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“What is beautiful about Gaza is that our voices do not reach it. Nothing distracts it; nothing takes its fist away from the enemy’s face. Not the forms of the Palestinian state we will establish whether on the eastern side of the moon, or the western side of Mars when it is explored. Gaza is devoted to rejection… hunger and rejection, thirst and rejection, displacement and rejection, torture and rejection, siege and rejection, death and rejection. Enemies might triumph over Gaza (the storming sea might triumph over an island… they might chop down all its trees). They might break its bones. They might implant tanks on the insides of its children and women. They might throw it into the sea, sand, or blood. But it will not repeat lies and say “Yes” to invaders. It will continue to explode. It is neither death, nor suicide. It is Gaza’s way of declaring that it deserves to live.” (Samt Min Ajl Gaza, Mahmoud Darwish, 1973. Translated by Sinan Antoon from Hayrat al-`A’id / The Returnee’s Perplexity, 2007)

On the day Israel celebrates as its “Day of Independence,” Palestinians commemorate their nakba — catastrophe. To Palestinians, the devastating loss of Palestine in 1948 marks a critical turning point in their collective history. From thriving society to a dispersed “nation of refugees” across multiple borders, their trauma continues to shape their lives.

This lecture explores how Palestinian generations remember and interpret al-Nakba and its ongoing impact. It considers how collective memory fragments in the face of exile, and discusses contemporary debates surrounding conflict heritage, genocide, and analogies with the Holocaust. The goal is to understand how societies can develop cultural narratives that transcend political divisions and incorporate diverse memories within a broader history of victimization and resistance.

About the speaker:
Ihab Saloul is a Professor of Memory and Narrative, founder and Research Director of the Amsterdam School for Heritage, Memory and Material Culture (AHM). He is also a founding editor of Heritage and Memory Studies (Amsterdam University Press) and Palgrave Studies of Cultural Heritage and Conflict (Palgrave Macmillan).

Organized by Tallinn University’s School of Humanities. Moderator: Professor Eneken Laanes