by Ioram Melcer
Anyone who tours Israel, if only for a few days, or who reads an Israeli newspaper, even an English one, knows that the country is a mosaic of cultures. Wherever you turn, there are people who came from different countries with manifestations of cultures from all over of the world, far apart from each other in every sense. Israel is a country with a North African Andalusian orchestra (many of whose musicians are from the former Soviet Union), Caucasian bands and dance troupes, ensembles of classical music, ballet companies - all of them highly successful - and sing-alongs and traditional folk dancing which enjoy countrywide popularity. On a Tel Aviv street one can find an Ethiopian barbershop with pictures of Bob Marley and Haile Selassie next to an old-style Viennese coffee house. Television channels in Hebrew, English, Spanish, German, Italian, French, Russian, Turkish, Arabic (Palestinian, Egyptian, and Moroccan) and even Hindi all have audiences in Israel. Cuisines from many countries exist side by side, with fascinating encounters between the kitchens of Morocco and Italy and those of Bukhara and Poland.
Israel has an abundance of sites holy to adherents of the three monotheistic faiths - Judaism, Christianity and Islam - and their offshoots, Samaritans, Druze and Bahai. One cannot but notice clerics in traditional garb walking in the alleys of Jerusalem, in Galilee and on Mt. Carmel. Nor can one overlook the many houses of worship scattered throughout the country and the tombs of saints to which believers (Jews and Muslims) flock to pray and seek blessing.
One cannot but be impressed by the Western Wall, the Dome of Rock, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the Bahai Gardens, the Tomb of Nebi Shuweib and the remains of the Temple on Mt. Gerizim. All of them contribute to Israel's unique mosaic of religions and cultures
That multiculturalism in Israeli society exists is beyond doubt, and the vast majority of people are very tolerant of and take pleasure in the mosaic that surrounds them. Over the last generation, a society that used to be small and insular with a siege mentality has undergone a radical change in how it perceives itself in relation to the world. Mass immigration from the number of former Soviet Union and from Ethiopia, the opening of the media to sights and sounds from around the world through commercial and cable television, as well as the tremendous increase in Israelis traveling abroad and the frequency of their trips, have opened up a window to Western "normality". This normality is a uniformly positive attitude toward a diverse, multicultural world. Israelis are not only delighted to get acquainted with this world, they want to emulate locally that global multiculturalism through all the means available to them.
Israeli society has undergone, and is still undergoing, other significant processes. Gradually it is moving from an identity based on a clear national ethos of heroism and struggle, Jewish continuity, survival in the face of a hostile world, and a Zionist revolution that seeks to change
Jewish history for all time, to a society pondering its identity and seeking to live a life of tranquility, well being and prosperity. The Middle East peace process, which has been taking place in the past decade, coincided with waves of immigration and with receptivity to the world at large. Thus Israelis have discovered that their country is more desirable and accepted than in the past and has turned from a fairly exclusive country into one that attracts very diverse populations. Israelis also have no special problem with the Christianity of some of the immigrants from the former Soviet Union (some of the victims of the terror attack at the Dolphinarium in Tel Aviv were non-Jewish tourists from Ukraine who had mingled with the young immigrants).
The arrival in Israel of hundreds of thousands of foreign workers is also a relatively new phenomenon. Although some come for specific periods of time - such as agricultural workers from Thailand with a fairly rapid and orderly turnover - a substantial percentage of foreign workers have remained, founding families or bringing their relatives from abroad. Israelis have adjusted easily to the real, visible presence of the foreign workers throughout the country. Although they do work that Israelis are not eager to perform and took the place of Palestinian workers from the territories, the overall picture is of a population many of whom have become an integral part of life in Israel. The increasing number of foreigners who remain in Israel is already evident in certain Tel Aviv elementary schools, which have classes with a large percentage of Ghanaian, Nigerian, Colombian and Filipino students. In recent years, foreign workers have organized on the basis of their national origin in groups ranging from amateur soccer teams to representative committees, which work to protect the rights of a particular community.
Almost all Israelis have a desire for Western-style normality and accept these processes as fairly natural. They have adjusted to the new medley of languages in the street, frequent stores selling exotic foods and employ foreign workers in their homes. They take for granted that their country attracts people from different nations - like the people they have met on their travels or have seen on TV.
Thus it can be said with certainty that in terms of the overall picture, Israel is a vibrant multicultural country resembling many others in Europe, and Tel Aviv is a bustling international city. But this is not the whole story. Israelis have passively accepted the fact that they have become inhabitants of a multi-cultural country, and there was no national soul-searching regarding its implications. Israel is now facing a challenge, greater than any she has faced since attaining independence. Israeli society has not yet absorbed the full meaning of its multicultural nature and, as a result, has not yet taken real responsibility for its present composition. In the years to come, Israel will face a very different social reality that will bring many diverse challenges.
The animated debate over national identity could profit from a serious look at the many and diverse communities that today make up Israeli society. Such a scrutiny will show what aspects of their identity people are not willing to give up, and on which they can and should compromise in order to achieve a modus vivendi. Such a scrutiny would also help them to define themselves, detached from the myths and generalizations regarding their historical identity. The need to achieve practical coexistence (or better termed - multi-existence) within a rapidly changing society may transfer abstract debates over identity to the crucial social "give and take" and help in the process of "normalization" of large segments of society which consider themselves the epitome of "Israeliness". To the extent that this permeates into the minds and hearts of all Israelis, their approach to multiculturalism will be positive and active, and will achieve a better and more normal life for all segments of society.
Next: Freedom of Religion in Israel