Across the Table Part II: Discussing Israel and Palestine

Join Maz Jadallah and Steve Scheier for this important discussion.

Maz Jadallah is a Palestinian American entrepreneur and long time resident of the Bay Area. His parents are Palestinian refugees from the 1948 Nakba, or “catastrophe”, that saw the mass displacement and dispossession of 750,000 Palestinians during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.

Steve Scheier is a Jewish Amercan author, leadership cultivator and speaker.

What We're Doing

We are two relatively new friends—one Palestinian American, one Jewish American—who met through mutual circles and found ourselves drawn into deep, ongoing conversations about Israel/Palestine. Despite the emotional weight and complexity of the topic, we discovered that by grounding our dialogue in trust, curiosity, and shared humanity, we could engage meaningfully across difference.In this first session, we’ll sit down for a 1:1 public conversation—not a debate—to model what it looks like to ask hard questions, explore inherited narratives, and listen with empathy, even when we don’t agree.

Why We’re Doing It

In the U.S., conversations about Israel/Palestine are often shut down, avoided, or reduced to slogans. They can be especially fraught between Jewish and Palestinian communities, where pain, fear, and political assumptions run deep.We believe there is a deep hunger for honest, empathetic, and courageous dialogue—not to score points, but to build understanding. Our aim is to create a space where people can witness how trust can form across divides, and where difficult truths can be spoken without destroying connection.

There will not be a live audience Q&A. Instead, we invite attendees to . These questions will help shape future dialogues and allow us to address sensitive issues thoughtfully and thoroughly.

This is the second of a 3 Part Series over the next few months exploring this subject.

Proceeds from this event to support World Central Kitchen

Host or Publisher Manny's