Prof. Sammy Smooha was a guest of the Migdal HaEmek Leadership program
and presented his ongoing study of Israel’s ethnic rift. Smooha, an
Israel Prize laureate in sociology and a lecturer at the University of
Haifa, presented a historical and social overview of the conditions that
created the ethnic rift in Israel and explained the reasons why it
persists even now - despite what he considers the prevailing tendency
to downplay its intensity or completely deny its existence. Prof. Smooha
presented four different theoretical perspectives on the development of
ethnic relations in Israel: the assimilation approach (modernization
and integration processes), the class-oriented approach, the
post-colonial approach and the pluralistic approach, in which there is a
critical discussion while developing or overlooking principles of the
other perspectives.
Presentation of these approaches allowed for
fellows to consider the situation and engage in further discussion,
while refining their personal outlooks and experiences. We took this
opportunity to open the discussion to the community, and several fellows
invited colleagues and relatives to attend the lecture. It was a
successful effort that added to the program’s visibility in the city and
enabled the fellows to expose those around them to their studies.
