Student Session Abstract 3

“What I Saw is What They Silence: Understanding Zionist Myth Making and Stories from the West Bank”

Zionism is a narrative project as much as a political one. It tells powerful stories – of exile and return, of refuge and redemption – but to do so, it must erase others. This session examines the stories Zionism tells and the many it silences: Palestinian stories of life and resistance, stories that disrupt the ‘eternal victim’ narrative, and stories of Jews like me who refuse genocidal nationalism. As a student activist and co-founder of Mac for Palestine, I have spent the past two years organizing campaigns for divestment, academic boycott, and narrative reclamation. This summer, I lived in the West Bank, doing human rights and land defense work. In this session, I will share from my own experiences, reflect on broader historical and legal dynamics, and offer concrete ways others can plug in domestically and on the ground in Palestine to this growing global movement for justice.