The First Nakba: The 1948 War and its Afterlives

Lafayette College History Department’s Annual Wilson-Powell Lecture

by Prof. Shay Hazkani

"The First Nakba: The 1948 War and its Afterlives"

Monday, April 8

4:00 - 6:00 p.m.

Kirby Hall of Civil Rights, Room 104

To understand the current apocalypse in the region, one has to grapple with 1948, the year of Israel’s independence and the erasure of Arab Palestine, in what came to be known as the Nakba (catastrophe). Shay Hazkani's award-winning Dear Palestine (Stanford University Press, 2021) offers a new narrative for the 1948 War by leveraging the personal letters of the Jews and Arabs who came from all over the world to join the fight, as well as the letters of those who became its victims. Through two narratives —the official and unofficial, the propaganda and the personal letters— Professor Hazkani reveals the fissures between sanctioned nationalism and individual identity.

Shay Hazkani is associate professor of History and Jewish Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park. He specializes in the social and cultural history of Palestine/Israel. His first book, Dear Palestine: A Social History of the 1948 War (Stanford University Press, 2021), was the recipient of the Korenblat and Azrieli-Concordia book awards, and longlisted for the Cundill History Prize. The book is slated to be published in Hebrew and in Arabic in 2024. Prof. Hazkani is also the co-creator of The Soldier’s Opinion, a documentary based on his research. The film is the recipient of the 2023 American Historical Association’s John E. O’Connor Film Award. Prof. Hazkani received his PhD in History and Judaic studies from New York University, and holds a Master’s in Arab Studies from Georgetown University. Prior to his academic career, Prof. Hazkani worked as a journalist in Israel covering the occupied Palestinian territories and the Israeli military.