Hegemony inside and out: Nathan Alterman and the Israeli Arabs

This article examines the political protest expressed by Nathan Alterman over the years in poems published in the newspapers. It argues that this criticism identifies with the hegemonic political values rather than articulate alternative ones, in an attempt to nurture self-criticism on the part of the government regarding its failures and mistakes. This type of criticism seeks to preserve the reigning hegemony from within and to ensure that it projects an image of moral rectitude.