In Bratislava, Maya Yavin presented the work of the Israeli organization Zochrot, which for decades has been documenting the history of ethnic cleansing in Palestine, the erasure of the Palestinian presence, and its replacement with Zionist constructs—both physical and in myths and memory.
Zochrot advocates for the return of Palestinian refugees to the homes from which they were forcibly expelled by Zionist terrorist squads or, later, by Israeli authorities. The organization arranges educational tours led by Palestinian guides to places that Israel has destroyed, erased, or covered up—places that were once home and can be home again.
The images from Maya’s presentation show the example of the village of al-Manshiya:
> in 1935, a thriving Palestinian village,
> in 1948, bombed by the Zionists (The photograph is not coincidentally reminiscent of today’s images from Gaza or southern Lebanon),
> the village was subsequently razed to the ground, and today, on the grassy plain, stands the Irgun Museum (Beit Ecel), where the brutal ethnic cleansing of Palestine is presented as a success.
Zochrot advocates for the need to unlearn colonial propaganda, which it is vital to replace with an understanding of reality. Through its educational activities, Zochrot focuses primarily on Israeli men and women, but in a parallel process…
Zochrot’s educational activities are primarily aimed at Israeli men and women, but through a parallel process of unlearning, we too—as part of the international solidarity movement—can contribute to the decolonization of Palestine. As the director of Zochrot, Maya urges us to convey to Jewish Israelis the message that racism and violence disqualify them from participating in the international arena.
Thank you to everyone who came yesterday and joined the discussion.
