The Mythologization And Demythologization Of Tel Hai

On March 1,1920, the eleventh of Adar in the Hebrew calendar, a large group of armed Arabs insisted on searching France soldiers and entering a small Jewish settlement by the name of Tel-Hai in Upper Galilee. Due to a series of misunderstandings, shooting was occurred among both sides. Eight Jewish people was killed, include the national hero Yosef Trumpeldor. And the settlement was occupied by the Arabs. Although there had been other fatal incidents between Arabs and Jews in the preceding decade, this confrontation was the first to be regarded as a full-fledged battle in which Zionist pioneers stood up to defend a new settlement.The Tel-Hai Battle was a very brief event, but soon after that,it was incorporated into the Zionist master narrative, which had an inseparable connection with the historical background. First of all, influenced by the growing anti-semitism in Europe on the one hand and drawing upon a long, distinctively Jewish tradition of longing to return to the ancient homeland on the other,Zionism assumed that an inherent bond between the Jewish people and their ancient land was a necessary condition for the development of Jewish nationhood. Immigrant and settlement in Palestine became the major themes of the Jewish life in the prestate period. Secondly, with the rise of the idea of Zionism, the Zionist had gradually formed their own narrative system. By reconstructing the past, they set up a new periodization of Jewish history:the Antiquity period, the Exile period and the National Revival period. The Zionist master narrative constructs an idea of "Negation of the Diaspora’", and constructs a symbolic bridge between Antiquity and the modern period. emphasizing their affinity and distancing both from Exile.By the means of commemorative activities and ceremonies, literary works, political propaganda, etc. the Zionist turned Tel-Hai into a typically heroism event. Through the mythological construction, the Zionist enabled Tel-Hai not only beyond its originally historical appearance, but also granted the value and historical status that beyond its own. And then Tel-Hai became an important collective memory for national-building. Several themes in this event conformed to the practical needs of the Zionism movement at that time. For example, it adapted to the immigrant and settlement needs during the prestate period, the needs of searching a modern hero who would be associated with the ancient heroes, the needs of Zionist idea about "Negation of the Diaspora"and shape the typically "New Hebrew". What’s more, it also became political tools for different political parties to enhance their power.However, with the Zionist’s influence was gradually decline from the 1960s and 1970s, rational thinking and de-political narrative turned the mythological narrative that was manipulated by politics into a more multiplex and authentic memory. Especially in the 1980s and 1990s, the Post-Zionist began to rethink the Zionist ideas,in particular that topics about the Arab-Israel conflict.It is in this context that the Tel-Hai myth gradually lost its glory and then lead to its marginalization.The mythologization of Tel-Hai battle indicated the construction of collective memory.By studying the mythologization and demythologization of Tel-Hai battle,this essay try to reveal how the Zionism movement use and manipulate the collective memory in the course of building national identity and modern state.