Understanding political tokenism
Since my encounter with Ismail Khaldi, I have been thinking of the crucial defining characteristic of a “token” in political terms. I think I understand it now, after having seen The Spook Who Sat By The Door. Not only does the token in his appointed capacity have no power to change a system’s design or behavior, he actually plays no crucial service whatsoever in its maintenance. Thus, Dan Freeman in The Spook becomes the first black member to be admitted to the CIA after intense training, but is given a position photocopying papers even though he is advertised as proof that the CIA is now “integrated.” And Ishmael Khaldi is the “first Bedouin Arab” to work for the Israeli foreign ministry in the United States, as we often hear, but his job is to give stump speeches on college campuses and to be shown off to ASUC officials. It’s no surprise that at the same time Tikvah and similar groups buy people dinner to come “see the Arab” in the zoo-like showcase they’ve organized in order to obscure Israeli apartheid, that Israeli Knesset members are calling for the ejection of all Arab MP’s from parliament, and all Arabs, out of Israel. Yet another proof that Israel is the most progressive occupying power in the world.
14 Responses to “Understanding political tokenism”
By عزير on Jun 18, 2008
They are more efficient than the Americans.
By Francis L. Holland, Esq. on Jun 21, 2008
Please have a look at this new blog and see if you’d live to cover it: AfroSpear in the Whitosphere.
By Francis L. Holland, Esq. on Jun 21, 2008
OOPS: Here’s the correct URL: Please have a look at this new blog and see if you’d live to cover it: AfroSpear in the Whitosphere.
By husam z on Jun 24, 2008
yeah, but do you think that khalidi is gathering information so he can demystify the injustices to his folks living without electricity and encourage them to start a nation-wide rebellion against the israeli state?
where’d you get a copy of “the spook”?
By yael on Jun 26, 2008
i think you slightly patronize mr. Khaldi, and any arab/palestinian-israeli. you seem to suggest that they cannot advance b/c they will be ‘token minority’ and serve the establishment. they therefore need to stay put in bad conditions, preferably in poverty and crime, so we could all see that they are oppressed. this is the same arguments made in the US by certain black leaders, condemning blacks who make middle class on ‘going white’ and betraying their brothers (Jeremiah Wright for example). according to this argument Obama should not run for presidency b/c by doing so he accepts and affirms the US, not only offering to ‘change’ it.
By lisa on Jul 7, 2008
ya yaman,
i think it is tokenism on the part of the isr govt and certainly tikvah. juliano mer khamis is another who knows quite well that the govt tries to use him and his image– i’m sure ish knows it as well. i know ish from haifa and while i agree with you about how zionist groups use is-pal’s, i think the other side is how ish uses this game, what he wants and how. it’s good to critique how power uses and coopts symbols, but i’m uncomfortable with the rich telling the poor how to play the game. i love you and agree w/ u yaman but you’re in berkeley in america in the 2000s, you have to be aware of your privilege as well (in comparison to ish). criticize tikvah for sure b/c of how they “frame” him and what meaning they assign to him, but be wary of vanguard leadership thing “we know better how the oppressed should act and what routes they should take.” to me it seems like a russell simmons, a colin powell, whoever– it might not be how i’d navigate the game, but i’m not in the same social position and our resources/opportunities/motivations are *for that reason* different.
my two cents. :)
-lisa
By lisa on Jul 7, 2008
related topic: have you read/heard sayed kashua? he is paraded around in a similar way but the awesome thing is that he is totally aware of it and comments on it in subtle to more direct ways to the audience. i can’t believe he deals with it but i really think he’s performing a service to the audience, they come thinking he is proof of israel yay, but he turns it on them from within the cage, while telling jokes about the cage. saw him at nif and the questions were inane but he was fantastic.
By yaman on Jul 7, 2008
yael, I think you misread my post. I did not make the general claims you accuse me of making.
By yaman on Jul 7, 2008
lisa, the Israeli left/progressive bloc is constantly used by Zionist hawks in the US as “proof” that Israel is a wonderful place. But what makes it an obviously exploitative reference is that they are using these progressive forces against their own grain, that is, for ends that those forces would never support.
By Tom P. on Jul 9, 2008
Yaman, you have seen some of Sayed Kashua’s work, you told me you saw parts of his hit TV series “Avoda Aravit” (”Arab Work”). Kashua uses his entrance into the mainstream to try and make the Jewish majority a little uncomfortable, by mixing social criticism into his comedy. Khalidi, on the other hand, told us (SJP) explicitly he won’t say anything about the fact that his parents, born in the country, have fewer rights than any American Jew who would immigrate there. When he says that he is damaging the position of anyone with progressive views about Israel, and he is worthy of criticism, whether or not he came from a poor background. No one is saying he shouldn’t advance, but if he takes a public political position which is regressive, that deserves to be discussed.
By Tom P. on Jul 9, 2008
juliano mer khamis, by the way, is the director of Arna’s Children, another attempt at using the mainstream (funding by government bodies) to say something meaningful that doesn’t make people too comfortable.
By yael on Jul 10, 2008
yaman,
when you say ‘zionists are using the israeli left’ etc, you are thinking like someone coming from a totalitarian regime, where there is someone who decides and showcases people.if you think refusniks are liked by the army/general public or paraded by the state you simply don’t understand how israel works.
and btw, the reason most refusniks (just an example for the left) do what they do is that they are zionists, and they want their state to be a place they associate with.
i know you will never come to israel (boycott and all) but really, you should go there just to get a sense of how the public discourse is acting and how different it is from both the US and Syria.
By yael on Jul 10, 2008
Regarding the alleged attempt to throw all arabs from israel - you give us a link to ‘the electronic intifadah’ as a reliable source of information, while it is declaratively a source of propaganda. c’mon yaman.
the story, that should be debated, is the decision that an israeli citizen cannot become an m.p if they have visited an enemy country. most of those who did so are arabs, but this affects any attempt for peace, b/c one makes peace with enemies. this eliminates any possible contact with an enemy people and maintains it as such.(here again i will mention you visiting israel to simply see for yourself).
the reason for this stupid decision is of course Bshara, who allegedly spied for hizballa during the war. although he might have done it, the law is stupid.
By yaman on Jul 11, 2008
yael, I did not say “zionists are using the israeli left,” I said “Zionist hawks in the US.” There are at least 3 qualifications in that phrase. I also never said there was an “attempt,” I said there were “calls.” You repeatedly distort my remarks in order to debunk things that I never said in the first place. I also don’t recall placing the words “here is the electronic intifada, a reliable source of information” anywhere in my post, but I assume you attack it as a ’source of propaganda’ in order to deny the fact that such a call was made, or that the “strategic threat” exists in Israel. It seems kind of disingenuous to me that you will raise a commotion in the name of your idea of honest, objective ‘reporting’ (as if that is what I claim to do), at the same time that you do not even dispute any of the facts or arguments but simply attack the sources. I sometimes feel you are having a conversation with yourself in the comments you write, rather than with me.