Oren Kessler

2026-‘27 Goldman Visiting Prof., @Georgetown. Fellow, @RoyalHistSoc. Author, “Palestine 1936,” winner of the Sami Rohr Prize and a WSJ best book of the year

[Oren Kessler @OrenKessler]

@hoffman_bruce I wonder if there are still any from 1936 that say E R VIII!

[Oren Kessler @OrenKessler]

Mandate-era passport, issued 1925-1948

https://t.co/rCXDrRo8ov

[Oren Kessler @OrenKessler]

@MiaMBloom Thanks so much, Mia! When are you next in the nation's capital so we can also finally meet in person?

[Oren Kessler @OrenKessler]

"Gaza has been simmering like a boiling kettle.... I still don't regret coming to Palestine a bit, though I hope I shall get to know it better in happier days."

Ivan Lloyd-Phillips, British Colonial Service officer, to his father, July 1938

(From A.J. Sherman, "Mandate Days")

[Oren Kessler @OrenKessler]

This is how British public servants just used to chat with each other (Churchill's testimony before the Peel Commission, 1937)

[Oren Kessler @OrenKessler]

@isberryauthor @WSJ That is very kind of you to say! The pleasure was entirely mine!

[I.S. Berry | THE PEACOCK AND THE SPARROW @isberryauthor]

Finally got to meet @OrenKessler in person, author of the terrific PALESTINE 1936, one of the best books out there for understanding the origins of today's Middle East conflict. Among other accolades, it was named a @WSJ best book of the year. Serious, impressive scholarship.

[Oren Kessler @OrenKessler]

The age of innocence

[Oren Kessler @OrenKessler]

Three years ago today.

[Oren Kessler @OrenKessler]

Tomer Shoham, my cousin’s son, was killed Saturday near Gaza. He was a Sayeret Nahal platoon leader and had countless awards as an outstanding soldier. He was also the warmest, kindest person you will ever meet.

Tomer was 23. His memory will always be a blessing to our family 💔

[Oren Kessler @OrenKessler]

Tomer (and me) ... in more innocent times

[Oren Kessler @OrenKessler]

@erikadreifus Thank you, dear Erika 🫶

[Oren Kessler @OrenKessler]

"Atzili was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7 and was held hostage for weeks by two young members of Hamas - a teacher and a lawyer - not knowing if her husband and three children were still alive."

Her children were indeed alive. Her husband, Aviv, sadly was not.

[Oren Kessler @OrenKessler]

Liat Atzili Spent Weeks Conversing With Her Hamas Captors. Here's What They Talked About

https://t.co/UeAcpsUBIn

[Oren Kessler @OrenKessler]

"This is an issue that requires deep deliberation and a display of the humanism that has always characterized Islam."

[Oren Kessler @OrenKessler]

Hamas Actually Believed It Would Conquer Israel. In Preparation, It Divided the Country Into Cantons

https://t.co/evAGJvcH1x

[Oren Kessler @OrenKessler]

"In dealing with the Jewish settlers on Palestinian land, there must be a distinction in attitudes: a fighter, who must be killed; a [Jew] who is fleeing and can be left alone or be prosecuted for his crimes in the judicial arena; and a peaceful individual who gives himself up."

[Oren Kessler @OrenKessler]

Israel was prepared to shoot down flydubai jet during attempted terror attack — report

“The officials said al-Hammami had applied to flydubai after searching for airlines that operated flights to Tel Aviv.“

https://t.co/n1PNl421QY

[Rachel Moiselle @RachelMoiselle]

Excellent statement from Yachad (a left-leaning, anti-occupation organisation).

‘For most British Jews, belief in Jewish peoplehood and self-determination is core to their Jewish identity, and this is what they understand to be the basic premise of Zionism. It is why when Jews attend synagogue they pray facing Jerusalem, and why the concept of “Zion” has been at the heart of Jewish communal life for two millennia.

Telling Jews they are acceptable only if they give up that understanding of collective Jewish identity, is not, as some have sought to explain it away, an attack on a political ideology. It is an attack on Jewish identity.’

[Simon Schama @simon_schama]

It actually was the Jewish community of the Old City that was driven out of its ancient home in May 1948. This is the pathetic level of historical ignorance ( registered with such certainty) colouring the Green vote today.