Two irreconcilable stories | The Press

For Israelis, it is the “war of independence”. In 1948, they fought for their existence, convinced that Arab armies from neighboring countries were seeking to exterminate them. After the Holocaust in Europe, they fought for a state of their own, safe from hatred and danger, in the land of their ancestors.

For the Palestinians, it is the Nakba. The Catastrophe, in Arabic. This land had been theirs for a long time. The Nakba is 750,000 men, women and children thrown onto the roads of exile. It is the destruction of 418 villages, the eradication of all traces of Arab life in these territories. This is the original Palestinian tragedy.

It is indeed the same war, which the two peoples have engraved in their collective memories in completely different ways. For this conflict as for the rest, Israelis and Palestinians tell two parallel stories, two national narratives constructed in reaction to each other, without ever touching.

Without listening to each other either, or very little.

Therein lies the whole point ofHistory of the other, a unique little book coming out these days in Quebec (Éditions Liana Levi). The work compares the Israeli and Palestinian versions of three historical events: the Balfour Declaration of 1917, the war of 1948 and the first Intifada of 1987.

In the pages on the left, the Israeli version: the first Jewish immigrants are pioneers, the fedayeen opposed to the Jewish state are saboteurs and the Nakba is barely mentioned. On the right-hand pages, the Palestinian version: the first Jewish immigrants were invaders, the fedayeen were resistance fighters and the Shoah was largely ignored.

First published 20 years ago on the initiative of the Peace Research Institute in the Middle East, History of the other is the work of a dozen Israeli and Palestinian teachers. “They came together during the second Intifada, in 2002 and 2003,” says David Chemla, founding member of the Peace Now movement. “There were attacks in Jerusalem. It was not easy for Palestinians and Israelis to meet. »

First written in Arabic and Hebrew, the work was never included in the curricula of the Israeli and Palestinian education ministries, but was often used by teachers in schools in the Middle East.

Hence the usefulness of the book, submits the Franco-Israeli peace activist, who signs the preface. “It is important to allow a student to see how the other perceives events, because if he does not understand his story, he will have difficulty understanding his claims and giving them a certain legitimacy. If he perceives him as an enemy, by denying his identity, it will subsequently be much more difficult to initiate a political approach which will allow a resolution of the conflict. »

This is the objective – ambitious, it goes without saying – of this little work: to understand each other better in order, one day perhaps, to make peace.

Peace in the Middle East has rarely been as far away as in these dark days. The war in Gaza did not, however, prevent Liana Levi from republishing theHistory of the other. In fact, it was precisely this conflict that pushed the French publisher to do so. The first edition of the work was also launched during a difficult period in Israeli-Palestinian history, recalls David Chemla. “For me, this book is a tool for understanding others. […] There are so many people who don’t know the reality. »

This applies to Israeli and Palestinian students. This also applies to the rest of the world.

In the current explosive context, ignorance of the history of the Middle East can ruin careers. We saw this again recently in British Columbia, when the Minister of Higher Education, Selina Robinson, had to resign for having affirmed that before the creation of the State of Israel, in 1948, there were no There was only a “crappy piece of land” there.

Ignorance of history – and geography – also leads too many well-meaning protesters to chant “ Palestine, from the river to the sea » without really knowing what they are talking about, laments David Chemla.

The history of the war raging in Gaza is obviously not yet written. One day, it may have been found in a history textbook written by several hands. We can already imagine that the Israeli version will recall the atrocities of October 7, Hamas refusing to release its hostages, the need to eliminate an enemy having promised to eradicate Israel.

The Palestinian version will recall the deadly strikes on Gaza, the desperate flight of civilians, the humanitarian crisis sowing desolation in its wake. The title of this absolutely catastrophic chapter will perhaps be: the second Nakba.

Once again, the two stories will be irreconcilable. “Such is the drama of this common history,” writes David Chemla in his preface. Each person only perceives their own vision which is exclusive of that of the other. I don’t know if, one day, it will be possible to reconcile memories. I don’t even know if it’s necessary. I don’t believe that we can agree on the past, but I believe that we must give ourselves the tools to build a future together, or at least side by side. »

History of the other

Collective, with preface by David Chemla

Liana Levi Editions

176 pages