Kibbutz Journal: Reflections on Gender, Race & Militarism in Israel

by Kathy E. Ferguson

An American professor of political science describe her four-month visit to Israel, and shares her impressions of social and political life there today

Paperback

Published January 1, 1995

Reviews

[Ori Tsameret · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a former kibbutznik I had high hopes for this as a guide that could possibly, without the wool of nostalgia and connection pulled over the eyes, articulate clearly what went wrong with the labor zionist project and maybe sniff out where communal life in Israeli society has real decolonial potential. Instead, this book is rife with all the classic markings of every "sympathetic" liberal zionist account: Palestinians are all but absent (save for Edward Said, who the author has the audacity to disparage in response to a pessimistic response to the Oslo Accords), there is a great valorizing of the "peace process" (through Labor, no less), and the author critiques the Israeli MIC, nationalism, patriarchy, and racism, all without using any real political terminology. In fact, Ferguson fails to even meaningfully grasp the correct understanding of race/ethnicity within Israeli paradigms. I suppose I shouldn't expect to see the words "settler-colonialism" from someone living in Hawai'i, but it's just a shame to see the likes of Wendy Brown praise this book when just about the only thing fresh (even in the 90s) about the takes here are that they come from a non-Jewish white person. I honestly have to wonder how much having an Israeli spouse even gave this extra depth as opposed to just giving Ferguson more relatives to differentiate from herself even as she tiptoes transnationally from one colony to another.