Israel through a Colored Lens: African-American Perspectives on Mizrahi Israelis

press release: UW Mosse/Weinstein Center for Jewish Studies Weinstein-Minkoff Lecture, delivered by Dr. Bryan Roby, Assistant Professor of Judaic Studies at the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor.

This lecture explores African-American interactions with Middle Eastern Jewish (Mizrahi) Israelis in the 1950s and 1960s, highlighting how African-Americans navigated race and their observations on racial dynamics in Israel. Roby focuses on the travels of scholar and social worker Ida Jiggetts, who wrote extensively on the social positioning of North African and Yemenite Jewish immigrants to Israel. He concludes with reflections on how Israeli Jewish racial constructs influence current-day societal issues.