Author: Nets-Zehngut, Rafi

Source: The Middle East Journal, Volume 62, Number 4, Autumn 2008 , pp. 653-670(18)

Publisher: Middle East Institute

Abstract:

From the 1960s to 2003 the Israeli Information Center, the main Israeli institution for disseminating information to the Israeli public, released publications which dealt with the Palestinian refugees of 1948 and the infiltrators of 1949-1956 and disseminated them to the Israeli public. Using content analysis of these publications (consisting of books and booklets) and interviews with the Center's directors and senior staff from 1961 to 2003, this article explores for the first time the way the Center operated, the way its publications described those two issues over the years, and the processes and reasons that generated this description. By and large, the publications consistently adopted the Zionist narrative, including when contradictory scholarly findings were published towards the end of the last century. That is, the responsibility for the refugees' exodus was put exclusively on the Arabs/Palestinians, and the infiltrators were almost always portrayed as motivated by political reasons (e.g., harming Israeli Jews or damaging their property). The findings have general implications for the study of state activity in shaping the collective memory of its citizens, in addition to specific implications for the study of Israel and the Israeli-Arab conflict.

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3751/62.4.15

Publication date: 2008-09-01

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• The Middle East Institute has published The Middle East Journal quarterly since 1947. The Journal provides original and objective research and analysis, as well as source material, on the area from Morocco to Pakistan and including Central Asia. The Journal provides the background necessary for an understanding and appreciation of the region's political and economic development, cultural heritage, ethnic and religious diversity.
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