With the Palestinian Nakba (“catastrophe”) of 1948 at its core, this five-day discussion will use Linda Dittmar’s memoir, Tracing Homelands; Israel, Palestine, and the Claims of Belonging (2023), to initiate reflection and inquiry. Framed in her travel inside Israel to locate remnants of Palestinian villages, this political memoir, at once sympathetic and unflinching, touches on some 100 years of Israel’s state-formation and its devastating consequences for the Palestinians. Some 50 to 60 pages of reading will be discussed each day. Our discussion will assume that we each bring a range of experiences and opinions to bear on this difficult history, all of which will require respectful attention.

Linda Dittmar, Israeli-American writer, teacher, and academic