‘I will perpetuate your memory through all generations’1: Institutionalization of collective memory by law in Israel

Abstract

KeywordsIsrael collective memory Israeli law memorialization nation-building heritage Noam Tirosh aNd amiT schejTer Ben-Gurion University of the Negev 'i will perpetuate your memory through all generations' 1 : institutionalization of collective memory by law in israel absTracT If in the past, memory has been understood to be a biological phenomenon relating to the individual and his cognition, today it is clear that memory is a social construction effected by political and cultural processes. This study describes the laws used by the state of Israel in order to form its official memory. It describes how collective memory building is interwoven within the legislation that directs the undertakings of the country's cultural institutions: the educational system, the national symbols, national holidays and memorial days, memory of the Holocaust, preservation of heritage through the erection of museums and physical monuments, commemoration of leaders, and the prevention of certain symbols from entering the public sphere. It demonstrates how the legal apparatus in Israel was mobilized to establish a nationalized collective memory by bridging the 'essential' and 'epochal' elements of nationbuilding and how law can be both a mnemonic practice and an enabler of mnemonic practices. The study of this process provides us with a general lesson on the role of law in collective memory building, with a particular understanding of elements in Israeli nation-building processes.

Dominant News Frames, Society’s Memory, and the African Asylum Seekers’ Protest in Israel

“…However, Israel denies the fact that these are actual refugees. While slowly examining asylum requests and many times rejecting them, Israel grants local asylum seekers a "collective protection," creating a legal limbo in which local asylum seekers are trapped (Tirosh & Schejter, 2015).…”

iNakba, mobile media and society’s memory

“…While these stories are not related to the commemorated battle story, they are all connected to the memorial site’s geographical area—Jezreel Valley—and mention it by name. In other words, the national Israeli memorial in Zir’in aims to commemorate fallen soldiers while, at the same time, is being used for reminding visitors of the strong connection between the current state of Israel and the biblical Israelites, which is one of the most prominent aspects of Israel’s cultural memory (Tirosh & Schejter, 2015).…”

“…While this prevention took many forms, undoubtedly the most violent attempt was the “physical forgetting” (Ram, 2009), which consisted of two elements: the destruction of villages and other remains that “might [have] served as mute monuments to the lives that had taken place in them” (Ram, 2009, p. 376), and the repopulation of Arab property with Jewish residents (Kadman, 2008; Ram, 2009; Sorek, 2015). Physical forgetting is no more an accepted norm in Israel, yet, the memory of the Nakba is still contested (Tirosh & Schejter, 2015). This situation is an example of “repressive erasure” of the past (Connerton, 2008)—the deletion, destruction, and cultural editing of historical knowledge in order to manipulate how it will be remembered in the future.…”

Reconsidering the ‘Right to be Forgotten’ – memory rights and the right to memory in the new media era

“…Abu-Lughod and Sa'di, 2007;Misztal, 2005;Ram, 2009). The de-legitimization of the confederate flag in the United States (Ferguson, 2015), the Canadian report about the 'cultural genocide' of local aboriginals (De Souza, 2015), and the law passed by the Israeli Parliament prohibiting the commemoration of the Palestinian Nakba ('catastrophe') using state funds (Tirosh and Schejter, 2015) are recent prominent examples of the prevalence of memory clashes in contemporary times.…”