Before becoming a problem, conflict or tragic backyard for the State of Israel, Palestine was simply Palestine, which seems completely obvious. However, this obvious fact has silenced, and not by chance. With clear writing and precise documentation, before our very eyes Teresa Aranguren reveals the origin of what has come to be called the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, from its beginnings in the late nineteenth century with the birth of Zionism to the ongoing genocide perpetrated by the State of Israel. And it begins with what today we would consider a tremendous but incredibly effective hoax because, despite the denial of obvious facts, it is still believed today: the idea that Palestine is “a land without a people for a people without a land.” 

As part of the activities which Casa Árabe has organized for the Madrid Book Fair, Teresa Aranguren will be holding a talk about her book with Isaías Barreñada a PhD in International Relations from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid and the coordinator of its bachelor’s degree program in International Relations. The event will be introduced by Karim Hauser, of Casa Árabe. 

Teresa Aranguren began her career as a journalist in 1971. In 1981, she became a correspondent for Mundo Obrero, covering Israel’s invasion of Lebanon, as well as working for the magazine Interviú and the newspaper El Independiente, covering the Iran-Iraq War from Tehran. For 15 years (as of 1989), she was the Middle East envoy for Telemadrid, covering each of the Gulf Wars, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the war in the Balkans. She has published the books “Palestina: El hilo de la memoria” (“Palestine: The thread of memory”), “Olivo Roto: Escenas de la ocupación” (“Broken Olive Tree: Scenes from the Occupation”) and, as a co-author with photographer Sandra Barrilaro and the Palestinian writers Bichara Jader and John Mansour, “Contra el olvido, una memoria fotográfica de Palestina antes de la Nakba” (“Fighting Oblivion: A photographic memoir of Palestina Before the Nakba”). 

Isaías Barreñada holds a PhD in International Relations from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid and is the coordinator of its bachelor’s degree program in International Relations. He authored “Breve historia del Sahara Occidental. Resistencia frente a realpolitik” (“Brief History of the Western Sahara: Resistance in the face of Realpolitik,” 2022) and has co-authored several books, such as “La cuestión palestina. Colonialismo, Nakba, ocupación y genocidio” (“The Palestinian Question: Colonialism, Nakba, occupation and genocide,” 2024), “Palestina. De los Acuerdos de Oslo al apartheid” (“Palestine: From the Oslo Accords to Apartheid,” 2023), “Geopolítica de las primaveras árabes. Dimensión internacional y dinámicas locales (“Geopolitics of the Arab Springs: International factors and local dynamics,” 2022), Movilizaciones populares tras las Primaveras Árabes (2011-2021) (“Popular Uprisings After the Arab Spring [2011-2021], 2021), Entre España y Palestina. Revisión crítica de unas relaciones (“Between Spain and Palestine: A critical review of relations,” 2018), and “España y la cuestión palestina” (“Spain and the Palestinian Question,” 2003), in addition to others. He is a member of the Complutense Research Group on the Maghreb and the Middle East (GICMOM).