Body Politics

What does soccer have to do with Zionism? More than you might think.

Today, competitive sports feel like an obvious part of Israeli culture. But when Zionism was taking shape in the early 20th century, sports were anything but obvious. Many Zionists actually preferred gymnastics, believing it would build a healthier, more disciplined—and more ideal—Jew.

So how did competitive sports win out?

In this fascinating episode, Dr Ofer Idels, fellow in Israel Studies at the University of Calgary, takes us back to interwar Palestine, when Jews were debating what kind of bodies, citizens, and society they wanted to create.

Along the way, we discover how sports became entangled with nationalism, Hebrew culture, masculinity, capitalism, the British Empire—and the very idea of what it meant to be a "new Jew."

And here's the intriguing part: Idels argues that even something as seemingly apolitical as sport can reveal the ideology shaping a society.

Read more in his book, Embodying the Revolution: The Hebrew Experience and the Globalization of Modern Sports in Interwar Palestine.