What is "zochrot"

Zochrot ( Hebrew: ; "Remembering". Arabic: ; "Memories") is an Israeli non-profit organization founded in 2002. Based in Tel Aviv, its aim is to promote awareness of the Palestinian Nakba ("Catastrophe"), the 1948 Palestinian exodus. The group's director is Eitan Bronstein. Its slogan is "To commemorate, witness, acknowledge, and repair."

Zochrot organizes tours of Israeli towns, which include taking displaced Palestinians back to the areas they fled or were expelled from in 1948 and afterwards. The group erects street signs giving the Palestinian history of the street or area they are in. Zochrot sees this as causing "disorder in space," raising questions about naming and belonging. A key aim is to "Hebrewise the Nakba" by creating a space for it in the public discourse of Israeli Jews.

The word "Zochrot" uses the feminine plural form of the Hebrew verb "to remember," whereas it is customary in Hebrew to use the masculine form when referring to a group of people. The feminine form was chosen to signal Zochrot's approach toward the Nakba, which the group says challenges what it sees as the masculine historical narrative by focusing on compassion and inclusion.