Return to Haifa and the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict: A Legacy of Memory and Resistance

Abstract

This study analyzes the legacies of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict through the lens of memory, trauma, and resistance. It argues that the real fight is not just over land but over whose memory survives and whose history gets told. In contrast to the approaches that privilege armed struggle or political negotiations, the paper argues that Kanafani produces memory as a site of colonial contestation and a modality of existential resistance. The character of Khaldun, a Palestinian raised as an Israeli soldier, signifies the internalization of Zionist ideology with its consequential dismissal of Palestinian identity. In departing from a binary national conflict model, the text provides a new examination of the intertwined fate and shared humanity of Palestinians and Jews. Utilizing frameworks from postcolonial studies, resistance literature, and trauma theory, the study looks at Kanafani's forceful indictment of colonialism, representation of Palestinian identity within inexpressibly difficult circumstances, and representation of ongoing searches for justice, belonging, and restoring Palestinian history and memory. Ultimately, this study values human freedom as a universal cause and calls to preserve Palestinian history against erasure. It reconceptualizes resistance –not just in military or political action, but in psychological struggle, narrative, and an absolute claim to exist.

Alternate abstract:

Este estudio analiza los legados del conflicto palestino-israelí a través de la lente de la memoria, el trauma y la resistencia. Sostiene que la verdadera lucha no es solo por la tierra, sino por la supervivencia de la memoria de quién y la narración de la historia de quién. A diferencia de los enfoques que privilegian la lucha armada o las negociaciones políticas, el artículo argumenta que Kanafani produce la memoria como un sitio de contención colonial y una modalidad de resistencia existencial. El personaje de Khaldun, un palestino criado como soldado israelí, significa la internalización de la ideología sionista con su consecuente desestimación de la identidad palestina. Al apartarse de un modelo de conflicto nacional binario, el texto ofrece un nuevo examen del destino entrelazado y la humanidad compartida de palestinos y judíos. Utilizando marcos de los estudios poscoloniales, la literatura de resistencia y la teoría del trauma, el estudio analiza la contundente denuncia de Kanafani al colonialismo, la representación de la identidad palestina en circunstancias inexpresablemente difíciles y la representación de la búsqueda continua de justicia, pertenencia y restauración de la historia y la memoria palestinas. En última instancia, este estudio valora la libertad humana como una causa universal y hace un llamado a preservar la historia palestina contra el borrado. Reconceptualiza la resistencia no solo en la acción militar o política, sino en la lucha psicológica, la narrativa y una afirmación absoluta de existir.

Alternate abstract:

ABSTRACT: This study analyzes the legacies of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict through the lens of memory, trauma, and resistance. It argues that the real fight is not just over land but over whose memory survives and whose history gets told. In contrast to the approaches that privilege armed struggle or political negotiations, the paper argues that Kanafani produces memory as a site of colonial contestation and a modality of existential resistance. The character of Khaldun, a Palestinian raised as an Israeli soldier, signifies the internalization of Zionist ideology with its consequential dismissal of Palestinian identity. In departing from a binary national conflict model, the text provides a new examination of the intertwined fate and shared humanity of Palestinians and Jews. Utilizing frameworks from postcolonial studies, resistance literature, and trauma theory, the study looks at Kanafani’s forceful indictment of colonialism, representation of Palestinian identity within inexpressibly difficult circumstances, and representation of ongoing searches for justice, belonging, and restoring Palestinian history and memory. Ultimately, this study values human freedom as a universal cause and calls to preserve Palestinian history against erasure. It reconceptualizes resistance—not just in military or political action, but in psychological struggle, narrative, and an absolute claim to exist.

Alternate abstract:

ABSTRACT: This study analyzes the legacies of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict through the lens of memory, trauma, and resistance. It argues that the real fight is not just over land but over whose memory survives and whose history gets told. In contrast to the approaches that privilege armed struggle or political negotiations, the paper argues that Kanafani produces memory as a site of colonial contestation and a modality of existential resistance. The character of Khaldun, a Palestinian raised as an Israeli soldier, signifies the internalization of Zionist ideology with its consequential dismissal of Palestinian identity. In departing from a binary national conflict model, the text provides a new examination of the intertwined fate and shared humanity of Palestinians and Jews. Utilizing frameworks from postcolonial studies, resistance literature, and trauma theory, the study looks at Kanafani’s forceful indictment of colonialism, representation of Palestinian identity within inexpressibly difficult circumstances, and representation of ongoing searches for justice, belonging, and restoring Palestinian history and memory. Ultimately, this study values human freedom as a universal cause and calls to preserve Palestinian history against erasure. It reconceptualizes resistance—not just in military or political action, but in psychological struggle, narrative, and an absolute claim to exist.