On Friday, Adam and I went to the Palmach Museum in Tel Aviv. I had heard wonderful things about it from friends and really wanted to go before we left Israel. (For those who aren't familiar with the Palmach, it was a defense force established in 1941 to help the British protect Palestine from the Germans. Later, it morphed into the strike force of the Haganah, the unofficial army of the Jewish community in Palestine, and helped to fight against the British occupation. The Palmach has a very special place in Israel's national myth -- something akin to Paul Revere in America, I suppose.)
The Palmach Museum is an "experiential" museum, which means that it doesn't contain the kinds of historical artifacts that you'd find in a regular museum. Instead, you follow the story of a group of Palmach recruits from 1941 until the end of the War of Independence. There are videos, sets (like stage sets), mannequins, lighting effects and all sorts of tricks to make the story "come alive" for the audience. Sound cool? It wasn't.
I actually found the whole experience really off-putting. The story of the recruits was melodramatic, rather than moving. Moreover, it lacked subtelty, romanticizing the Palmach generation to the exclusion of all critical, academic discussion of its politics and policies. This was straight-up Zionist myth, and it wasn't even good Zionist myth.
Something else bothered me about the museum, too. The characters and dialogue were so Israeli in their attitudes, mannerism, etc. that I found it difficult to relate to them on an emotional level. Maybe I would have reacted differently had I listened to the English translation instead of the Hebrew, but as it was, I trailed after our guide for an hour and a half feeling detached and cynical. I'm a Zionist, and I enjoy a good tug at the heartstrings as much as the next ideologically-motivated immigrant, but this didn't work on me at all. I guess I'll just have to find a different heartwarming Zionist activity to do before we leave!
Monday, June 30, 2008
Jaded
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
You know I started to recommend two places to you and suddenly realized they were in Tel Aviv not Jerusalem. (I'm a bit slow off the mark some days. :) But about your post, I've also encountered this heavy dose of Zionism in museums there although I don't tend to mind it too much (as long as the facts are straight) mainly because it makes you appreciate the reality of the time. I actually enjoyed the heavy Israeli mannerisms etc. but then again, I got the English tours. I'm not sure how much academic debate really belongs in a museum as it is much more suited for the classroom.
I went to the museum the other day with some friends from the US. I had been there before and read your post last week knowing that I was visiting and wanting to see your point of view. I think the museum does its job--educating people who have little idea of the history of the establishment of the state. Yes, it was melodramatic, but I wouldn't call it a "myth"; my "adoptive" father on kibbutz was a Palmachnik and the stories he told were very much in line with what we saw at the museum. Those people, many of them survivors, really did sacrifice much (and many sacrificed all) to help establish the state. Did you go into the archives room? I think you would have appreciated it--it was drier than the exhibit, but loaded with facts on specific battles and issues of the time.
The museum tour guide didn't even tell us that there was an archives room, although I'm sure I would've enjoyed it, had I known.
Just to clarify, I didn't mean the word "myth" in the sense of "false." I meant it in the sense of "the story that a people tells about its history."
Post a Comment