The irreconcilability of Palestinian and Israeli histories and the inevitability of a joint vision for the future

Abstract

The Israeli/Palestinian conflict is expressed and reproduced through conflicting historical narratives. Both Israeli and Palestinian official histories tend to negate the presence of the "other" and his history. The lack of middle ground between these historiographies is worrying and tends to promote human rights abuses. Measures such as suicide bombings or the Separation Wall can be seen as examples of historiographies in the making. The development of Israeli and Palestinian historiographies and history-producing institutions is outlined and it is shown how they have tended to interpret the same events in opposed ways. Attempts by Israeli and Palestinian academics, particularly the New Israeli Historians, to find the middle ground between these opposed historiographies are reviewed and evaluated. The changes that need to be made to promote narrative convergence are discussed.