2011/07/01 by Gish Amit · 1 citation
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Psychology · Social Sciences · #Ambivalence #Ancient history #Archaeological Research and Protection #Archaeology #Computer science #Demography #Dialectic #History #Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies #Judaism #Library science #Memory, Trauma, and Commemoration #National library #Palestine #Philosophy #Political science #Population #Sociology #Theology
paper · doi:10.1525/jps.2011.xl.4.6
openalex publication_date 2011/07/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/01
During April-May 1948, almost the entire population of the residential Arab neighborhoods of West Jerusalem fled the fighting, leaving behind fully furnished houses, some with rich libraries. This article is about the "book salvage operation" conducted by the Jewish National and University Library, which added tens of thousands of privately owned Palestinian books to its collections. Based on primary archival documents and interviews, the article describes the beginnings and progress of the operation as well as the changing fortunes of the books themselves at the National Library. The author concludes with an exploration of the operation's dialectical nature (salvage and plunder), the ambivalence of those involved, and an assessment of the final outcome.