“Collaborators Mira Sucharov and Omar Dajani in conversation on what they have learned about hope and despair, identity and memory, and friendship across differences.
Omar Dajani and Mira Sucharov have been unraveling the complexities of Israel-Palestine through a travel book and a podcast focusing on the vacant lot by the sea in Jaffa where Dajani’s ancestral home once stood – a microcosm of the country’s history and predicament.
Recent devastating events have challenged their assumptions and emphasized the urgency of understanding. They’ve navigated the markedly different ways in which their own communities see and talk about occupation, colonialism, security and terrorism, and even what it means to be Israeli or Palestinian. And they have grappled with whether Israelis and Palestinians can envisage a shared future if they can’t face the past.
Mira Sucharov is Professor of Political Science at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. A former columnist at Haaretz, she is the author or co-editor of five books, most recently, Borders and Belonging: A Memoir.
Omar Dajani is Professor of Law at the McGeorge School of Law, University of the Pacific. The son of a Palestinian refugee, he previously served as legal adviser to the Palestinian negotiating team in peace talks with Israel.
Sponsored by Middle Eastern Studies, Jewish Studies, the Office of the Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, the Government Department, The Dickey Center for International Understanding, and the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Dartmouth.”