Khazaaen, a Palestinian social archive, preserves and celebrates Palestinian identity. Based in East Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood, Khazaaen collects and digitizes ephemeral (day-to-day) materials – brochures, posters, flyers, etc-, but also diaries and photographs – from Palestine and Palestinians around the world. These materials are made accessible to researchers and audiences worldwide, supporting research and deepening understanding of Palestinian social history.
Beyond archiving, Khazaaen fosters community cohesion through local events that celebrate cultural memory and identity. This is especially important with the ever decreasing space for Palestinians in East Jerusalem, which threatens its Palestinian identity.
With PAX’s support, including a 2023 study visit to the Netherlands, Khazaaen has enhanced its archival practices and built connections with Dutch and other international institutions, digitized over 1,500 materials, and trained 10 new volunteers, ensuring the future of the archive. Together, Khazaaen and PAX safeguard Palestinian narratives by way of collecting materials, empowering communities to study the past, understand the present, and build a just and inclusive future.
Preserve the Past, Empower the Future
Wat is the problem?
The continuous repression, oppression and dispossession of Palestinians threaten both their physical presence and historical memory. In East Jerusalem, Palestinian identity is under severe pressure, with efforts to dismantle the social fabric through evictions, demolitions, forced displacement and residency revocations. A significant challenge is that many Palestinian archives have been destroyed or inaccessible under Israeli control, leaving Palestinians disconnected from their history.
For those displaced since the Nakba in 1948, the inability to return has strengthened their desire to ensure their stories (and collected materials) endure: ‘We cannot return, but our stories can’. Furthermore, things can change quickly in East Jerusalem. A street where a Palestinian family lives next to a restaurant and a grocery store can look totally different the next year given the evictions and demolitions. There is an absence of accessible Palestinian archives, particularly those that document the everyday life. The voices of everyday Palestinians – their weddings, funerals, and daily experiences – remain undocumented, leaving a significant gap in the collective narrative.
What is our stance?
PAX believes social archiving, and building the connections between local communities and the archive is essential to preserving the identity of Palestinian communities, especially in East Jerusalem, where Palestinian presence and identity are under constant threat. Collected materials, and the stories these materials tell, connect people to their history, fostering a sense of belonging and continuity even in the face of dispossession and repression. In a context where archives are destroyed, manipulated, or inaccessible, documenting and sharing the everyday experiences of Palestinians becomes an act of empowerment and resistance. The collected stories not only keep memories alive but also help reweave the social fabric, and bring people together in a fragmented Palestinian society.
What does PAX do?
We actively support Khazaaen in preserving Palestinian history through collecting these materials and by fostering exchange of knowledge, building connections, and empowering communities. One of the projects collected and preserved materials and stories from the ‘#SaveSheikhJarrah’ campaign (2021-2022), to document the difficult situation in Sheikh Jarrah, regarding house evictions and expulsion of Palestinian families from the neighbourhood. Another projects supported by PAX is called the’ War Notebooks’. It collects materials of solidarity from around the world, with the current war on Gaza, donated by more than 40 concerned activists, artists, illustrators and photographers, and many universities throughout the world.
In August 2023, PAX facilitated a study visit for Khazaaen employees to the Netherlands, where they engaged with archives, museums, and universities to exchange ideas and share experiences. This visit allowed Khazaaen to learn from Dutch practices in digitalization, cataloguing, and community engagement, while also allowing them to share their approach to preserving Palestinian social history in times of occupation and oppression. The Dutch archives were especially impressed by the tight connections Khazaaen has with the people and communities who donate the materials to the archive, and the unique way Khazaaen organizes its archive. The materials are archived in special boxes that belong to one specific person. This means that that person decides what goes into the box, and thus what will be archived and preserved. This is very different from traditional archives, where items are stored by theme, or origin.



What did we achieve?
So far, our partnership has enabled Khazaaen to digitize over 1,500 materials, train 10 new volunteers, and strengthen their efforts in preserving Palestinian identity in East Jerusalem. Khazaaen was also able to train more than 100 Palestinians students in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood on the importance of social archiving.
What needs to be done?
We aim to support Khazaaen to become a thriving hub for preserving and sharing Palestinian identity and memory, while fostering connections locally and internationally. Through our collaboration, we strive to expand their network within Palestinian communities, including in diaspora, increase outreach to international students and universities, and facilitate exchanges that inspire new ideas.
Contact
Thomas van Gool, projectleider Israël-Palestina