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Zochrot faces a challenging political and social context in maintaining strong advocacy for increasing discussion of the nakba in public discourse and for the right of return of Palestinian refugees. The political environment in Israel has, in many ways, become more hostile to nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) overall and to critical and dissident NGOs specifically.

Zochrot faces a challenging political and social context in maintaining strong advocacy for increasing discussion of the nakba in public discourse and for the right of return of Palestinian refugees. The political environment in Israel has, in many ways, become more hostile to nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) overall and to critical and dissident NGOs specifically. Moreover, the political and legal environment has become openly more hostile to organizations that seek to challenge dominant discourse in Israeli political life. Socially, while there have been some unexpected advances in the increase of the idea of return in public discourse, these advances have been accompanied by fear and hatred stirred up by the media and by political elites.

The existing legal framework for Zochrot’s activities has remained complicated and contentious. Israel’s 2011 “Nakba” law, for instance, empowered the Finance Minister to reduce state funding and support for institutions that either view Israeli Independence Day as a day of mourning or that oppose Israel’s Jewish and democratic character. Similarly, in 2016, Israel passed the NGO “funding transparency” law that requires organizations with 50 percent or more funding from foreign institutional sources (importantly, not private individuals) to disclose this to government officials and in their written reports, subject to fine for violation. Israeli NGOs are already required to publish quarterly reports on their funding from foreign donors.

In 2018, the Knesset passed Basic Law: Israel – The Nation State of the Jewish People, a law that has constitutional status in Israel. The law limits “the exercise of the right to national self-determination” in Israel to Jews, declares that “complete and united” Jerusalem is the capital, removes the status of Arabic as an official language, and promotes Jewish settlement as a “national value.” Despite the controversy surrounding many of its positions, the law passed the Knesset, and it has chilling effects on Israeli political discourse and the status of advocacy NGOs like Zochrot.

Broader efforts by Palestinians of Gaza especially have notably increased the subject of return in Israeli public discourse. In March 2018, Palestinians began protesting in Gaza, calling for the right of return of Palestinian refugees, who make up about two-thirds of the population of Gaza. More than 250 Palestinians have been killed, and more than 23,000 injured, since the beginning of the protests. The protests are ongoing, and have coincided with an increase in discussion of return in Israeli politics. Unfortunately, this discussion has been accompanied by fearmongering, dehumanizing language. Turning these scare tactics into a productive and creative conversation around return represents a challenge for Zochrot in the years to come.