Feb 13
THE SOURCE OF THE ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT
Tue Feb 13, 10:00am FREE
At the JCC. Oren will appear on screen from Rochester, NY.
OREN KESSLER / Palestine 1936: The Great Revolt and the Roots of the Middle East Conflict
In 1936 the Holy Land erupted in rebellion against both the local Jewish population and the British Mandate authorities. The Arab Revolt would last three years, cost thousands of lives, and cast the trajectory for the Middle East conflict ever since. The revolt was the crucible in which Palestinian identity coalesced, uniting Arab society against a common foe. Yet it would ultimately turn on itself, shredding the social fabric, sidelining pragmatists, and propelling waves of refugees.
At the same time, Zionist leaders abandoned illusions over Arab acceptance of their enterprise. And it was then, as Hitler menaced Europe, that words like “partition” and “Jewish state” first appeared on the international agenda. Based on archival research on three continents, Palestine 1936 weaves history through extraordinary individuals on all sides.
OREN KESSLER is a journalist and analyst based in Tel Aviv. He was deputy director for research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington, Arab affairs correspondent for The Jerusalem Post, and an editor at Haaretz. Palestine 1936 is his first book.
SPONSORED BY ESTHER CHETNER
MENTAL HEALTH, TRAUMA & HEALING
Tue Feb 13, 1:00pm $16
RUTH RAKOFF / Untethered: A Novel
In conversation with Ev Levine
WITH CIRCLE OF FRIENDS FOR WOMEN
Raised in a loving but lacking household by their Holocaust survivor-grandparents and their godfather, the lives of unusual twins Petal and Rose change drastically after a summer trip to Israel. Free-spirited Rose becomes enraptured with the ultra-orthodox Jewish community, while Petal delays her schooling to watch over her sister. Saddled with too much responsibility, Petal’s clinical depression manifests in self-destructive behaviour. Twenty years later, Petal is called back to Toronto from New York to help Rose during a crisis and is forced to confront her prejudices about her sister’s life.
Told through the eyes of two generations, Untethered explores universal themes of sisterhood, mental illness and the impact of trauma, while laying the foundations for understanding and a path towards healing.
RUTH RAKOFF published her first book, the memoir When My World Was Very Small, in 2010. She weaves personal experience into the characters and narratives in Untethered, her first novel. Ruth lives in Toronto.
FOR BOOK CLUBS AND BOOK LOVERS
Tue Feb 13, 7:30pm $20
ARMANDO LUCAS CORREA / The Night Travelers
In Conversation with Marsha Lederman
Four generations of women experience love, loss, war, and hope from the rise of Nazism to the Cuban Revolution and the fall of the Berlin Wall in this sweeping novel from the bestselling author of The German Girl.
In 1931 Berlin, poet Ally Keller, fearing persecution from the Nazi Aryan purity policies for her mixed-race daughter Lilith, hides her in the shadows. But as she grows and concealment becomes impossible, Ally plans to send Lilith across the ocean for safety. In 1958 Havana, Lilith, with few memories of her past, anticipates a future with Cuban pilot Martin. But amidst the Cuban Revolution, she and her daughter Nadine face a daunting crossroads. In 1988 Berlin, scientist Nadine, committed to preserving the dignity of murdered Nazi victims, confronts her family’s history. Encouraged by daughter Luna, Nadine delves into the choices her mother and grandmother made for their children’s survival.
ARMANDO LUCAS CORREA is an award-winning journalist, editor, author, and the recipient of several awards from the National Association of Hispanic Publications and the Society of Professional Journalism. He is the author of the international bestseller The German Girl, as well as The Daughter’s Tale and the memoir In Search of Emma.
CO-SPONSORED BY THE WEINBERG RESIDENCE