From the New York Times, I'm Michael Babaro.

This is the Daily.

As the Israeli-Palestinian conflict enters its darkest chapter in decades, both sides

are evoking the same foundational moment in their past, the events of 1948. Today, a look at the

meaning and reality of what happened that year.

I spoke with David Schipler,

the author of a book about the conflict

and a Jerusalem Bureau Chief for the Times at a crucial moment in our understanding of 1948. It's Friday, November 3rd.

David. Hi Michael. David, I really want to thank you for making time for us.

My pleasure.

So David, in this war between Hamas and Israel, it's feeling extremely important to understand the

meaning of 1948.

The year when Israel declared itself a nation, was attacked by its Arab neighbors, and waged a war

of independence that displaced Palestinians on a large scale.

Right now, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin and Yahoo is describing this current war as a second

Israeli war of independence, a second 1948.

Palestinians in Gaza are invoking 1948 themselves to describe this current conflict because of the potential

for another massive dislocation from their homes. That's right, yes. But it feels like for

any of these references, these claims and counterclaims, to really make sense.

We need to understand why Palestinians, why Israelis are invoking this year,

and what stories they tell themselves about what 1948 means.

And then of course we need to understand what actually happened that year.

...