Some six months ago, 54 Israeli and Palestinian students received a series of photos and were asked to describe them and jot down their impressions and the feelings stirred by them in two stages – before seeing the caption explaining them and then afterwards.
One of the photographs shows 10 men, their faces to a wall with their hands raised.
From the book, “Zoom In, Palestinian Refugees of 1948, Remembrances.
“I think they are Palestinian prisoners/terrorists who were caught by the army before embarking on an operation or preparing for one,” wrote a 23-year-old female student from Israel.
“The picture arouses sadness… [and is reminiscent of] the time of the Holocaust when the Jews were in the same position and the Nazis shot them one after another,” she continued.
“Perhaps they are not Arab terrorists, but it’s the massacre at Sabra and Chatila… Alongside the sadness I cannot completely identify with them. Perhaps they are planning to do something bad or even worse, planning to kill or murder Jews who are my friends, acquaintances and family.”
When the same student then discovered that the men facing the wall were members of the pre-state Palmach underground who had been apprehended by the British authorities at the time, she wrote: “The contradiction is striking. I perhaps associate the Palmach with heroism. This is my reality a… >>>
