Paper short abstract:

The purpose of this paper is to draw significant insights about contemporary Arab Palestinian Society in Israel from widespread domestic representations of antiquities, particularly objects relating to the bygone rural way of life.

Paper long abstract:

The purpose of this paper is to draw significant insights about contemporary Arab Palestinian Society in Israel from widespread domestic representations of antiquities, particularly objects relating to the bygone rural way of life.

Paradoxically, symbols of the longing for a lost past are popular with people who did not immigrate, and are prevalent in places where remnants of the past are ubiquitous. Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel yearn for the past, although most of them did not experience life in exile, and despite the fact that many live nearby numerous segments of their past. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to explain this extraordinary sense of antiquarianism.

Fascinating mixtures of local, foreign, authentic and fabricated antiquities will form the raw material of this analysis.

The question of using or avoiding the use of remnants of the past in everyday life will be addressed, as well as noticeable generational distinctions and tensions manifested in the different attitudes towards antiquities. This paper will trace implicit motifs of younger generations in their endeavor to collect and acquire objects that were thrown away by the older generations. By collecting relics of the past in the ruins of their grandfathers' hearthstones they recollect the sentiments represented by these objects, striving to arouse dormant memories.