Efrat Ben-Ze’ev
Biographic Data
| ID | 2907430 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Efrat Ben-Ze’ev |
| GIVEN NAMES | Efrat |
| FAMILY NAME | Ben-Ze’ev |
| SIGNATURE | BEN-ZE’EV E |
| AFFILIATIONS | Ruppin Academic Center |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-4749-7654 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 15 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 36 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 14 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1996 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Ghosts of the 1948 Palestine-Israel War
This article examines the enduring impact of the 1948 Palestine-Israel War through the conceptual lenses of hauntology and intergenerational transmission. It focuses on the legacy of Netiva Ben-Yehuda, a Palmach veteran who challenged the prevailing Zionist myth of purity of arms by documenting her participation in war atrocities. While the state-sanctioned narrative celebrated the war as a semi-mythical resurrection, Ben-Yehuda’s public testimon…
The intergenerational hero
In the present era of fragmentation and instability, there is an urge to recreate “islands of solidarity,” sometimes by establishing what we define as “intergenerational heroes.” They are expected to carry a bonding memory, interpreting the past in light of present challenges and future dreams. The media fashions the role of these heroes following their death. By examining the reportage of Haim Guri, a prominent Israeli poet, we decode the charac…
The Fickle Zone
This article is about the intrinsic inconsistency of human actions and relations near the Egyptian-Israeli border. We consider the border and its vicinity at a time of change, when asylum seekers were crossing into Israel in growing numbers (2006–2012) and then when a fence was being built in response (2012–2014). We are basing our findings on an ethnographic study conducted between 2012 and 2018, in which we explored how different border populat…
Remaking generational memory
Members of generations who participated in seminal national events tend to be identified as ‘canonical’ and become a model for proper behaviour; they are important carriers of memory. However, their privileged status is not guaranteed for long and their position will, at some point, be challenged. It is this dynamic, whereby a generational unit is canonised and then de-canonised, that we explore in this paper. We follow this process as it is mani…
The shahid as a Palestinian icon
This study examines the meanings young Palestinians attribute to the shahīd as an icon. Our analysis is based on anthropological fieldwork carried out in the Occupied Palestinian Territories of the West Bank (from now on WB-OPT) between 2007 and 2008, with a follow-up in 2017. We begin our article by considering the shahīd against the backdrop of previous Palestinian icons, such as the sāmid and the child of the stone. We then show how the shahīd…
Juggling Logics on the Egyptian-Israeli Borderland
The following article investigates two interconnected border logics-securitization and humanitarianism-as they unfold as part of soldiers' border experiences. We wish to show the alternating implementation of these two logics and to elaborate on how are they bound together. Our ethnographic fieldwork was conducted between 2012 and 2014 along a section of the Israeli-Egyptian border, consisting of observations, as well as off-site interviews with …
Palestine, Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank
The Palestinian–Israeli Conflict is perceived by many – observers and parties to the conflict alike – as a struggle of two peoples over the same land. Yet, through this century-long conflict (and more so as Israel has expanded and deepened its occupation), what was once, perhaps, imagined as a single land has become an assortment of territories. These territories bear multiple names and different legal statuses, and their boundaries are often blu…
Blurring the Geo-Body
This article explores how geographical forms of Israel/Palestine are represented in maps sketched by high school students. The results show that they are significantly different from the geopolitical map, demonstrating the unique ways through which these students think about the national territory. The paper probes two sources that feed into the country's geographical image: its ongoing politics of treating boundaries as potential frontiers, and …
Hidden Scripts
Nathan Alterman's poem “Don't You Give Them Guns” echoed European post–World War I anti-war literature. Curiously, the poem turned into a key text in a ritual instituted by members of the elite Jewish underground fighting force, the Palmach, which was established during World War II. This article is an attempt to understand how a pacifist poem came to be used by Jewish-Israeli soldiers at the heart of the 1948 War of Independence. In terms of the…
Remembering Palestine in 1948
The war of 1948 in Palestine is a conflict whose history has been written primarily from the national point of view. This book asks what happens when narratives of war arise out of personal stories of those who were involved, stories that are still unfolding. Efrat Ben-Ze'ev examines the memories of those who participated and were affected by the events of 1948, and how these events have been mythologized over time. This is a three-way conversati…
Shadows of War
The Canonical Generation
This article develops the concept of the 'canonical generation' - a generational unit that identifies itself and is identified with the national canon. By highlighting this concept we explore the inter-relations between national and biographical memories. We illustrate how generations are distinguishable in terms of the freedom they have to express their critical and personal voices. Our analysis is based on a comparison of two sets of Jewish-Isr…
Middle-Ground” Politics and the Re-Palestinization of Places in Israel
This article aims to explore the development of what we define as “middle-ground” politics among the Palestinians in Israel. By middle ground, we mean the linkage between Palestine as an abstract notion and the concrete daily concerns of the Palestinians. The activities at demolished Palestinian villages and towns are one of the most salient manifestations of this middle ground. We argue that these activities create a new sense of group identity …
The Palestinian village of Ijzim during the 1948 war
In the summer of 1948, following over six months of clashes, the Palestinian village of Ijzim was captured by Israeli troops and its inhabitants were uprooted and dispersed throughout the Middle East. Ijzim was one of roughly 400 Palestinian villages and towns that were depopulated during the 1948 war in Palestine. The combination of information gathered from Israeli army documents and the refugees' oral accounts, collected in Israel, Jordan and …
Imposing Politics
Middle-Ground” Politics and the Re-Palestinization of Places in Israel
This article aims to explore the development of what we define as “middle-ground” politics among the Palestinians in Israel. By middle ground, we mean the linkage between Palestine as an abstract notion and the concrete daily concerns of the Palestinians. The activities at demolished Palestinian villages and towns are one of the most salient manifestations of this middle ground. We argue that these activities create a new sense of group identity …
Blurring the Geo-Body
This article explores how geographical forms of Israel/Palestine are represented in maps sketched by high school students. The results show that they are significantly different from the geopolitical map, demonstrating the unique ways through which these students think about the national territory. The paper probes two sources that feed into the country's geographical image: its ongoing politics of treating boundaries as potential frontiers, and …
The Canonical Generation
This article develops the concept of the 'canonical generation' - a generational unit that identifies itself and is identified with the national canon. By highlighting this concept we explore the inter-relations between national and biographical memories. We illustrate how generations are distinguishable in terms of the freedom they have to express their critical and personal voices. Our analysis is based on a comparison of two sets of Jewish-Isr…
The Palestinian village of Ijzim during the 1948 war
In the summer of 1948, following over six months of clashes, the Palestinian village of Ijzim was captured by Israeli troops and its inhabitants were uprooted and dispersed throughout the Middle East. Ijzim was one of roughly 400 Palestinian villages and towns that were depopulated during the 1948 war in Palestine. The combination of information gathered from Israeli army documents and the refugees' oral accounts, collected in Israel, Jordan and …
Imposing Politics
The Fickle Zone
This article is about the intrinsic inconsistency of human actions and relations near the Egyptian-Israeli border. We consider the border and its vicinity at a time of change, when asylum seekers were crossing into Israel in growing numbers (2006–2012) and then when a fence was being built in response (2012–2014). We are basing our findings on an ethnographic study conducted between 2012 and 2018, in which we explored how different border populat…
Juggling Logics on the Egyptian-Israeli Borderland
The following article investigates two interconnected border logics-securitization and humanitarianism-as they unfold as part of soldiers' border experiences. We wish to show the alternating implementation of these two logics and to elaborate on how are they bound together. Our ethnographic fieldwork was conducted between 2012 and 2014 along a section of the Israeli-Egyptian border, consisting of observations, as well as off-site interviews with …
Palestine, Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank
The Palestinian–Israeli Conflict is perceived by many – observers and parties to the conflict alike – as a struggle of two peoples over the same land. Yet, through this century-long conflict (and more so as Israel has expanded and deepened its occupation), what was once, perhaps, imagined as a single land has become an assortment of territories. These territories bear multiple names and different legal statuses, and their boundaries are often blu…
Remaking generational memory
Members of generations who participated in seminal national events tend to be identified as ‘canonical’ and become a model for proper behaviour; they are important carriers of memory. However, their privileged status is not guaranteed for long and their position will, at some point, be challenged. It is this dynamic, whereby a generational unit is canonised and then de-canonised, that we explore in this paper. We follow this process as it is mani…
The shahid as a Palestinian icon
This study examines the meanings young Palestinians attribute to the shahīd as an icon. Our analysis is based on anthropological fieldwork carried out in the Occupied Palestinian Territories of the West Bank (from now on WB-OPT) between 2007 and 2008, with a follow-up in 2017. We begin our article by considering the shahīd against the backdrop of previous Palestinian icons, such as the sāmid and the child of the stone. We then show how the shahīd…
Imposing Politics
The Palestinian village of Ijzim during the 1948 war
In the summer of 1948, following over six months of clashes, the Palestinian village of Ijzim was captured by Israeli troops and its inhabitants were uprooted and dispersed throughout the Middle East. Ijzim was one of roughly 400 Palestinian villages and towns that were depopulated during the 1948 war in Palestine. The combination of information gathered from Israeli army documents and the refugees' oral accounts, collected in Israel, Jordan and …
Middle-Ground” Politics and the Re-Palestinization of Places in Israel
This article aims to explore the development of what we define as “middle-ground” politics among the Palestinians in Israel. By middle ground, we mean the linkage between Palestine as an abstract notion and the concrete daily concerns of the Palestinians. The activities at demolished Palestinian villages and towns are one of the most salient manifestations of this middle ground. We argue that these activities create a new sense of group identity …
The Canonical Generation
This article develops the concept of the 'canonical generation' - a generational unit that identifies itself and is identified with the national canon. By highlighting this concept we explore the inter-relations between national and biographical memories. We illustrate how generations are distinguishable in terms of the freedom they have to express their critical and personal voices. Our analysis is based on a comparison of two sets of Jewish-Isr…
Shadows of War
Remembering Palestine in 1948
The war of 1948 in Palestine is a conflict whose history has been written primarily from the national point of view. This book asks what happens when narratives of war arise out of personal stories of those who were involved, stories that are still unfolding. Efrat Ben-Ze'ev examines the memories of those who participated and were affected by the events of 1948, and how these events have been mythologized over time. This is a three-way conversati…
Hidden Scripts
Nathan Alterman's poem “Don't You Give Them Guns” echoed European post–World War I anti-war literature. Curiously, the poem turned into a key text in a ritual instituted by members of the elite Jewish underground fighting force, the Palmach, which was established during World War II. This article is an attempt to understand how a pacifist poem came to be used by Jewish-Israeli soldiers at the heart of the 1948 War of Independence. In terms of the…
Blurring the Geo-Body
This article explores how geographical forms of Israel/Palestine are represented in maps sketched by high school students. The results show that they are significantly different from the geopolitical map, demonstrating the unique ways through which these students think about the national territory. The paper probes two sources that feed into the country's geographical image: its ongoing politics of treating boundaries as potential frontiers, and …
Palestine, Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank
The Palestinian–Israeli Conflict is perceived by many – observers and parties to the conflict alike – as a struggle of two peoples over the same land. Yet, through this century-long conflict (and more so as Israel has expanded and deepened its occupation), what was once, perhaps, imagined as a single land has become an assortment of territories. These territories bear multiple names and different legal statuses, and their boundaries are often blu…
Juggling Logics on the Egyptian-Israeli Borderland
The following article investigates two interconnected border logics-securitization and humanitarianism-as they unfold as part of soldiers' border experiences. We wish to show the alternating implementation of these two logics and to elaborate on how are they bound together. Our ethnographic fieldwork was conducted between 2012 and 2014 along a section of the Israeli-Egyptian border, consisting of observations, as well as off-site interviews with …
The shahid as a Palestinian icon
This study examines the meanings young Palestinians attribute to the shahīd as an icon. Our analysis is based on anthropological fieldwork carried out in the Occupied Palestinian Territories of the West Bank (from now on WB-OPT) between 2007 and 2008, with a follow-up in 2017. We begin our article by considering the shahīd against the backdrop of previous Palestinian icons, such as the sāmid and the child of the stone. We then show how the shahīd…
The Fickle Zone
This article is about the intrinsic inconsistency of human actions and relations near the Egyptian-Israeli border. We consider the border and its vicinity at a time of change, when asylum seekers were crossing into Israel in growing numbers (2006–2012) and then when a fence was being built in response (2012–2014). We are basing our findings on an ethnographic study conducted between 2012 and 2018, in which we explored how different border populat…
Remaking generational memory
Members of generations who participated in seminal national events tend to be identified as ‘canonical’ and become a model for proper behaviour; they are important carriers of memory. However, their privileged status is not guaranteed for long and their position will, at some point, be challenged. It is this dynamic, whereby a generational unit is canonised and then de-canonised, that we explore in this paper. We follow this process as it is mani…
The intergenerational hero
In the present era of fragmentation and instability, there is an urge to recreate “islands of solidarity,” sometimes by establishing what we define as “intergenerational heroes.” They are expected to carry a bonding memory, interpreting the past in light of present challenges and future dreams. The media fashions the role of these heroes following their death. By examining the reportage of Haim Guri, a prominent Israeli poet, we decode the charac…
Ghosts of the 1948 Palestine-Israel War
This article examines the enduring impact of the 1948 Palestine-Israel War through the conceptual lenses of hauntology and intergenerational transmission. It focuses on the legacy of Netiva Ben-Yehuda, a Palmach veteran who challenged the prevailing Zionist myth of purity of arms by documenting her participation in war atrocities. While the state-sanctioned narrative celebrated the war as a semi-mythical resurrection, Ben-Yehuda’s public testimon…
Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies (11 works) · Political science (11 works) · Sociology (11 works) · History (10 works) · Law (10 works) · Ancient history (7 works) · History (7 works) · Law (7 works) · Art (6 works) · Politics (6 works)