The disenchantment of the Orient : expertise in Arab affairs and the Israeli state

"In this historical study, Gil Eyal argues that before the formation of Israel, Jewish experts participated in constructing the Orient as both a metaphor for the rejuvenation of the Jewish nation and an enchanted space populated by hybrid figures that mixed Jewish and Arab elements. But following the creation of the state, these experts took up a new role: creating boundaries (both external and internal) between Jews and Arabs, purifying the hybrids that inevitably exist on the margins of boundaries. The enchanted space of the Orient was destroyed, and its place was taken by expert discourses that reinforce the cultural separation between Jews and Arabs."--Jacket What Is Mizrahanut? A Methodological Introduction -- The Jews Underneath The Arab's Mask: The Experience Of The Orient In The Prestate Period -- The Field Of Orientalist Expertise Before 1948 -- The Struggle Over Jurisdiction, 1948-1953 -- The Discourse About The Arab Village -- Military Intelligence And Middle Eastern Studies. Gil Eyal. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [293]-311) And Index. A historical narrative of how Israeli expertise in Arab affairs has contributed to the creation of cultural separatism between Jews and Arabs, a separatism that exacerbates the conflict between the two peoples.