Oren Kessler, Author of Palestine 1936 in Conversation with Steven Turner

Gesher Galicia Today

On Yom Hashoah we remember our sacred martyrs killed by the Nazis and their collaborators. One of the reasons they were able to kill so many is because Jews trying to flee the impending catastrophe had no place that would accept them. Just as war was breaking out and the Jewish plight became more desperate, Great Britain closed the gates of Palestine with its infamous White Paper of 1939. Why did that happen and how did it come about?

Oren Kessler in his new book, Palestine 1936: The Great Revolt and the Roots of the Middle East Conflict tells the story.

Oren is a journalist and political analyst based in Tel Aviv. He has served as deputy director for research at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies in Washington, Middle East research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society in London, Arab affairs correspondent for the Jerusalem Post, and an editor and translator at the Haaretz English edition.

Raised in Rochester, New York, and Tel Aviv, he holds a BA in history from the University of Toronto and an MA in diplomacy and conflict studies from Reichman University (IDC Herzliya).Kessler’s work has appeared in media outlets such as Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and Politico.

You can purchase the book here.