Arab-Jews? Ethnicity, Nationality and Gender in Mandate Tel Aviv

The nature of the connections between Jewish and Arab society in Palestine, during the late Ottoman period and under British Mandate rule, continues to be disputed among scholars.  This paper examines the theoretical and methodological implications of utilizing the categories of Arab-Jews and of gender, to this historiographical polemic. Through analysis of the case study of the connections between Mizrahi Jewish girls and Arab men in Mandate Tel Aviv, this paper argues that interrelations between Mizrahi Jews, and Arabs in Palestine prove the need to employ ethnic and cultural frameworks, as well as gendered perspectives, to the historiographical debate regarding the nature of the connections between Jewish and Arab society prior to 1948.