The Voice as Homeland: Saving Arabness from Exile

This article offers a profound analysis of the fate of Arab Jews, drawing on the work of Massoud Hayoun. The author challenges the simplistic narrative of inevitable exile, pointing to the complex mechanisms of colonial de-Arabization, European anti-Semitism, and Zionism. The text describes the tragic process of double homelessness, in which Arab Jews lost not only their homes but also the right to their own culture and language in the face of the dominant Ashkenazi model. A key element is the concept of the corporeal archive—the preservation of identity through the senses, cuisine, and daily rituals. This is a story about the struggle for the right to be both Jewish and Arab, about preserving memory from systemic erasure, and about language becoming the last homeland for people exiled from their own history.