ZIONISMUS
ZIONISMUS by Esther Eillam
Zionism – so many mixed feelings, connected to all my memories of childhood. Ben-Gurion’s accent in Hebrew is Yiddish – different from that of my parents (who also were not born here, but their mother language was Espaniol (Ladino). In my view, Zionism belonged to the Ashkenazi Jews. It is connected to many songs of my childhood, for example:
‘We shall build our country, country of homeland, because this country is ours, it’s the command of generations’. Zionism, as the answer to the image of the weak Jewish man, has been constructed in the image of a strong, masculine man. This view created a permanent exclusion of women from the center of society and from decision-making positions. It replicated the old stereotypes for women: either identifying with the role of a wife and a mother (of future soldiers!), or to behave ‘like a man’. As a feminist I refused both of them. Still, Zionism itself has a main role in my life. How? See Shoa – Holocaust.
Esther Eillam / one of the founding mothers of the feminist movement in Israel.
