The Hebraization of collective memory in Ghassan Kanafani's novel "Returning to Haifa" (A study in the light of cultural criticism)

The Occupying countries resort to erasing the collective memory to solve a particular problem in a geographical area where a language prevails, as is the case in Palestine. Its most important tool is language because it is closely related to collective memory. After the Hebrew language disappeared and died with the Babylonian displacement (567 BC), the Jewish collective memory almost ended; but this language has returned to form a new memory in the period of the British Mandate. However, the linguistic planning is working to create a false memory by deleting the Palestinian memory. The operation to Hebrewize the Palestinian collective memory can be summarized in three cases, first: bringing settlers to Palestine, seizing land and building settlements, second: getting rid of Arabs and destroying their communities, and third: changing the Arab identity of the place/structure, image and interactions.this study, by relying on the descriptive-analytical method and in the light of cultural criticism, attempts to monitor the cases of Hebraicization of collective memory in the novel “Returning to Haifa” to reveal the most important factors that have eroded the Palestinian collective memory. One of the most important findings of our study is that Ghassan Kanafani emphasized the preservation of collective memory and its transmission to future generations and its preservation from loss and extinction.