Language As a Human Right: The Ideology of Eastern European Zionists in the Early Twentieth Century (Essay‪)‬

THE IDEOLOGY OF LANGUAGE AS A NATIONAL RIGHT A recent study of "The Languages of Jerusalem" recounts the following intriguing anecdote. A Jew who taught Arabic in an Israeli public school frequented a grocery shop run by Arabs. Once, seeking to engage the owner in conversation, she began speaking Arabic. The Arab grew indignant and shouted at her, "Don't you use my language. When you speak to me, stick to your own language." (1) The teacher's well intentioned attempt to affirm solidarity with her Arab neighbors failed because she insufficiently recognized the political dimension of a cultural heritage. What may appear to one person as an appreciation of a foreign culture appears to another as an imperialistic appropriation of one's culture by an aggressive intruder. The use of Hebrew and Arabic in this story entails more than communication of ideas; that usage expresses both distinctive cultural traditions and their political manifestations.