The Israeli Memory of the Palestinian Refugee Problem

Abstract

This article explores the way in which seven main Israeli institutions presented between 1949 and 2004 the causes for the main historical event of the Israeli-Arab/Palestinian conflict – the 1948 Palestinian exodus. This is done by analyzing all the publications of three state institutions – the national Information Center, the army (IDF), and the Ministry of Education, and four Israeli-Jewish societal institutions – the research community, 1948 war veterans, NGOs, and newspapers. In addition, the findings of interviews with key people in all these institutions throughout the research period are discussed. Lastly, findings from a 2008 public opinion survey regarding the Israeli-Jewish memory of the exodus are presented. Various theoretical insights regarding collective memory of conflicts are addressed.

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Keywords: Collective memory, autobiographical memory, official memory, cultural memory, 1948 War, Nakba, Palestinian refugee problem