Forest as Commemoration in Jewish-Israeli Memory Culture: A Study in Environmental Memory

Situated within the broadly understood subfield of environmental memory studies, this book explores Israeli forests as spaces of commemoration. It investigates their significance in the Jewish-Israeli memory culture over the last century, as well as their role as a recurrent form of environmental memorial, understood as a commemoration that uses the organic as both the symbolic and the building substance. In doing so, it reveals the roles that the natural environment plays in memory practices: as a carrier of symbolic meanings, but also as an acting, more-than-human element of memorial spaces.

Employing the perspective of environmental hermeneutics, the analysis is grounded in the realities of the Israel/Palestine conflict and reflects on the convoluted intersection of ideological, political, socio-economic, personal, and institutional dimensions of local tree planting. Simultaneously, it draws from instances of arboreal commemorations found in other geographical and cultural contexts, situating the practice of memorial forests within the wider framework of environmental memory and its associated social practices. In this way, it offers instructive insights for other cases of arboreal remembrance, highlighting both the potential benefits and risks linked to environmental memorials.

Utilizing an interdisciplinary approach, this fascinating and ground-breaking volume will engage scholars and researchers from a wide range of disciplines including Memory Studies, Cultural Geography, Israel Studies, and Environmental Humanities.