Ep. 11: The History: From the Arab Revolt (1936-1939) to the End of World War II (Oren Kessler – Royal Historical Society, UK)

Guest: Oren Kessler – historian, journalist, and author, fellow of the Royal Historical Society Hosts: Efe & Yusuf Oren Kessler is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and author of Palestine 1936: The Great Revolt and the Roots of the Middle East Conflict. He has served as Arab Affairs Correspondent for The Jerusalem Post, editor and translator at Haaretz, research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, and Deputy Director for Research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Kessler holds a BA in History from the University of Toronto and an MA in Diplomacy and Conflict Studies from Reichman University, Israel. His work blends scholarly rigor and accessible storytelling, and has appeared in Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and The New Republic. Palestine 1936 has received critical acclaim, including the Wall Street Journal’s Ten Best Books of 2023, Booklist’s Best Books of the Year, finalist for the National Jewish Book Awards, the Sophie Brody Medal, the 2024 Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature and was named one of the ten best non-fiction books of 2025 by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. In this episode: We explore the Arab Revolt in Palestine (1936–1939). Kessler explains British Mandate policies, the emergence of Palestinian national identity, and early Jewish institution-building. He examines the revolt’s causes, leadership, and key figures, highlighting Haj Amin al-Husseini, the Mufti of Jerusalem, and his later collaboration with Nazi Germany. Topics include the Peel Commission, the 1939 White Paper, the Evian Conference, and the broader Holocaust context. The discussion provides insight into how these events shaped Arab-Jewish relations and the trajectory of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This episode was recorded on July 23, 2025. Links: Oren Kessler: https://www.orenkessler.com/ Kessler, Oren. Palestine 1936: The Great Revolt and the Roots of the Middle East Conflict. Rowman & Littlefield, 2023. Kessler, Oren. Palästina 1936: Der Große Aufstand und die Wurzeln des Nahostkonflikts. Translated by Norbert Juraschitz, Carl Hanser Verlag, 2025. Further resources: Peel et al. (1937), Report of the Palestine Royal Commission (Cmd. 5479). https://unispal.un.org/pdfs/Cmd5479.pdf Musa Alami: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musa_Alami Please also check out our other episodes to explore multiple perspectives: On the Arab Revolt: Simon Fuchs, Victor Kattan, Gudrun Krämer On the White Papers, the Holocaust, and Jewish Refugees: Michael Brenner, Derek Penslar, Anita Haviv On the Mufti of Jerusalem: Gudrun Krämer On 1948: Derek Penslar, Adel Manna, Muriel Asseburg, Gudrun Krämer Disclaimer: Guest opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the podcast team. Technical legal terms are explained in Episode 36 with Prof. Claus Kreß; contested histories are addressed by Prof. Gudrun Krämer in Episode 21.