ANNOTATED NAKBA LEARNING RESOURCES

  • April 1, 2023

Movies

Tantura

The recent Israeli documentary referred to above is now available on several sites.

1948 Creation and Catastrophe      https://www.1948movie.com

It includes interviews with many Israelis and Palestinians who participated in the 1948 war, many historians including Israeli new historians and Palestinian scholars.

On the Other Side of the Road  https://vimeo.com/117772052

A movie by Lia Tcharansky, a Jewish immigrant from the Soviet Union, who became interested in the Israeli denial of the Nakba.  The movie describes her personal journey wrestling with the reality that exists on “the other side of the road” or that is covered over by trees planted by the Jewish National Fund.   She interviews some Israelis who participated in the 1948 war carrying out expulsions of Palestinians and also a few brave Israelis like Eitan Bronshtein, one of the founders of Zochrot, the only Israeli organization devoted to challenging Nakba Denial.

The Blue Box  Not currently available for streaming.

Another significant recent Israeli documentary on the Nakba by Michal Weitz, the great granddaughter of Yosef Weitz, who was the head of the Jewish National Fund who was also known as “Av Hatransfer,” the father of the idea of “Transfer.”  Weitz was  responsible for buying massive tracts of land and dispossessing Palestinian tenant farmers who lived on the land.  He also directed the massive reforestation of Palestine, facilitated by the donations of Jews worldwide for planting trees in Israel.  The forests hide the remains of many of the destroyed villages that were depopulated in the 1948 war.   Unfortunately,  it is not currently available for streaming.  Check the internet for updates.

Oral Testimonies by Palestinians: Short oral testimonies by Palestinian survivors of the Nakba can be found on the Zochrot website and also on the website of The Institute for Middle East Understanding.

Historical Context  of Israeli Palestinian Conflict. A powerful video about the origins of Israel/Palestine conflict.

BOOKS 

Nur Masalha. Expulsion of The Palestinians: The Concept of “Transfer” in Zionist Political Thought 1882-1948. Institute for Palestine Studies, 1992.

Benny Morris.  The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem 1947-1949 and The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited. Cambridge University Press, 1988.

Ilan Pappe. The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine. A very challenging read especially for Jews, like me, who grew up with the Zionist narrative.  Personally I am deeply moved by his argument that the expulsion of the Palestinians was an organized military action.  Ilan Pappe and Benny Morris are the most prominent and well-known of the Israeli new historians, and they fiercely disagree about whether the Nakba was intentional and planned.  Pappe also recently (2020) published an article with the text of official Israeli documents that were declassified in the 1980s and have been reclassified since.  These official Israeli documents point to the intentionality of the assault on Palestinian villages and  document several massacres and other atrocities.

You can find the article here:  Ilan Pappé “An Indicative Archive: Salvaging Nakba Documents.” Journal of Palestine Studies 1 May 2020; 49 (3): 22–40. It is accessible online here.

Noga Kadman. Erased From Space And Consciousness: Israel And The Depopulated Palestinian Villages Of 1948. Indiana University Press, 2015

As a Jew who grew up as a Zionist and has spent a lot of time in Israel, I found this book by Noga Kadman to be fascinating.  Kadman documents what exists below the surface of the reality of Israel.  She describes the process by which the reality of the Palestinians that lies below the surface–their homes, their land, their names–has been deliberately hidden, and she also reports on how some progressive Israelis have grappled with this reality.

ARTICLES

Walid Khalidi, “Why did the Palestinians Leave, Revisited,” Journal of Palestine Studies 1 January 2005

Walid Khalidi, “The Fall of Haifa Revisited”

Adam Raz, “Classified Docs Reveal Massacres Of Palestinians Leaders” Haaretz, 2021, Accessed 10 July 2022

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Get the latest from Evolve delivered to your inbox.

Related Resources

November 11, 2024
With broken hearts and voices ravaged by tears, we call for the embrace of the value of life over the celebration of death.
November 11, 2024
I didn’t want to face what we are culpable for, nor did I want to acknowledge what we were capable of.
September 29, 2024
What is the prayer that penetrates the body and mind to awaken to the Power that makes for Connection?
September 29, 2024
I feel chastised for even considering expressing my grief experience.
September 29, 2024
Everyone in Palestine or Israel has been touched by the anguish of the war.
September 29, 2024
My visit was spurred by the desire to join with my brothers and sisters — the Jewish people — out of concern for our homeland.

The Reconstructionist Network

Serving as central organization of the Reconstructionist movement

Training the next generation of groundbreaking rabbis

Modeling respectful conversations on pressing Jewish issues

Curating original, Jewish rituals, and convening Jewish creatives

Close-up of olive branches with green olives, sunlight filtering through the leaves creating a warm, golden glow.

Get the latest from Evolve delivered to your inbox.

The Reconstructionist Network