The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine

The book is a supremely well-researched historiography written by an Israeli Jewish author. It's gives you an in-depth historical events about the start of the Zionist movement in Europe, its establishment as a minir political movement in Israel, the involvement of the British in dividing the land of Palestine, all the way to the ideological foundation that motivate the Zionist to push for Zionist-only state, at the cost of ethically cleaning half of Palestinians. A truly an eye-opener book to understand the bitter struggle the Palestinians face against Israel's unilateral policy. How good is this book? While the book is written 20 years ago, it's Epilogue accurately predicted and described what we are seeing in Palestine today. Highly recommended it to all.

The book makes Impartial and honest account of the events. Ilan Pappe's approach is very objective. No historical distortions. His book is very well researched and based on true references and events. Finally, I found a sane voice full of scholarship and analysis. A MUST READ FOR ALL WANT TO KNOW THE REALITY OF THE CASE.

Terrific read to understand the Palestinian cause. Very well written.

Informative, wish it covered more about 1967 and 2002 events and was better organised

To be clear I feel that both sides have been wronged. But reading this, makes you realize how since the 1930's, theres been a progrom to wipe out / remove Palestinians from the land between sea and river. It's written by a Jewish histographer, who meticulously demonstrates how the state planned this. Using letters, land records, official communication, unofficial diaries of those in power. It's a bit much to absorb in a single week,but if you like the detailing, supporting data, then this one is for you.

If you really wanna learn the truth, educate yourself.

It will give you the understanding of what happened to Palestinians

This book is highly recommended for readers who seek a deeper understanding of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Ilan Pappé escreve em muitos detalhes os eventos antes, durante, e após a execução do plano de Ben Gurion para limpeza étnica da Palestina. É descrito não apenas a expulsão do povo palestino de suas terras, mas também o minucioso planejamento que antecedeu o evento e os grandes esforços para tentar esconder os crimes cometidos e apagar a memória dos palestinos.

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.

Excellent book

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.

A must read for anyone who wants to understand the history of this region and the reasons why things are how they are today. Ilan Pappe is one of the most eminent historians on the subject. I bought this book previously but this time for my brother's birthday.