In Kingdom of Olives and Ash, Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman have joined forces with the Israeli NGO Breaking the Silence – an organization of veteran soldiers who served in the occupied territories since the Second Intifada – and a host of illustrious writers to tell the stories of the people on the ground in the contested territories. Chabon and Waldman are joined onstage by contributors Dave Eggers and Fida Jiryis, as well as Yehuda Shaul of Breaking the Silence, for this discussion exploring the human cost of the conflict. Moderated by New Israel Fund's Daniel Sokatch.
Michael Chabon is the bestselling and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Moonglow and The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, among many others.
Fida Jiryis is a Palestinian writer and editor, and the author of Hayatuna Elsagheera (Our Small Life) and Al-Khawaja (The Gentleman), two collections of Arabic short stories on village life in the Galilee.
Yehuda Shaul was born and raised in Jerusalem in an ultra-Orthodox family and graduated from a Yeshiva high school in an Israeli settlement in the West Bank. He served in the IDF as a commander and platoon sergeant in the 50th battalion of the Nahal Brigade from 2001 to 2004, in the West Bank towns of Bethlehem and Hebron. Yehuda founded Breaking the Silence in 2004 with a group of fellow veterans and he currently serves as the organization's Co-Director.