In the first of two talks reflecting on just returning from five weeks of teaching and traveling in Israel/Palestine, we start to explore two themes: (1) identity in the context of Buddhist teachings about anatta and Donald's experience of being with many people in Israel with very similar East European Jewish ancestry; and (2) how to understand, be with, respond to, and transform unresolved and tragic historical trauma and suffering, found both with Jewish Israelis and Palestinians both in Israel and the occupied territories. A second talk will continue this exploration.