Venue: Koserstraße 20, 14195 Berlin, A336

This talk examines global reactions to debates at the United Nations in 1947 regarding Palestine’s future, the ensuing fighting between Jews and Arabs in Palestine and between Arab state armies and the state of Israel, and postwar negotiations that led to armistice agreements but no lasting peace settlement. Encompassing both international politics and public opinion, the talk shows that the United Nations’ intense involvement with the Palestine Question drew its member states deep into the conflict, enhancing longstanding connections between Christians and Muslims worldwide with Palestine. The nature of that connection varied greatly from one country to another, in part due to states’ conflicting interests in the region, but also because the public often perceived Palestine through their national, religious, and class identities. In 1948, as in our own day, when people talked about Israel and Palestine, they were often talking about themselves. 

Derek Penslar is the William Lee Frost Professor of Jewish History and the Director of the Center for Jewish Studies at Harvard University.  This term, he is a visiting fellow at the American Academy in Berlin.  

Please see our Code of Conduct that applies to all Global History Events: