Seeing Through a Mirror: The 1948 War in the Eyes of the World
Oct 22 @ 5:00 pm - 6:30 pm
Annual Diller Lecture
Presented by Berkeley’s Center for Jewish Studies. Co-Sponsored by the Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life.
The 1948 Arab-Israeli War attracted attention from the highest levels of international society, state governments, transnational NGOs, journalism, and public opinion. Palestine and the emerging state of Israel functioned as both a mirror and a magnifier. Israel’s establishment and the Palestinian Nakba were interpreted through countries’ specific interests, histories, and cultures. These events also elicited tremendous passion. Palestine’s mirroring and magnifying effects did not originate in 1948, but the events of that year drastically augmented them, and the patterns of global reaction remain with us to this today.
Thursday, October 22, 2026 | 5:00-6:30 pm
at the Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, 2121 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA
Reception and light refreshments: 5:00-5:30pm
Presentation and Conversation: 5:30-6:30pm
If you require an accommodation for effective communication (ASL interpreting, alternative media formats, etc.) or information about campus mobility access features in order to fully participate in these events, please contact Jennifer Lipscomb at jlipscomb@berkeley.edu with as much advance notice as possible.
Derek Penslar is the William Lee Frost Professor of Jewish History and the Director of the Center for Jewish Studies at Harvard University. Derek previously taught at Indiana University, the University of Toronto, and the University of Oxford, where he was the inaugural holder of the Stanley Lewis Chair in Modern Israel Studies. Derek has published a dozen books, including Theodor Herzl: The Charismatic Leader (2020) and Zionism: An Emotional State (2023). He is currently writing a book titled The War for Palestine, 1947-1949: A Global History. Derek is a past president of the American Academy for Jewish Research, a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and an Honorary Fellow of St. Anne’s College, Oxford.