ABSTRACT
After 1948, many Jewish immigrants from Arab countries—considered the “Oriental Others” of allegedly modern and Western Israeli society—were sent to settle the new frontier to establish Jewish sovereignty over former Palestinian territories. After 1954, the settlement of immigrants attained a more planned character. The Lakhish project, which mainly comprised cooperative agricultural settlements (moshavim), was the most important among the planned settlement schemes. This chapter focuses on the settlers of Lakhish, and particularly on acts of insubordination, resistance, and protest among them in light of the paternalistic and exploitative work relations to which they were subjected. While agricultural planning and the work process organization created a relationship of dependency between the settlers and the state and Zionist institutions, the settlers did not simply submit to the reality forced upon them. The first years of the moshavim saw growing tensions between the settlers and the institutions, partly manifested in strikes, protests, and riots, alongside attempts to appeal to public opinion and the authorities through petitions and letters. These appeals reveal efforts to challenge the system, make its rules more flexible, and improve positions and standards of living in the framework of a struggle to survive under difficult conditions.
