On Sept. 28 Linda Dittmar spoke about her book Tracing Homelands: Israel, Palestine, and the Claims of Belonging. “When author Linda Dittmar stumbles upon the ruins of an abandoned Palestinian village, she is faced with a past that sits uneasily with her Israeli childhood memories—and the history she was raised never to question.Tracing Homelands is an intimate, beautifully written account that uncovers inconvenient truths about an embattled Israeli-Palestinian history that is often buried in silence.”

On Oct. 4, Dr. Jonathan Kuttab spoke about his book, his vision and his plan, which all can share the title Beyond the Two-State Solution.  “Dr. Kuttab explains that the two-state solution (that he once supported) is no longer viable. He suggests that any solution be predicated on the basic existential needs of the two parties, needs he lays out in exceptional detail. He formulates a way forward for a 1-state solution that challenges both Zionism and Palestinian Nationalism.”

I felt privileged to hear both authors speak because of the fact that BWC was a co-sponsor for both of their presentations. Co-sponsorship by BWC meant I was notified about the talks which were in-person and streamed; I participated via Zoom. I chose the word “privileged” because I assume that most American Jewish synagogues and other Jewish organizations are not yet sponsoring talks by these two speakers. 

As a follow-up, at the end of October the BWC Library will have a copy of each of these books. In additional Dr. Kuttab has made his book available, for free, online in pdf format here.

Another reason for writing this blog post is to remind you that donating books to the BWC Library that are currently of great interest is a mitzvah! If you have a book to donate, please contact library@circleboston.org

And here’s a reminder that the BWC Library catalog is available online here.

To see related books in the BWC Library, type these words in the online catalog “SHELF Israel Palestine Middle East.” BWC members can check out books for a month. Your new BWC membership card is also a library card!

If you didn’t attend the talks, you can get a flavor of what we heard from these videos which were recorded at other times. It takes a couple of seconds for Linda Dittmar’s video to begin.