Encountering Palestine:
A Five Session Series on Palestinian History, Thought, and Experience
Professor David Myers in conversation with five Palestinian scholars — Jehad Abusalim, Professor Areej Sabbagh-Khoury, Professor Raef Zreik, Dr. Yasmeen Abu Fraiha, and Professor Omar Dajani
David N. Myers is Distinguished Professor of History and holds the Sady and Ludwig Kahn Chair in Jewish History at UCLA. He is the author and editor of numerous influential works on Jewish history, including American Shtetl with Nomi Stolzenberg, which won a National Jewish Book Award and New Trends in the Study of Haredi Culture and Society with Nechumi Malovicki-Yaffe. From 2018 to 2023, he served as president of the New Israel Fund.
Over the past two plus years, we in the Jewish community have heard a great deal about the horrors of October 7 and confronted the profound pain and trauma trailing in its wake. But in these trying times, it is important not only to hold onto our own narrative but to open ourselves up to understanding how the history of the past 140 years looks through Palestinian lenses. This five-part series aims to expose the Smol Emuni US community to important chapters of Palestinian history and culture. The primary goal is not to dispute but to listen. The intended benefit is to emerge with a more textured and empathic view of the past and present. Difficult though it may be, it is our obligation as Jews not only to acknowledge the dignity of all but to understand the history and lived experience of Palestinians.
The series is curated by Professor David Myers, who will be in conversation with five Palestinian scholars to discuss different aspects of the Palestinian experience: Jehad Abusalim, Professor Areej Sabbagh-Khoury, Professor Raef Zreik, Dr. Yasmeen Abu Fraiha, and Professor Omar Dajani. Supplemental readings and recordings of the classes will be available to those who register.
Each session will last for 90 minutes. Some of the classes will take place on Mondays and some of the classes will take place on Sundays.
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Session 1: Palestinian Nationalism and Zionism
February 8, 2026
Professor David Myers in conversation with Jehad Abusalim.
Jehad Abusalim is a Palestinian scholar and writer from Deir el-Balah in the Gaza Strip. He is Executive Director of the Institute for Palestine Studies–USA and co-editor of Light in Gaza: Writings Born of Fire, He is also a PhD candidate in Hebrew and Judaic Studies and History at New York University. His research focuses on Palestinian and Arab intellectual and political responses to Zionism before 1948.
February 8, 2026
Professor David Myers in conversation with Jehad Abusalim.
Jehad Abusalim is a Palestinian scholar and writer from Deir el-Balah in the Gaza Strip. He is Executive Director of the Institute for Palestine Studies–USA and co-editor of Light in Gaza: Writings Born of Fire, He is also a PhD candidate in Hebrew and Judaic Studies and History at New York University. His research focuses on Palestinian and Arab intellectual and political responses to Zionism before 1948.
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Session 2: 1948
March 9, 2026
Professor David Myers in conversation with Professor Areej Sabbagh-Khoury.
Areej Sabbagh-Khoury is a sociologist and anthropologist, currently associate professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (on leave) and assistant professor at the University of California, Berkeley. Her scholarship focuses on settler colonialism, memory, gender, and the political and historical sociology of Israeli and Palestinian societies.
March 9, 2026
Professor David Myers in conversation with Professor Areej Sabbagh-Khoury.
Areej Sabbagh-Khoury is a sociologist and anthropologist, currently associate professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (on leave) and assistant professor at the University of California, Berkeley. Her scholarship focuses on settler colonialism, memory, gender, and the political and historical sociology of Israeli and Palestinian societies.
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Session 3: Key Trends in Palestinian Thought
March 22, 2026
Professor David Myers in conversation with Prof. Raef Zreik.
Raef Zreik is a professor of political philosophy at Tel Aviv Academic Coll., senior researcher at the Van Leer J’lem Inst., and professor of jurisprudence at Ono Academic Coll. Trained at the Hebrew Univ., Columbia Univ., and Harvard Law Sch., his work spans legal and political philosophy, citizenship, and questions of identity. His scholarship engages with Zionism, Palestinian nationalism, and modern political thought.
March 22, 2026
Professor David Myers in conversation with Prof. Raef Zreik.
Raef Zreik is a professor of political philosophy at Tel Aviv Academic Coll., senior researcher at the Van Leer J’lem Inst., and professor of jurisprudence at Ono Academic Coll. Trained at the Hebrew Univ., Columbia Univ., and Harvard Law Sch., his work spans legal and political philosophy, citizenship, and questions of identity. His scholarship engages with Zionism, Palestinian nationalism, and modern political thought.
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Session 4: Palestinian Citizens in Israel
April 19, 2026
Professor David Myers in conversation with Dr. Yasmeen Abu Fraiha.
Dr. Yasmeen Abu Fraiha, a Palestinian citizen of Israel, specializes in internal medicine and is currently completing both a clinical fellowship in critical care at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and a research fellowship at the Middle East Initiative at the Harvard Kennedy School. She serves on the board of the New Israel Fund.
April 19, 2026
Professor David Myers in conversation with Dr. Yasmeen Abu Fraiha.
Dr. Yasmeen Abu Fraiha, a Palestinian citizen of Israel, specializes in internal medicine and is currently completing both a clinical fellowship in critical care at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and a research fellowship at the Middle East Initiative at the Harvard Kennedy School. She serves on the board of the New Israel Fund.
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Session 5: Historical Justice
May 4, 2026
Professor David Myers in conversation with Prof. Omar Dajani
Omar M. Dajani is the Carol Olson Professor of International Law at McGeorge Sch. of Law, Univ. of the Pacific, and a senior advisor on peace and conflict resolution in Israel-Palestine. He serves on the Joint Board of A Land for All and is co–Principal Investigator of The Shared Homeland Paradigm, a major research and policy initiative on political partnership and rights.
May 4, 2026
Professor David Myers in conversation with Prof. Omar Dajani
Omar M. Dajani is the Carol Olson Professor of International Law at McGeorge Sch. of Law, Univ. of the Pacific, and a senior advisor on peace and conflict resolution in Israel-Palestine. He serves on the Joint Board of A Land for All and is co–Principal Investigator of The Shared Homeland Paradigm, a major research and policy initiative on political partnership and rights.
Register
We want this course to be accessible to all. If the course fee presents a hardship, please reach out to Rachel at rachel@smolemunius.com