Material mnemonics and competing narratives in Palestine-Israel

Abstract

Since 1948 the re-designation of depopulated Palestinian villages as national parks has evoked Lippet's 'cartography of nowhere', as ruins and unmarked sites are subsumed in the process of material forgetting. Juxtaposing narratives and material mnemonics, this article assumes the villages of Deir Yassin, Suba, Kufr Bir'im and Iqrit as case studies to determine the extent to which memory infuses ruins with the ability to counter contemporary narratives. The article subsequently explores the use of debris in the sustenance of national memory, and questions how far 'haunting' the land through commemorative tours and in situ story-telling renders the ruins noeuds de mémoire, as opposed to lieux de mémoire. Finally, the transition of the ruins from sites of history to sites of activism is charted through the use of theatre and technology that draw on the past and present as forms of cultural resistance.

Oppressive pines: Uprooting Israeli green colonialism and implanting Palestinian A’wna

“…Israel employs green colonies to Judaise, Europeanise, and dehistoricise Palestine, obliterating Palestinian identity and quelling resistance to Israeli oppression (Abu-Sitta, 2011; Balsam, 2011: 94; Gandolfo, 2017: 196). Notably, it is under the banner of ‘making the desert bloom’ that Israel plants them (Kershnar et al, 2011: 4–5).…”

“…Israel’s genocidal aims are advanced by its dehistoricisation of Palestine – utilising protected areas – manifesting in the erosion of Palestinian identity and resistance to Israeli oppression (Abu-Sitta, 2011; Gandolfo, 2017: 196). Paralleling its cooption of hummus and falafel, Israel’s marginalization of the Arabic language and appropriation of Palestinian-built bustans, within green colonies, threaten to eliminate distinctive societal and environmental contributions, verily the identity of Palestinians (Abu-Sitta, 2011; Kadman, 2010; Pappé, 2006).…”

“…This potential is even more forcefully stifled by the greenwashing of the Nakba and robbing of spaces where powerful and creative forms of resurgence can occur (Gandolfo, 2017;Masalha, 2012). Israelis can contentedly hike and serve in the military, rather than be compelled to acknowledge the colonial history of Israel, their complicity, and say: 'Not in My Name' (Bauman, 2004;Pappé, 2006).…”

“…I will begin by theorising Israeli green colonialism as a Zionist and Western environmental phenomenon (Grove, 1995;McKee, 2016: 156). Next, I will delve into the four major arguments I presented above, before outlining forms of Palestinian, land, and global resistance against this form of aggression (Gandolfo, 2017;Pappé, 2006;Zatoun, n.d.). Drawing on Palestinian history, traditions, perspectives, and knowledge, I will then offer an alternative and more equitable form of environmentalism, while firmly rejecting the racist trope of the ecological savage (Nadasdy, 2005;Simaan, 2017).…”

Demonstrating the desired future: performative dimensions of internally displaced Palestinians’ return activities

“…ARDID's representative explained that though several political leaders have endorsed the rulings, the army and state continues to deny it in a fear that it would set a precedent which would encourage other internally displaced Palestinians to claim similar rights. Since the 1970s, the village has been a locus of political activities, which try to pressure for implementing the made decisions (Gandolfo 2017;Ryan 1973), and the recent action of return is a continuation to this struggle.…”