Description:

Please note that the location for this lecture in the series has changed. This event will take place in the Wildcat Room (#1-163) in Norris, at the same time and date (May 29 at 5:00 p.m.).

Since this fall, intense attention has turned to Israel and Palestine. Many on campus who are following events find themselves with basic questions about actors, geography, contested narratives and even the words used to describe what is happening. This speaker series aims to help fill some of these gaps. Jointly sponsored by the Middle East and North Africa Studies Program, the Crown Family Center for Jewish and Israel Studies and the Roberta Buffett Institute for Global Affairs, the initiative seeks to offer the Northwestern community knowledge on this vital history from the late nineteenth century through the mid-twentieth century. Sessions will feature renowned scholars from the U.S. and abroad from a wide range of personal and academic backgrounds, and are open to members of the Northwestern community.

In this talk, Maayan Hilel will delve into the term "Arab-Jews" as both a cultural and historical identifier, shedding light on the multifaceted social, political and cultural experiences of Arabic-speaking Jews in the Middle East and North Africa from the late nineteenth century until 1948. Special attention will be devoted to examining the impacts of the first Arab-Israeli war in 1948 on Arab-Jews, a significant number of whom—approximately 750,000 individuals—arrived in the newly-established State of Israel in the years following 1948.

Maayan Hilel is an Assistant Professor of Instruction in Jewish & Israel Studies, and Assistant Director of the Crown Family Center for Jewish & Israel Studies at Northwestern University. She is a historian of the modern Middle East specializing in the cultural and social history of Palestine / the Land of Israel. Her book manuscript explores the emergence of modern leisure culture in Palestine's urban centers during the formative years of British rule (1918–1948). Relying on relational history, it examines intercommunal relations and cultural transformations within Jewish-Zionist and Palestinian-Arab societies. 

Registration is recommended but not required.