On November 25th, a panel discussion took place at the launch of the Arabic edition of Prof. Yair Auron’s book, The Shoah, the Rebirth and the Nakba. Sixty people attended the event, conducted jointly with the Pluralistic Spiritual Community Center at the Fred Segal Peace and Friendship Library. The panel included Dr. Hillel Cohen, from the Hebrew University; Avraham Burg, former Member and Chair of the Knesset; and Palestinian-Israeli scholar Antoine Shalhat. Shalhat directs the translation unit of Madar, the Palestinian Forum for Israeli Studies, which published the book. The discussion was interspersed with songs by guest musician Ronit Shefi.

Auron, a long-time resident of Wahat al Salam – Neve Shalom is a specialist in genocide studies. Rather than equating the Holocaust with the Nakba, his new book looks at the links between the two historical events. With emphasis on trauma and the need for healing, he points out that non-recognition does not permit healing, while ‘feeding’ on the trauma also negates reconciliation.

The discussants hailed the new Arabic translation of Auron’s latest book as an important contribution to Palestinian-Jewish reconciliation as it helps to open the discussion of what happened to the Palestinians in 1948. “What are we afraid of?” he asks in an effort to acknowledge “the other’s” tragedy and suffering as an important step towards mending relations.

Auron’s book The Shoah, The Rebirth and the Nakba was previously published in Hebrew (publisher’s link) and has yet to appear in English.. A panel discussion on the launch of the Hebrew addition took place in Wahat al-Salam – Neve Shalom in June 2013.

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Both Arabic and Hebrew editions of the book can be purchased from Wahat al-Salam – Neve Shalom.

This article was also [published->http://wp.me/p4iy3K-ld] on the website of [Wahat al-Salam – Neve Shalom ->http://wasns.org]