‘Racism does not have to be spoken, it’s enough they gaze at you’: Mizrachi women in Israel turning the gaze at racialized interventions in welfare and mental health services

Abstract This article examines the lived experiences of Mizrachi (Jews of Arab descent) women in Israel as they navigate racialized welfare and mental health services. Using a critical lens, this study explores how systemic racism manifests in welfare and mental health systems, where the racialized gaze and professional voyeurism function as mechanisms of control, surveilling and shaping Mizrachi women’s access to care. Drawing on hooks’ (1999) concept of the oppositional gaze and Sartre’s (1956) theory of the gaze, the study highlights how Mizrachi women oppose being objectified and marginalized. Additionally, Althusser’s (1971) interpellation framework informs the analysis of how these women are hailed into positions of precarity and disposability. Through qualitative interviews with twenty-seven participants, the article identifies five strategies of survival and resistance, from compliance with white norms to direct confrontation with systemic racism. These strategies expose the psychological toll of navigating systems that dehumanize while also revealing acts of agency and defiance. The findings critique race-based interventions, calling for a reimagining of welfare and mental health services to dismantle entrenched racial hierarchies and address inequities.