Narratives and factual evidence: two cases of missing children in Israel and Canada

In this article, we discuss two cases of the disappearance of children in Israel and Canada that are haunting both societies. We focus on the clash between social groups and institutions in both societies pursuing disparate narratives, each claiming to hold the truth. The first case concerns the disappearance of Yemenite children who during the mass immigration to Israel following its independence in 1948 were announced dead after being hospitalised. A narrative emerged that they were kidnapped and sold for adoption, while three commissions appointed to investigate the matter concluded they found no evidence to substantiate this claim. The second case concerns soil disturbances discovered in Canada in 2021 on the grounds of an Indian Residential School run by the Catholic Church. A narrative emerged that these were graves of missing children who were secretly buried there after being murdered by school personnel. This narrative has been advanced amidst a contrary argument that there was no evidence to substantiate this claim. Based on our observation of the role played in both cases by politicians, political activists, government commissions, the media and academic scholars we propose a set of conclusions on the relations between narratives and factual evidence.