The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine

by Ilan Pappé

Book Overview

The book that is providing a storm of controversy, from 'Israel's bravest historian' (John Pilger)

Renowned Israeli historian, Ilan Pappe's groundbreaking work on the formation of the State of Israel.

'Along with the late Edward Said, Ilan Pappe is the most eloquent writer of Palestinian history.' NEW STATESMAN

Between 1947 and 1949, over 400 Palestinian villages were deliberately destroyed, civilians...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1851685553
• ISBN13: 9781851685554
• Release Date: September 2007
• Publisher: ONEWorld Publications
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 5.0" x 7.6"

Customer Reviews

Superb account of the Zionists' expulsion of the Palestinians

Pappe, an Israeli historian and a senior lecturer at Haifa University, has written a superb account of the Israeli expulsion of the Palestinians from their land in 1948. He quotes David Ben Gurion, leader of the Zionist movement from the mid-1920 until the 1960s, who wrote in his diary in 1938, "I am for compulsory transfer; I do not see anything immoral in it." This contradicts the Zionists' public claim that they were seizing a land without a people. Pappe writes of the Israelis' March 1948 plan for evicting the Palestinians, "The orders came with a detailed description of the methods to be employed to forcibly evict the people: large-scale intimidation; laying siege to and bombarding villages and population centres; setting fire to homes, properties and goods; expulsion; demolition; and, finally, planting mines among the rubble to prevent any of the expelled inhabitants from returning." Between 30 March and 15 May 1948, i.e. before any Arab government intervened, Israeli forces seized 200 villages and expelled 250,000 Palestinians. The Israeli leadership stated, "The principal objective of the operation is the destruction of Arab villages ... the eviction of the villagers." On 9 April, Israeli forces massacred 93 people, including 30 babies, at Deir Yassin. In Haifa, the Israeli commander ordered, "Kill any Arab you encounter." This all happened under British rule in Palestine, where Britain had 75,000 troops: Britain's Mandate did not end until 14 May. The Labour government connived at the Israeli onslaught, although the British state was legally obliged as the occupier (and also by UN resolution 181) to uphold law and order. Yet the Labour government announced that it would no longer be responsible for law and order and it withdrew all the British policemen. It also forbade the presence of any UN bodies, again breaching the terms of the UN resolution. The government ordered British forces to disarm the few Palestinians who had weapons, promising to protect them from Israeli attacks, then immediately reneged on this promise. On 24 May 1948, Ben Gurion wrote, "We will establish a Christian state in Lebanon, the southern border of which will be the Litani River. We will break Transjordan, bomb Amman and destroy its army, and then Syria falls, and if Egypt will still continue to fight - we will bombard Port Said, Alexandria and Cairo. This will be in revenge for what they (the Egyptians, the Aramis and Assyrians) did to our forefathers during Biblical times." These ravings of an insane warmonger hardly betrayed any genuine fear of a `second holocaust'. The Palestinians were suffering massive expulsion, not trying to destroy the Jewish community. Pappe summarises, "When it created its nation-state, the Zionist movement did not wage a war that `tragically but inevitably' led to the expulsion of `parts of' the indigenous population, but the other way round: the main goal was the ethnic cleansing of all of Palestine, which the movement covete

The antidote to Nakba Denial; a must read

Simply put, this book is excellent and must be read by all who are involved in and concerned with the Israel/Palestine conflict. Of course, specifically, it should be read by Israelis and American Jews in particular (I say this as an American anti-zionist Jew) who to a large degree are in denial as to the true source of the conflict, which is the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians initiated in 1948, aka the Nakba. In an age where the world is shocked by denial of the Nazi Holocaust, there is still pervasive and widespread denial of the Nakba, the central event in the plight of the Palestinians. I hope all those who are skeptical and hostile to the premise of this book overcome their fear and insecurity and do the right thing; read it.

Palestinians pay the price for Europe's guilt

Ilan Pappe has written a scholarly work on the dark side of the formation of the state of Israel. While this is the first book I've ever read on the subject and can't ascertain whether the book is 100% factually accurate, you can't just dismiss all of it simply out of hand just because you don't agree with the contents. While atrocities were committed by both sides one can't but help feel sympathy and sadness for the Palestinians. Not only were they the majority in Palestine but the world's memory of 1948 is that the land was empty and those few Arabs living there left voluntarily. They were up against a determined, highly organized and motivated Zionist movement that saw Palestine as their future homeland that necessitated a majority Jewish population. The Arabs were to pay for the blood on the hands of Europeans with their own blood and the land they lived on for centuries. Well before 1947 there were extremely extensive surveys started of every Arab village down even into the minutest detail. These surveys were they used by the Nagana and the Stern gangs terrorize those villages to "motivate" the Arabs to leave. Dynamiting houses with the occupants inside was quite effective as was shooting through windows. There are those who think that any ad motion of guilt will lead to the destruction of Israel miss the point. The Truth and Reconciliation committee in SA has led to peace. Could not the Israelis admit some guilt and start on the road to peace? Admitting guilt will take away some of the fire that the Jihadist's use to fan the flames of their hatred. Honest dialogue by both sides is what is sorely needed if we are to see peace in our lifetimes.

A prerequisite for understanding the Palestinian experience

In order to achieve peaceful coexistence in Palestine/Israel, it is imperative that both Palestinians and Israelis hear the true stories of the other and acknowledge their own wrongdoings. This book documents, using historical sources, the wrongdoings that were done to the Palestinians during the 1948 war (the Israeli war of independence and the war the Palestinians call the catastrophe). This book analyses historical evidence from Israeli sources, indepdently proving true the 1948 experiences the Palestinian refugees, men and women, rich and poor, muslim and christian recount about their cleansing from their land and property. These events of 1948 accounted here were censored by the perpetrators from even the Israeli population. These events were never added to school books and intentionally pushed out of the Israeli society's consciousness. However, these events and experiences are vivid in the Palestinian consciousness. Palestinians continue to live the consequences of their diaspora and forced migration in 1948 today. In order to achieve peace, it is crucial to understand the Palestinian experience and acknowledge it. These experiences are just as true and unquestionable to Palestinians as true and unquestionable the holocaust is to the Israelis. Now it is totally expected that the book would face resistence and bad reviews here by some Israelis who have never heard these stories and are unwanting to hear them (thanks to censorship). Similarly, zionist enthusiasts are likely to resist this book as they've always resisted any effort that would make heard the Palestinian history. But a mutual aknowledgement of history in its good and bad, accepting responsibility for crimes and correcting any wrongdoings are a must for both sides to achieve true peace with the other. This book is a must read for anyone (Israeli, Palestinian, Western or Eastern) that is truely interested in peace in the middle east and in a well-founded and well-informed understanding of the Palestinian situation.

Read this if you can bear the tragic painful truth

Ilan Pappe has written a book about what actually happened. A proper historical record. From the historical records - for instance he quotes from Ben-Gurion's diary quite frequently. It is a painful read. The whole thing is an absolutely tragic and grim farce, because the State of Israel has done to the Palestinians quite a number of the truly nasty things that were done to them. And by not recognising what they have done, and are doing, they continue to traumatize the Palestinians, and the rest of the world. Race and religion are remarkable in the hold that they have over human minds and lives. It is incredible that after nearly 1900 years anybody should think they had the right to kick another people out of their homes, or want to do so. If it is right (I strongly believe it is) under modern ways of thinking about human rights that Jewish people should have paintings, money, etc stolen in the 1933-45 period, returned to them, or their relatives, today, then it can only be right that the Palestinian people get their property back. As far as I can gather about 90% of Israel was taken by force, or left by a people frightened away by deliberate terror, and not allowed to return, their land illegally confiscated. That is a big story. It is the sad tragic truth. It needed to be written down in detail. A very important work. Israel needs a truth commission, in the South Africa, Mandela style. It needs to be honest about what happened, and start taking the (very difficult) measures required. Otherwise this terrible tragedy will grind on to a possibly truly horrible end. And Jewish people the world over will suffer - however unfairly. As will we all. By the way, I live in England. I am an Anglican Christian Atheist - like George Orwell, who is buried in my churchyard. The UK and the US have had a great deal to do with the creation of Israel, and we should own up to our part in this tragedy, and pay up - the Palestinians need to be properly recompensed. I would not object to paying $200 extra in my taxes - or whatever it takes to make good the wrong. If we are going to get the people of the planet working properly together, to solve the climate problem, and to make poverty a thing of the past, and to give nature its fair share of the planet - sorting this problem would be a very good start. The injustice the Palestinians have suffered MUST be PROPERLY dealt with. That means FAIRLY. Really. Jerusalem could be made an International Heritage City, as the UN originally intended, for the benefit of everybody on this planet, including religious atheists like myself (an ancestor of mine was William Sancroft, Archbishop of Canterbury at an interesting time !) and not just for the benefit of a small selfish religious or racially minded group of people. Buy the book. Read it. Pass it on. A really important work.