Hebron Refugees.
On March 11, award-winning journalist and Emmy-nominated producer Yardena Schwartz will discuss her new book Ghosts of a Holy War: The 1929 Massacre in Palestine That Ignited the Arab-Israeli Conflict.
Tuesday, March 11, 202510:00 AM - 11:00 AM (Pacific Time)Webinar
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Organized by the UCLA Y&S Nazarian Center for Israel Studies.
About the Book
In 1929, in the sacred city of Hebron—then governed by the British Mandate of Palestine—there was no occupation, state of Israel, or settlers. Jews and Muslims lived peacefully near the burial place of Abraham until one Saturday morning when nearly 70 Jewish men, women, and children were slaughtered by their Arab neighbors. The Hebron massacre was a seminal event in the Arab-Israeli conflict, key to understanding its complexities. The echoes of 1929 in Hamas’s massacre of October 7, 2023, illustrate how little has changed—and how much of our perspective must change if peace is ever to come to this tortured land and its people, who are destined to share it. Award-winning journalist Yardena Schwartz draws on her extensive research and wide-ranging interviews with both sides to tell a timely, eye-opening story. She expertly weaves the war between Israel and Hamas into a historical framework, demonstrating how the conflict today cannot be understood without the context of ground zero of this century-old war. Ghosts of a Holy War can be purchased here.
Praise for Ghosts of a Holy War
"A good book about a bad mess" – The Wall Street Journal
"An astonishing work of history...Schwartz writes with clear, luminous prose, demonstrating the sense of timing and drama of a novelist." – Jewish Journal
"Superb, meticulous and hauntingly detailed" – Commentary
"In this groundbreaking account of the origins of the Arab-Israeli conflict, Yardena Schwartz tells a compelling story of how one American's tragic life converged with a seminal moment in history. Focusing on the ancient city of Hebron, Ghosts of a Holy War masterfully weaves together past and present, the historical and the personal. With a keen reporter's eye, Schwartz reveals the best and the worst in both sides of the conflict. If you are going to read one book to help you understand the current Middle East tragedy, this is it." – Yossi Klein Halevi, author of the New York Times bestseller Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor
"With meticulous archival research and journalistic skill, and aided by a fascinating trove of letters left by a doomed young American, Yardena Schwartz gives us a valuable account of one of the key tragedies in the meeting between Jews and Arabs in Palestine. Ghosts of a Holy War fills in a missing piece in our understanding of a conflict that continues to echo worldwide, reminding us of the human characters at the heart of global dramas.” – Matti Friedman, author of Who by Fire: Leonard Cohen in the Sinai
About the Speakers
Yardena Schwartz is an award-winning journalist and Emmy-nominated producer who was based in Israel for a decade until 2023. Her reporting has appeared in the New York Times, New York Review of Books, the Wall Street Journal, The Economist, TIME, National Geographic, Foreign Policy and Foreign Affairs, among other publications. Yardena previously worked at NBC News, including stints at the Today show, Nightly News with Brian Williams, and MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Reports. She graduated with honors from Columbia Journalism School in 2011, received an Emmy nomination for her work at MSNBC in 2013, and the RNA award for excellence in magazine reporting in 2016. Yardena now lives in New York’s Hudson Valley with her husband and children. Ghosts of a Holy War is her first book.
Professor Steve Zipperstein (moderator) is Associate Director of the UCLA Center for Middle East Development. He is also an adjunct assistant professor at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. Zipperstein is a former US federal prosecutor and the former chief legal officer of Verizon Wireless and BlackBerry Ltd. He is the author of The Legal Case for Palestine: A Critical Assessment (forthcoming) (Routledge, 2024); Zionism, Palestinian Nationalism and the Law: 1939-1948 (Routledge, 2022); and Law and the Arab-Israeli Conflict: The Trials of Palestine (Routledge 2020).
DISCLAIMER: The views or opinions of our guest speakers and the content of their presentations do not necessarily reflect the views of the UCLA Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for Israel Studies. Hosting speakers does not constitute an endorsement of the speaker's views or opinions.
Sponsor(s): Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for Israel Studies