Renowned Israeli historian Ilan Pappe's groundbreaking book revisits the formation of the State of Israel. 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 ...
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Renowned Israeli historian Ilan Pappe's groundbreaking book revisits the formation of the State of Israel. 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. This is an indispensable book for anyone interested in the current crisis in the Middle East.
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The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine is the definitive story of the Palestinian NAKBA, the catastrophic dispossession of 800,000 Palestinians in 1948 and 49. With academic rigor Pappe,an Israeli who had to move to England for his psychic survival, documents this extraordinary and underreported crime of the Jewish state. At times you will have to put this book down and shake your head in disbelief at the extraordinary cruelty and clinical ruthlessness of Ben Gurion the master planner.Anybody wishing to understand the situation in Israel/Palestine must begin with this very accessible history.
ELIA
Aug 23, 2007
Outstanding
This book is a "a must read" for all truth loving citizens of the world of all faiths and ethnic background. It surfaces the truth behind the Palestinian tragedy which is the cause of most of today's so called terrorism and violence throught the middle east and the world. Ilan Pappe uncovers the best and worst of the Palestinian tragedy "Nakbe". He highlights the hospitality exhibited by the Palestinians towards the Jews when they first arrived into Palestine and the worst exercised by the European Jews in their effort to establish the Zionist state of Israel. As an Israeli, his courage to research and narrate the events that lead to expelling hundreds of thousands of Palestinians and the killing of thousands of others, is a credit to his Jewish faith. Unlike the Zionist Jewish leaders who projected the worst of Judaism and humanity, leaders who duplicated in Palestine what the Nazis did in Europe, without regard for the rights of the Palestinians to live in their own country and on their own land. They massacred innocent people for the sake of the "land grab". The book is well researched and documented, easy to read, magnetic and compelling.
MartyHeyman
Apr 23, 2007
Solid History
The author is an Israeli historian with access to the primary materials available in the country. He quotes from and refers to Ben Gurion's diaries extensively. It is a profoundly troubling work. His recounting is likely to be quite accurate and world leaders and the press may only be able to suppress it by ignoring it.
You should not ignore it. It is the story of a cold-blooded plan to rid the land of its occupants, to through hundreds of thousands of people out of their homes and off their lands. It is the story of ethnic cleansing and the wholesale destruction of other peoples' property It explains more than any other work I've stumbled on the deep anger of the Palestinians and their supporters.
