zionism represents a positive challenge to the officially sanctioned vision of history in Israel. For all of its structural defects, it has nonetheless called into question, for the first time, the heavily mystical, monolithic, and idealized vision of Jewish history. This is the record of a polemical debate. [Full article...]
Zionism > Post-Zionism