This paper discusses the issue of collective memory as a phenomenon experienced
by different human civilisations and nations. It attempts to explain the historical
events that influenced the collective memory of different human populations over
the course of history. It describes some of the examples of the deportation and
exoduses of people, and the impacts they had on those people’s collective memories.
Furthermore, the paper discusses the relationship between collective memory and
globalisation. It then presents the Palestinian collective memory as a case study, and
shows how the Palestinian culture and heritage has been affected by the 1948 Exodus.
The paper attempts also to explain the channels and methods through which Palestinian
collective memory is passed down the generations, and how this process is reinforced.
Finally, it provides a number of recommendations and methods through which
collective memory in general, and the Palestinian one in particular, can be protected
and maintained across the various generations.