In the last two decades, a small group of Mizrahi Jews—Jews of Middle Eastern and North African descent—have returned to their Arab Jewish roots and transformed the country’s pop music scene. Israeli music, long dominated by Western forms of rock and pop, has been suddenly infused with the musical strains of Arab countries like Morocco, Iraq, and Yemen, fusing sounds and rhythms into something thrillingly its own. The lecture will explore this new trend and discuss its social and political implications. By tracing musicians like rocker Dudu Tassa and singer Neta Elkayam, we will explore this musical trend as an example of how the new Mizrahi music remixes Arab and Jewish cultures, subverting national boundaries.

Yuval Evri is an Assistant Professor of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies and Marash and Ocuin Chair in Ottoman, Mizrahi, and Sephardic Jewish Studies at Brandeis University and a faculty member at the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies. He is a cultural historian specializing in Sephardi/Mizrahi modern history and culture, particularly interested in Eretz Israel/ Israel during the first half of the 20th century. His research sits at the intersection of Jewish history, cultural studies, and Middle Eastern studies. By focusing on the Mizrahi perspective, his research engages with the history of Israel through the lenses of the contact zones and borderlands. It transcends the national perspective based on binary divisions between languages, identities, territories, and traditions. His recent book, titled The Return to Al-Andalus: Disputes Over Sephardic Culture and Identity Between Arabic and Hebrew, was published by Magnes Press in ain2020.