Who is Afraid of Historical Redress?: The Israeli Victim / Perpetrator Dichotomy

With the Holocaust resonating as the ‘thick background’, historical redress processes in Israel render a particularly challenging case. The simultaneous concern with past, present and future redress campaigns as both victim and perpetrator is unique. Who is Afraid of Historical Redress analyses three cases of historical redress in Israel: the Yemeni children affair, the tinea capitis irradiations and the claims for the return of native land of the two Christian Palestinian villages of Iqrit and Bir'em. All three cases were redressed under the juridical edifice of legal thought and action. The outcomes suggest that these processes were insufficient for achieving closure by the victims, atonement by those responsible and reconciliation among social groups.