“Don't cry, it doesn't belong to us”; critical thoughts on commemoration as a means of inclusion: Mizrahi Jews and Holocaust memory in Israel

Abstract

AbstractEfforts to incorporate the collective memories of minority communities into national memory narratives are viewed as an integral part of efforts to revive democracy, while contributing to social integration and equality. In this context, the inclusion of minority histories is increasingly being mandated by law and policy in many countries. Recently, Israel passed memory laws that set out to include the previously excluded history of its North African minority communities into the larger Israeli national memory narrative of the Holocaust. In this essay, we ask whether, and in what ways, this change in the national memory narrative has quelled feelings of alienation experienced by members of these minorities and increased feelings of national belonging. Based on group interviews conducted with members of Jewish North African communities in Israel, we demonstrate that feelings of exclusion from the national remembrance narrative linger, despite the efforts of the State.