Zochrot is a grassroots organization working within the Israeli society. It was founded in 2002 with a mission to raise the awareness about the Nakba and its ongoing effects, and to advocate for the right of return of the Palestinian refugees. Acknowledgment of the past is a crucial step towards taking responsibility and will contribute to a viable and peaceful resolution of the conflict, which must include a just solution for the Palestinian refugees. 

 

The 1948 war led to the creation of the State of Israel and turned 750,000 Palestinians into refugees – this is the Nakba, “catastrophe” in Arabic. While Israel recently celebrated its 71st anniversary, the Palestinians still do not have their state. More than half of them have remained refugees, today numbering about 5 million, one third of which lives in refugee camps under the Israeli occupation and in the neighboring countries. 

 

For Jewish Israelis, this catastrophe, caused by the creation of an independent Jewish state, is largely unknown or denied. For decades, the Israeli establishment has been making a deliberate effort to erase all traces of Palestinian life from before 1948 and to conceal the history of the Nakba from the Israeli public discourse, education system, language and culture. 

 

Nevertheless, Israeli historians, writers, filmmakers, and artists have dared to raise critical voices regarding the official Israeli narrative, and some have pointed to the Israeli responsibility for the catastrophe. There have also been many Israeli human rights and peace NGOs, who bravely and tirelessly fight against the Israeli occupation. However, there has hardly been any public debate at all about the Palestinian refugees' right of return or even about their ongoing plight. On the other hand, for the Palestinians the Nakba and the right of return are the most essential issues, and without addressing them there will never be a just and peaceful solution to the conflict.

For more info about Zochrot:

 

www.zochrot.org