This paper examines the formation of a subversive Mizrahi, or Oriental Jewish, identity within Israel as expressed through social justice protests during the 1950s and 1960s. The discussion is centered on how Mizrahim conceptualized their dual belonging to the East and a supposedly Westernized Israel, despite their marginalized position in both societies. I make use of Israeli police reports and multi-lingual (French, Arabic, and Hebrew) newspapers published and circulated in the ma’abarot, or transit camps, in Israel. I examine the slogans and protest tactics of Mizrahi demonstrations in order to discern their sense of belonging to Israeli society. I contend that these protests were demonstrative of and helped to forge the convergence of a heterogeneous Mizrahi identity. This converged identity was comprised of diverse immigrant communities hailing from imagined Eastern or ‘Oriental’ countries, ranging from Morocco in the West to Afghanistan and India in the East. Prior to 1948, the development of an Arab-Jewish identity was not the explicit goal of most Middle Eastern Jewish communities, it was simply a reality. With the emergence of the conflicting Arab and Jewish nationalist movements, the false binaries of Arab versus Jewish identity, and the mass immigrations of Jews from Africa and Asia to the State of Israel, a heterogeneous community of Mizrahi, or Oriental Jewish, collective identity formed. Due to the lack of scholarly focus on this issue and period, Mizrahi political involvement and thought is either assumed to be non-existent or associated with right-wing reactionary political circles and anti-Arab sentiment. While this talk will place heavy emphasis on grassroots protests, I link these social justice protests to the discourse of Mizrahi intellectuals as expressed in newspapers and cultural magazines catering to the Mizrahi community. Contrary to assumptions in Israeli historiography, immigrants from the Arab World were not embarrassed to make use of their native Arabic language. On the contrary, Arabic continued to flourish as a vibrant language between the immigrant and Palestinian population alike and facilitated fruitful discussions about their parallel struggles against discriminatory practices. This is particularly apparent in the writings of figures like Menashe Za’arur and Gideon Giladi who articulated an anti-colonial stance and encouraged the equal participation of the Palestinian and Mizrahi communities within the political, labor, and social sectors of Israeli society.