Convener: Yaacov Yadgar
Speaker: Shay Hazkani (Maryland)
Dear Palestine: A Social History of the 1948 War by Shay Hazkani offers a new history of the 1948 war, based on personal letters of “ordinary” Jews and Arabs. The book also examines previously unexplored propaganda, disseminated by Israel and Arab states during the war. In so doing, Dear Palestine offers two narratives—the official and unofficial, the propaganda and the personal letters—to flesh out the fissures between sanctioned nationalism and individual identity. In the broadest sense, the book offers a new prism through which to look at the establishment of modern Israel on the ruins of Arab Palestine.
Shay Hazkani is an Assistant Professor of History and Jewish Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park. His research and teaching focuses on social and cultural history of Palestine/Israel, and Middle Eastern Jews. He is the author of Dear Palestine: A Social History of the 1948 War (Stanford University Press, 2021). Shay received his PhD in History and Judaic studies from New York University, his Master’s in Arab Studies from Georgetown University, and his BA in Middle Eastern Studies from Tel Aviv University. He has been involved in various struggles over archival declassification policies in Israel. In 2019, he petitioned the Israeli Supreme Court together with the Association for Civil Rights, to compel the Israeli domestic intelligence service, the Shin Bet, to open its archives to the public. Prior to his academic career, Shay worked as a journalist covering the West Bank and Israeli military.
Please note that places are limited and pre-registration via Eventbrite is essential. Please register using this link: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/dear-palestine-a-social-history-of-the-1948-war-shay-hazkani-tickets-175323436117. Tickets are now available to book.
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