Book presentation at the OSI: "1948: The First Arab-Israeli War" by Benny Morris.  
 
Location: Henry Ford House, FU Berlin, Lecture Hall A, Garystr. 35
Time: 16 February, 6-8 pm.  
 
In his monograph "1948: The First Arab-Israeli War", Benny Morris sheds light on the background and events that led to the end of the British Mandate in Palestine, the fragmentation of Arab-Palestinian society and ultimately to the birth of the State of Israel. The focus is on the immediate reaction to the founding of the state: The pan-Arab war of aggression. Morris' meticulous analysis of the Israeli and international archives, which have been accessible since the 1980s, provides a clear, documentary view of the often mythologised history of the 1948 war and its political and military actors. This book, which is being published in German for the first time, provides much-needed historical clarification and critical analysis to counter the emotional, sometimes aggressive debates about Israel and Palestine, Zionism and expulsion. 

Nora Pester, Jörg Rensmann and Andreas Stahl will present the book, discuss some of the legends surrounding the current conflict and report on the background to the translation, which is now available in German for the first time.

Dr Nora Pester:  
Pester published the book in her publishing house "Hentrich & Hentrich - Der Verlag für jüdische Kultur und Zeitgeschichte" and reports on the editorial background to this standard work.      
              
Jörg Rensmann:  
Rensmann is a political scientist and currently heads the Research and Information Centre on Anti-Semitism (RIAS) in NRW. He wrote the foreword to "1948" and will categorise the political science reception and classic myths. He is also a board member of the Mideast Freedom Forum Berlin (MFFB). 
  
Andreas Stahl: 
Stahl is a member of the Society for Critical Education (GfkB), which publishes the book "1948" and organised its translation. Stahl studies philosophy at the University of Oldenburg and is co-editor of the anthologies "Konformistische Rebellen. Zur Aktualität des autoritären Charakters" (2020), "Subjekt und Befreiung. Beiträge zur kritischen Theorie 1" (2022), "Erinnern als höchste Form des Vergessens? (Re)interpretations of the Holocaust and the 'Historikerstreit 2.0'" and "Faces of Political Islam" (2023).