Eyeing Africa

The Politics of Israeli Ocular Expertise and International Aid, 1959-1973

Bibliographic Data

ID2758205
AuthorsMooreville, Mooreville Mooreville (corresponding author)
Year2016
Volume21
Issue3
Pages31
Publication date2016-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJewish Social Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0021-6704 • E-ISSN: 1527-2028
PublisherIndiana University Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.2979/jewisocistud.21.3.02
OpenAlexW2485549792
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited11

Israel was involved in multiple foreign-aid projects in sub-Saharan Africa in the 1960s as part of its quest to gain political allies and determine its place in the decolonized world. Although the literature has considered agricultural- or military-aid programs as a tool of diplomatic relations, I examine how the long-standing eye-aid program had ambitions beyond the needs of Israeli statecraft. This paper addresses how and why ophthalmology became Israel’s largest medical-aid program and in so doing examines Israel’s claims to be a bridgehead between East and West and its short-lived affiliation with the global South. I investigate the historic and symbolic significance of ocular expertise in Palestine, Africa as an extraterritorial site of clinical and research pioneering, and one physician’s use of diplomatic policies to provide a solution to a global medical problem

Ancient history · Palestine · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Health and Conflict Studies · History · History of Medicine Studies · Law · Medical History and Research

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