The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of commemorative processes as a form of symbolic reparation (Brown 2013) and their potential role in societies with memories of deep division and exclusion. This question is addressed in the context of recent commemorative processes of the Holocaust in Israel aimed at reaching previously excluded groups such as the Palestinian citizen minority and the Mizrahi Jews. This question is pertinent in the context of research that has demonstrated that hegemonic conceptions of Holocaust memory have played a central role in the construction of Israeli identity and in this context have acted as mechanisms of exclusion. The paper explores the tensions that arise in this process as the commemorative processes encounter norms and values that conflict with those intended originally by the founders and memory agents. A central issue addressed is whether commemorative processes seen as symbolic reparation can be useful in promoting human rights norms in divided societies.
