Zochrot
Zochrot is an Israeli nonprofit that promotes public awareness of the Nakba and advocates recognition of Palestinian displacement and the right of return.
Last updated August 26, 2026
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Overview
Zochrot is an Israeli nonprofit organization established in 2002 to bring the Nakba—the Palestinian displacement, expulsion and flight associated with the creation of Israel in 1948—into Israeli public discussion. Its name is the feminine-plural form of the Hebrew verb meaning “remembering.” The organization has explained that this grammatical choice is deliberate: it challenges what it regards as a predominantly masculine national historical narrative and emphasizes memory, empathy and inclusion. Based in Tel Aviv, Zochrot works primarily through public education, commemorative activity, research, publications, guided visits and digital tools. A central feature of its work is the organization of tours to Israeli towns and other sites connected with Palestinian villages and communities depopulated during and after the 1948 war. These activities may include bringing displaced Palestinians and their descendants to locations from which their families fled or were expelled, presenting testimony and historical documentation, and placing temporary or permanent signs that describe the Palestinian history of a street, locality or landscape. Zochrot characterizes such interventions as creating “disorder in space”: they question official place names and invite debate about ownership, belonging and the layers of history represented in Israeli geography. The organization’s stated political and educational objective is sometimes described as “Hebraizing the Nakba,” meaning the creation of a Hebrew-language and Jewish-Israeli public space in which the Nakba can be discussed openly. Its slogan, “From Nakba to Return,” connects historical recognition with support for the Palestinian right of return. As a result, Zochrot operates at the intersection of historical education, human-rights advocacy, memory politics and grassroots activism rather than as a conventional commercial brand. Zochrot has also developed publications and cultural projects. Its magazine Sedek, whose name refers to a rupture or rift, has examined the cultural and historical dimensions of 1948 and its aftermath. A 2010 issue included more than 40 poems by Israeli poets published between 1948 and 1958, presenting literary responses to Palestinian displacement during the period surrounding Israel’s establishment. In 2012, Zochrot worked with Pardes Publications on Once Upon a Land, a bilingual Hebrew-Arabic guide presenting tours of 18 localities, many associated with Palestinian villages depopulated in 1948. The guide was intended to help Jewish Israelis encounter the histories of the places in which they live and to consider relationships between present-day communities and their original inhabitants. In 2014, Zochrot introduced iNakba, a GPS-based mobile application that enabled users to locate and learn about Palestinian villages destroyed or depopulated during and after the Nakba. The application was subsequently renamed iReturn. Its purpose is to use digital mapping and historical information to make what Zochrot describes as a suppressed history and hidden landscape more visible. Zochrot is funded through grants and donations from international church, humanitarian, human-rights and philanthropic organizations. Its published reports have named contributors including Misereor, HEKS-EPER, Oxfam-related organizations, ICCO, Broederlijk Delen, Medico International, the Mennonite Central Committee and other European or international partners. The organization has also faced funding controversy: in 2012, the German Foundation Remembrance, Responsibility and Future stated that it would stop supporting Zochrot because of the organization’s position on the Palestinian right of return. Zochrot remains a contested organization in Israel because its activities directly challenge dominant accounts of the country’s founding and advocate a political outcome opposed by many Israeli institutions and constituencies.
History
Zochrot was founded in Israel in 2002 by Eitan Bronstein and Norma Musih. The organization emerged from a desire to make the Nakba part of Jewish-Israeli public discourse. In Zochrot’s usage, the Nakba encompasses the displacement, expulsion and flight of Palestinians during and after the 1948 war, as well as the destruction or depopulation of numerous Palestinian communities. Rather than treating these events as a subject external to Israeli history, Zochrot presents them as an essential part of understanding the country’s geography, institutions and collective memory. The organization’s Hebrew name uses the feminine plural form of “remembering.” Zochrot has associated this choice with an alternative approach to historical narration: one that rejects a solely heroic or militarized national story and gives greater space to compassion, testimony and the experiences of displaced people. Its slogan, “From Nakba to Return,” expresses the connection it draws between acknowledgment of the past and support for the Palestinian right of return. A major part of Zochrot’s activity consists of tours and public-history interventions. The group organizes visits to present-day Israeli towns and to sites of former Palestinian villages. Participants may include Israeli Jews, Palestinians who were displaced from the locations, descendants of refugees, researchers and international visitors. Tours commonly use oral testimony, maps, archival material and explanations of changes in settlement, land use and place names. Zochrot also installs signs or other markers that describe Palestinian histories of particular streets and areas. The organization views these interventions as a deliberate disturbance of established spatial narratives, since official names and visible landmarks often conceal earlier Palestinian presence. Zochrot has supplemented fieldwork with print and cultural publishing. Its magazine Sedek, translated as “Rift” or “Rupture,” has addressed the political, historical and cultural dimensions of the Nakba. The fourth issue, published in spring 2010, included more than 40 poems by Israeli poets dating from 1948 to 1958. In 2012, Zochrot partnered with Pardes Publications on Once Upon a Land, a bilingual Hebrew-Arabic guide to 18 localities. The guide was designed to encourage Jewish Israelis to examine how contemporary towns and cities were founded and to encounter the histories of Palestinian inhabitants who had lived in those places. Zochrot later expanded its educational work into digital mapping. In 2014 it launched iNakba, a GPS-based mobile application that allowed users to find information about Palestinian villages destroyed or depopulated during and after the Nakba. The tool was subsequently renamed iReturn and continued the organization’s effort to make erased or obscured landscapes accessible through technology. The organization’s funding has come from a range of international nonprofit, church-linked, humanitarian and philanthropic bodies. Reports have identified organizations such as HEKS-EPER, Misereor, Oxfam affiliates, ICCO, Broederlijk Delen, Medico International and the Mennonite Central Committee among supporters. A 2006 report recorded income of 280,000 euros, although this historical figure is not treated here as a current financial measure. Zochrot’s funding has also been politically contentious. In 2012, the German Foundation Remembrance, Responsibility and Future said it would withdraw support because of Zochrot’s advocacy of the Palestinian right of return. A 2022 report identified several other funders, including Misereor, HEKS-EPER, the International Human Rights Law Trust, Kurve Wustrow, the Euro-Mediterranean Foundation of Support to Human Rights Defenders and the Rockefeller Brothers Foundation. Zochrot remains an active and controversial Israeli nonprofit. Its work is not commercial in the conventional sense; its “offerings” are educational programs, publications, tours, commemorative practices and digital resources. The organization’s significance lies in its attempt to alter public memory and spatial understanding in Israel by placing Palestinian displacement, village histories and the question of return at the center of public engagement.
- 2022
Annual report identifies institutional funders
[2]Zochrot’s 2022 report named several funders, including Misereor, HEKS-EPER, the International Human Rights Law Trust, Kurve Wustrow, the Euro-Mediterranean Foundation of Support to Human Rights Defenders and the Rockefeller Brothers Foundation.
- 2014
iNakba application launches
[1]Zochrot launched a GPS-based application for locating and learning about Palestinian villages destroyed or depopulated during and after the Nakba.
- 2012
Once Upon a Land is published
[1]Zochrot and Pardes Publications released a bilingual Hebrew-Arabic guide covering tours of 18 localities associated largely with Palestinian villages depopulated in 1948.
- 2012
EVZ withdraws support
[1]The German Foundation Remembrance, Responsibility and Future announced that it would stop supporting Zochrot because of its advocacy of the Palestinian right of return.
- 2010
Fourth issue of Sedek is published
[1]The fourth issue of Sedek featured more than 40 poems by Israeli poets published between 1948 and 1958, linking literature with the history of Palestinian displacement.
- 2006
Historical funding report records organizational income
[1]Zochrot’s 2006 annual report recorded total income of 280,000 euros and named a number of international institutional contributors.
- 2002
Zochrot is founded
[1]Eitan Bronstein and Norma Musih co-founded Zochrot in Israel to promote public recognition of the Nakba and its place in Israeli public discourse.
Products and positioning
A grassroots Israeli memory, education and advocacy organization focused on public recognition of the Nakba, Palestinian displacement and the right of return.
Digital mapping and education · 2014
iReturn
iReturn is Zochrot’s renamed version of the iNakba mobile application. It uses location-based technology to help users identify Palestinian villages that were destroyed or depopulated during and after the Nakba and access historical information about those sites. The project extends Zochrot’s physical tours and public signs into a digital format, presenting geography as a way to investigate suppressed or obscured histories.
Magazine and cultural publication
Sedek
Sedek is Zochrot’s magazine, whose title refers to rupture or rift. It addresses the historical and cultural dimensions of the Nakba and related questions of memory, identity and displacement. The fourth issue, published in spring 2010, brought together more than 40 poems by Israeli poets from 1948–1958, using literary material to examine responses to Palestinian displacement around the establishment of Israel.
Bilingual tour guide · 2012
Once Upon a Land
Once Upon a Land is a Hebrew-Arabic guidebook produced by Zochrot with Pardes Publications in 2012. It presents tours of 18 localities, many connected with Palestinian villages depopulated in 1948. The publication was designed to help Jewish Israelis examine the histories of the places where they live and consider the relationship between contemporary Israeli settlements and the Palestinian communities that preceded them.
Marketing campaigns
- From Nakba to Return
Israel · International advocacy networks
Zochrot’s principal advocacy framework links recognition of the Nakba with support for the Palestinian right of return. It is expressed through educational events, tours, publications, public memorial practices and digital projects.
Outcome. The campaign has established Zochrot as a prominent Israeli civil-society organization focused on contested historical memory and Palestinian displacement.
- Nakba tours and spatial memory interventions
Israel
Zochrot organizes visits to former Palestinian villages and present-day Israeli localities, sometimes involving displaced Palestinians and descendants. It also uses signs and other markers to describe Palestinian histories that are absent from official place narratives.
Outcome. The activity creates public discussion about naming, belonging, displacement and the historical layers of Israeli towns and landscapes.
Brand decisions
2014
Launch of iNakbaProduct launchBackground
Zochrot sought to complement physical tours and publications with a location-based digital tool documenting Palestinian villages destroyed or depopulated during and after the Nakba.
Action taken
The organization launched iNakba, a GPS-enabled mobile application that provided location and historical information about affected villages.
Aftermath
The application was later renamed iReturn and continued as a digital method for presenting what Zochrot describes as a hidden or suppressed landscape.
2012
Response to withdrawal of EVZ fundingOtherBackground
The Foundation Remembrance, Responsibility and Future determined that Zochrot’s support for the Palestinian right of return was incompatible with continued funding.
Action taken
The foundation announced that it would no longer support Zochrot.
Aftermath
The decision highlighted the political sensitivity of Zochrot’s advocacy and its dependence on a diverse international funding environment.
Recent events
- 2014
Zochrot launches iNakba mobile application[1]
Product launch
Zochrot introduced a GPS-enabled application that allows users to locate Palestinian villages destroyed or depopulated during and after the Nakba and access related historical information. The application was later renamed iReturn.
- 2012
German foundation ends funding for Zochrot[1]
Other
The Foundation Remembrance, Responsibility and Future announced that it would no longer fund Zochrot, citing the organization’s support for the Palestinian right of return.
- 2012
Zochrot and Pardes publish bilingual Nakba tour guide[1]
Product launch
Zochrot and Pardes Publications released Once Upon a Land, a Hebrew-Arabic guide covering tours of 18 localities, largely connected with Palestinian villages depopulated in 1948.
- 2010
Sedek magazine examines literary responses to Palestinian displacement[1]
Other
The fourth issue of Zochrot’s Sedek magazine included more than 40 poems by Israeli poets published between 1948 and 1958 and explored cultural responses to Palestinian displacement.
Sources2 sources
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