The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine

Excellent book

Everyone should read it!

Ilan Pappe has written a moving account of the dispossession of the Palestinians in 1948. The founding of the State of Israel at the expense of the indigenous inhabitants of Palestine has for a long time been surrounded by Zionist inspired myths, designed to delegitimize the claims of the Palestinians and reduce them to a non-entity. The destruction of their villages and covering their ruins with forests and claims that Palestinians never existed, as were made by the late Israeli PM Golda Meir, are all part of this. Accounts of how more thant 700.000 Palestinians lost everything they had in the Nakba of 1948, in what is known as the War for Independence in Israel, have been around for decades. The eminent Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi wrote a seminal account in From Haven To Conquest (1971) and numerous other Western authors have written about the plight of the Palestinians. In the middle of the 1980s a number of Israeli historians (Simha Flapan, Benny Morris, Tom Segev, Avi Shlaim and Ilan Pappe) began to question the Zionist founding myths as more and more historic documents came available, shining light on the events of 1948. That in 1948 more than 700.000 Palestinians were expelled by force of arms or fled Palestine and were never allowed to return is beyond doubt. The only question remains the degree of premeditation on the part of the Zionist leadership. Palestinian historian Nur Masalha has showed convincingly that the concept of transfer of the indigenous Palestinian population was widely discussed among the Zionist leadership in the days of the Mandate. And founding father Theodor Herzl himself spoke in terms of "spiriting the penniless population across the border". The aim of the Zionist movement was to create a homogenous ethnic Jewish state in the whole of Palestine. But the presence of a significant majority of Palestinian arabs (Moslems and Christians), owning more than 93% of the cultivated land in Palestine stood in the way. The only way therefore to create an exclusive Jewish state was through force of arms and by ethnic cleansing, which is exactly what happened in 1948. This is the subject of Ilan Pappe's book and it is a tour de force. He describes the meetings of the Consultancy, a small group of decision makers led by Ben-Gurion, the finalising of Plan Dalet, which served as the masterplan for ethnic cleansing. He offers new evidence, like the Village Files, a detailed record of all the Palestinian arab villages, their composition, strength and weaknesses which was compiled by Zionist volunteers over decades. The Village Files gave vital information for the military forces, who attacked the villages during their cleansing operations. The extent of the massacres of Palestinian villagers, that took place, the systematic destruction of hundreds of ancient villages and buildings of great architectural and historic value is heart breaking. This is a truly moving account of the tragedy that befell the Palestinian people in 1948, a tragedy that continues to this day. In spite of all the pretenses that the State of Israel seeks peace it's objective is unchanged and that is to get as much Palestinian land as possible with the smallest number of Palestinians. What happens in the Occupied Territories is none other than ethnic cleansing in disguise. Ilan Pappe's book is essential reading for all who want to understand the reasons why Palestinians are in conflict with the State of Israel. True peace between Palestinians and Israelis is not possible without addressing the crucial events of 1948. Israelis must end their state of denial in this respect. With this book Pappe has made an invaluable contribution to the cause of peace.

De obligada lectura para entender esta época

In “The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine,” lo storico israeliano Ilan Pappé offre una ricostruzione profonda e documentata degli eventi del 1948 che portarono alla nascita dello Stato d’Israele e all’esodo forzato di centinaia di migliaia di palestinesi. Basandosi su fonti d’archivio storiche e testimonianze verificate, Pappé sfida le versioni “ufficiali” dimostrando come la “Nakba” non fu una semplice conseguenza del conflitto, ma il risultato di un piano sistematico volto all’espulsione della popolazione araba dalla propria terra. Il libro è uno sguardo coraggioso e provocatorio sulla storia del conflitto israelo-palestinese, che spinge il lettore a mettere in discussione ciò che crede di sapere e ad approfondire le complesse radici di una delle crisi geopolitiche più durature del nostro tempo.

Essential reading for any one interested in the history of the region

An amazing hard hitting book, about the true history that Palestine and it's people the Palestinians had to face by the Zionist Terrorist gangs, written by former Zionists who have now broken free of the lies and propaganda. Highly recommended book for anyone who wants to understand the occupation of Palestine.