Israeli Archives and the Palestinians Nakba

Since the 1948 Palestine Nakba and creation of the Palestinian refugee problem the Nakba has been a key site of collective memory and history that connects all Palestinians to the most traumatic event in their modern history. Internationally, however, ever since the Nakba a bitter controversy has raged over its causes and circumstances. The lecture will explore the role and multiple uses of the Israeli archives (with their official documents, “evidence”, “facts”, and sources) in the production, shaping and constraining of historical knowledge about 1948. Situating the production of historical knowledge about 1948 within the wider discourses of “knowledge and power”, the lecture will assess the impact of new narratives and critical methodologies on history writing and power relations in Palestine.