Language of Propaganda: The Histadrut, Hebrew Labor, and the Palestinian Worker

This article examines the terminology used in the Hebrew Labor picketing campaign of the 1920s and 1930s. It considers the framework within which the Histadrut conceived its efforts—using metaphors of war, religion, morality, and medicine and illness—and surveys the terms used to describe the Palestinian worker. Finally, the language of Hebrew Labor opponents—grove owners and parties to the left of the mainstream Labor Zionists—is examined in the context of rebuttals to Histadrut claims and charges.

STEVEN A. GLAZER is associate professor of history at Graceland University in Lamoni, Iowa. The research upon which this article is based was assisted by a grant from the American Council of Learned Societies and the Social Science Research Council and by a grant from the United States Department of Education Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Program. Their support is gratefully acknowledged.