Centers - Academic Staff Members - Dr. Esther Meir-Glitzenstein

Specializes in the history of Jews from Arab countries, especially Iraq, in the 20^th century.
She has recently completed a book about the absorption of Iraqi Jews in Israel that deals with subjects of immigration, culture and identity. Her new research focuses on the mass immigration of Yemenite Jewry to Israel.

Selected Publications

Books

1. Beer Sheva: Metropolis in the Making, Co-editor with Yehuda Gradus, Ben Gurion University Publishers, Beer Sheva, 2008.

2. From Baghdad to Ramat-Gan: Iraqi Jews in Israel, Yad Ben Zvi Publishers, Jerusalem, 2009. [Hebrew].

3. Developing Towns in Israel, Co-editor with Zvi Zameret and Aviva Halamish, Yad Ben Zvi Publishers, Jerusalem, 2009 [Hebrew].

4. Zionism in an Arab Country: Jews in Iraq in the 1940s, Routledge, London and New York, 2004. Book Cover

5. Zionism and the Jews of Iraq, 1941-1950, Am-Oved Publishers, Tel-Aviv, 1993. [in Hebrew].

Articles

1. “A Different Leadership: David Hacham and the Mizrahi Struggle on the Mayor position of Beer Sheva” in: Gradus Yehuda and Esther Meir-Glitzenstein (eds.), Beer Sheva: Metropolis in the Making, Ben Gurion University Publishers, Beer Sheva, 2009. [in Hebrew].

2. 'From Refugees to Zionists and Back Again', in: Arie Kacowicz and Pawel Lutomski (eds.), Population Resettlement in International Conflicts: A Comperative Study, Lexington Books, Lanham Maryland 2007, pp. 183-209.

3. 'Zionist and Communist Leaders and Their Role in the Process of Integration', Pe’amim. Vol. 101, 2005, [in Hebrew].

4. 'East and West in the Inter-cultural Encounter in the State of Israel’, Society and Economy in Israel, Iyunim Bitkumat Israel, Thematic Series, 2005, pp. [in Hebrew].

5. 'The Mizrahi Leadership in Mapai'. Israel, Studies in Zionism and the State of Israel, History, Society, Culture, Vol. 5, 2004, pp. 63-97, [in Hebrew].

6.'Zionist Identity and Jewish-Arab Identity in the Collective Memory of Iraqi Immigrants). Alpaim, 27, 2004, pp. 173-202, [in Hebrew].

7. ‘The West in the East: Patterns of Cultural Change as a Personal Kibbutz Experience’, in: J. Tydor-Baumel and T. Cohen (eds.), Gender, Place and Memory in the Modern Jewish Experience, Re-Placing Ourselves, Vallentine Mitchell, London and Portland 2003, pp. 213-239.

8. 'Our Dowry - Identity and Memory among Iraqi Immigrants in Israel', Middle Eastern Studies, Vol. 38, No. 2, April 2002, pp. 165-186.

9. ' Ideology, Culture and Gender – Iraqi Women Immigrants in the Kibbutz during the 1940s', in: M. Shilo, R. Kark, G. Hasan-Rokem, (eds.), Jewish Women in the Yishuv and Zionism – A Gender Perspective, Yad Izhak Ben-Zvi Press, Jerusalem, 2001, pp. 109-130, [in Hebrew].

10. 'Jewish Cinderellas in Baghdad The Struggle Zionists in Iraq in the 1940s', in: Y. Azmon (ed.), Will You Listen to My Voice? Representations of Women in Israeli Culture, Hakibbutz Hameuchad and Van Leer Institute, Tel-Aviv, 2001, pp. 365-390. [in Hebrew].

11. 'From Eastern Europe to The Middle East: The Reversal in Zionist Policy vis-a-vis the Jews of Islamic Countries', The Journal of Israeli History, Vol. 20, No. 1, Spring 2001, pp. 24-48.

12. 'The Encounter between Iraqi Immigrants and the Israeli Establishment in the Beginning of the Fifties' in: A. Shapira, J. Reinharz and J. Harris (eds.), The Age of Zionism, The Shazar Center, Jerusalem 2000, pp. 271-296, [in Hebrew].

13. 'Class and Ethnicity in the Struggle of Iraqi Immigrants in Beer Sheva, 1950-1955', Israel Studies, Vol. 5 No. 2, Fall 2000, pp. 78-106.

Research Interests

Iraqi Jews in the 20^th century.
The Zionist activities in Iraq.
Identity, memory and history of Iraqi Jews in Israel.
The immigration of Yemenite Jewry to the State of Israel.
Mizrahim and the ethnic question in Israel.

Professional Activities

2003-2005 Head of the Program for Israel Studies at BGU

2007-2008 Head of the Program for Israel Studies at BGU

Dr. Esther Meir-Glitzenstein

esmeir@bgu.ac.il