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In 2016 Zochrot continued to expand its scope of activities and we have created more projects than before, reaching diverse publics with diverse activities. Zochrot have developed and implemented intense workshops for focus groups of activists and professionals that have been trained and received tools enabling them to create individual projects on the Nakba and Return. The program aims at recruiting social change agent who will be engaged with Zochrot for a long period and together we initiate and develop outputs in different fields: educational materials, models for return, political games, transitional justice grassroots initiatives, Mizrachi action-research group, testimonies collection, etc. Next to the intimate work with individuals, Zochrot have implemented large scale project that were exposed to hundreds and thousands of people: film festivals, return conferences, public tours, exhibitions, updating online information center and archive, and more. With those efforts, Zochrot have increased its scope of influence, and more and more people possess knowledge and demonstrate active acknowledgment towards the Nakba and its redress.

On the other hand, the past years have been years of escalation in the Israeli public discourse, as the right-wing government initiated legislations that limits freedom of speech and puts limitation on the work of civic society. The government actions have created an atmosphere of fear and threat, and the spaces for civic activity are shrinking. People are reluctant to express their opinion publicly, let alone to join activities, disseminate information, or create works in the scope of project dealing with taboos such as the Nakba and Return.

Zochrot is facing this complex reality, and make sure to continue and provide platforms and spaces for those who are still looking for a fundamental change. The organization keeps updating its program and initiate innovative projects in a variety of methods and fields which are based on truth-seeking and protection of human rights for all people. Those projects create many sub-spaces that nurture and cultivate the human rights and peace camp in our society. Zochrot believes that the escalating discourse from the government actually indicates the crisis of its ideology and the unstable system it creates. Thus, we are certain that our efforts and work are crucial and vital for the creation of the basis for bottom-up change; calling for a fundamental change in priorities, outreaching the entire public.