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 were massacred and around a million men, women, and children were expelled from their homes at gunpoint.

Denied for almost six decades, had it happened today it could only have been called 'ethnic cleansing'. Decisively debunking the myth that the Palestinian population left of their own accord in the course of this war, Ilan Pappe offers impressive archival evidence to demonstrate that, from its very inception, a central plank in Israel's founding ideology was the forcible removal of the indigenous population. Indispensable for anyone interested in the current crisis in the Middle East.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1851685553
• ISBN13: 9781851685554
• Release Date: September 2007
• Publisher: Oneworld Publications
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 0.88 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 5.0" x 7.6"

Customer Reviews

A MUST READ to understand all the protesting!

Why are people protesting the genocide of Palestinians, being brutalized, arrested and called anti-Semites? Why are college professors being put before a congress largely paid off by AIPAC and affiliated pro-Israel political lobbying groups, also accused of being anti-Semites if they allow their students the freedom of speech given them by the First Amendment, and forced to punish these students, or resign? Why did the same congress not only invite Netanyahu to speak before congress, but stand and applaud his evil comments like a bunch of seals begging for a fish? To know why October 7th took place; why it HAD to take place, you HAVE to know the history prior to October 7th!!! You'll find it here. Read This Book!

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.

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.