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The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine
Since the Holocaust, it has been almost impossible to hide large-scale crimes against humanity. In our communicative world, few modern catastrophes are concealed from the public eye. And yet, Ilan Pappe unveils, one such crime has been erased from the global public memory: the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians in 1948.
But why is it denied, and by whom? The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine offers an investigation of this mystery.
But why is it denied, and by whom? The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine offers an investigation of this mystery.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2006
About the author
Ilan Pappé
76 books1,315 followersIlan Pappé is a professor with the College of Social Sciences and International Studies at the University of Exeter in the UK, director of the university's European Centre for Palestine Studies, co-director of the Exeter Centre for Ethno-Political Studies, and political activist. He was formerly a senior lecturer in political science at the University of Haifa (1984–2007) and chair of the Emil Touma Institute for Palestinian and Israeli Studies in Haifa (2000–2008).
Pappé is one of Israel's "New Historians" who, since the release of pertinent British and Israeli government documents in the early 1980s, have been rewriting the history of Israel's creation in 1948, and the corresponding expulsion or flight of 700,000 Palestinians in the same year. He has written that the expulsions were not decided on an ad hoc basis, as other historians have argued, but constituted the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, in accordance with Plan Dalet, drawn up in 1947 by Israel's future leaders. He blames the creation of Israel for the lack of peace in the Middle East, arguing that Zionism is more dangerous than Islamic militancy, and has called for an international boycott of Israeli academics.
His work has been both supported and criticized by other historians. Before he left Israel in 2008, he had been condemned in the Knesset, Israel's parliament; a minister of education had called for him to be sacked; his photograph had appeared in a newspaper at the centre of a target; and he had received several death threats.
Pappé is one of Israel's "New Historians" who, since the release of pertinent British and Israeli government documents in the early 1980s, have been rewriting the history of Israel's creation in 1948, and the corresponding expulsion or flight of 700,000 Palestinians in the same year. He has written that the expulsions were not decided on an ad hoc basis, as other historians have argued, but constituted the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, in accordance with Plan Dalet, drawn up in 1947 by Israel's future leaders. He blames the creation of Israel for the lack of peace in the Middle East, arguing that Zionism is more dangerous than Islamic militancy, and has called for an international boycott of Israeli academics.
His work has been both supported and criticized by other historians. Before he left Israel in 2008, he had been condemned in the Knesset, Israel's parliament; a minister of education had called for him to be sacked; his photograph had appeared in a newspaper at the centre of a target; and he had received several death threats.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,297 reviews
November 24, 2011
They say the truth is a bitter pill to swallow. Actually it is more than that! Reading this book as an extremely painful journey, in a way that exceeds your worst nightmares.
I wasn't able to read more than 20 pages per day, not because of its richness with information but because my brain needed time to absorb all the atrocities. PLEASE READ THIS BOOK! I think it's one of our responsibilities as humans to educate ourselves about the injustice in the world so we can be part of the change in the futur. again; PLEASE READ THIS BOOK! you'll do us a favor.
I wasn't able to read more than 20 pages per day, not because of its richness with information but because my brain needed time to absorb all the atrocities. PLEASE READ THIS BOOK! I think it's one of our responsibilities as humans to educate ourselves about the injustice in the world so we can be part of the change in the futur. again; PLEASE READ THIS BOOK! you'll do us a favor.
May 26, 2021
What a courageous book to write and a difficult yet important book to read. Ilan Pappe details in excruciating detail the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people enacted by the settler state of Israel. The amount of displacement, murder, rape, and other forms of violence inflicted upon the Palestinian people by Zionists makes for an unpleasant read, yet a necessary one to understand the historical context of the present-day Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Big kudos to Ilan Pappe for writing this book which directly challenges colonialism and racism using in-depth research with a critical lens. I hope that this book helps folks dive deeper into understanding contentious elements of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, like the conflation of anti-Zionism and antisemitism, the ability for a group of individuals to both be oppressed and to oppress others, and the disturbing silencing of pro-Palestine views from right-wing conservatives who persist in their bigotry and complicity in ethnic cleansing. Pappe’s writing can veer a bit into the dense academic side but honestly who cares given the urgency of the material.
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May 15, 2021
AL NAKBA
Quand’è che una nazione è abbastanza forte e matura da potersi confrontare con il proprio passato?
Me ne vengono in mente diverse, anche non lontane, che ancora non riescono a scendere a patti con una parte del loro passato.
Cominciando proprio da Israele, che non riesce a conciliarsi con la sua stessa genesi.
Rifugiati palestinesi durante l'esodo del 1948. Almeno 700 mila persone furono allontanate con la forza, costrette ad andarsene senza aver mai più la possibilità di ritornare.
Il 1948 è l’anno del peccato originale, della nascita della colpa.
Ma Pappe dimostra che è l’anno in cui la colpa viene consumata (o meglio, iniziata a essere consumata, visto che si tratta di operazione che dura a tutt’oggi), ma i sintomi e i primi istanti di vita di quello che sarebbe successo quell’anno, quando gli inglesi se ne andarono dalla Palestina, e di quello che è successo nei 65 anni a seguire, fino ai nostri giorni, viene da un po’ più lontano, da quando i sionisti decisero che la Palestina era la loro Terra Promessa, la loro terra assegnata.
Ilan Pappe è uno storico israeliano che appartiene a quella che si può definire la Nuova Storiografia Israeliana, vive e lavora in Inghilterra, non è molto amato in patria, dove (ma non solo lì) suscita i soliti rigurgiti di negazionismo.
Questo libro del 2006 è basato sullo studio di documenti soltanto da poco messi a disposizione degli storici, quale il diario di Ben Gurion, e i verbali delle riunioni del Comitato di Consulta, l’organo decisionale del partito-milizia del movimento sionista, l’Haganà.
Nella notte del 31 ottobre 1946 tre giovani militanti dell'Irgun, gruppo militante sionista, fecero brillare alcune cariche esplosive piazzate a Villa Bracciano, accanto a Porta Pia, sede dell'ambasciata britannica a Roma. L'edificio, deserto al momento dell'esplosione, venne raso al suolo e quindi ricostruito nel 1971 così come lo si vede oggi. I sionisti volevano convincere gli inglesi ad abbandonare la Palestina per aver campo libero nel loro piano di pulizia etnica. I palestinesi al contrario avrebbero volentieri trattenuto i britannici.
Gli israeliani hanno sostenuto che la convivenza con gli arabi è sempre stata impossibile a causa delle continue aggressioni che hanno dovuto subire, e che gli arabi se ne sono andati dalla Palestina spontaneamente, abbandonando case beni e villaggi.
Ilan Pappe ribalta questa tesi, la smentisce in toto, e dimostra che abbandono ci fu, ma imposto con l’uso della forza e della violenza da parte degli israeliani, che progettavano già dagli anni Trenta un vero e proprio programma di pulizia etnica, scientificamente messo in atto dalle autorità, sioniste prima e israeliane poi, con l’obiettivo di allargare lo spazio della nascente Israele ben oltre i confini fissati dalle convenzioni internazionali e far sì che all’interno di questi nuovi confini non ci fossero più arabi.
Il piano ebbe successo e fu favorito dall’ignavia della comunità internazionale che, ancora presa dai sensi di colpa per la sua inattività contro lo sterminio del popolo ebraico in Europa durante la seconda guerra mondiale, si astenne da qualsiasi ingerenza.
Rovine del villaggio palestinese di Suba, presso Gerusalemme, visto dal kibbutz Zova
L’atteggiamento di Israele a Napoli verrebbe sintetizzato con una magnifica illuminante espressione: “chiagne e fotte”.
Cioè, mentre Israele si lamentava pubblicamente delle (presunte) aggressioni della popolazione araba, organizzava, preparava, iniziava e portava avanti sistematicamente la pulizia etnica del popolo palestinese.
Il mito della fondazione di Israele, secondo il quale appena iniziò la guerra ci fu un volontario esodo di palestinesi, fa acqua da tutte le parti. È pura invenzione che gli ebrei tentarono di persuadere i palestinesi a restare, cosa sulla quale s’insiste ancora oggi nei libri di scuola israeliani.
Centinaia di migliaia di palestinesi erano già stati espulsi con la forza ancor prima del conflitto e altre decine di migliaia lo sarebbero state nel corso delle prime settimane di guerra. Per la maggior parte di loro, la data del 15 maggio 1948 allora non aveva un particolare significato: era semplicemente un altro giorno nel tremendo calendario di pulizia etnica che era iniziato più di cinque mesi prima. I tremendi resoconti della pulizia etnica non offuscarono mai la narrazione ufficiale e popolare israeliana, dato che vennero completamente cancellati.
Campo di rifugiati di Jaramana in Siria.
Pappe, in epigrafe a ogni capitolo, suggerisce il paragone con il caso di pulizia etnica recente a noi più vicino, quello nei Balcani: solo che qui, gli stessi reati, non hanno privato le vittime, se non altro, del loro diritto a poter ritornare nella propria casa o a essere indennizzate.
Diritto che, invece, al di là del Mediterraneo, Israele non ha mai voluto riconoscere, nonostante la risoluzione dell’ONU.
La tesi di Pappe è che fin tanto che Israele non riconoscerà la pulizia etnica compiuta a partire dal 1948, e che in quell’anno trovò la sua massima forza, fino a quando le foreste che sono state piantate sulle macerie dei villaggi arabi derubati e distrutti non riporteranno almeno il nome originario dei luoghi, i colloqui di pace non raggiungeranno mai lo scopo che si prefiggono.
Nel diario di Ben Gurion c’è l’inizio e la spiegazione di tutto:
Noi fonderemo uno Stato cristiano in Libano…Piegheremo la Transgiordania, bombarderemo Amman e distruggeremo il suo esercito, e allora la Siria cadrà, e se, ciononostante, l’Egitto continuerà a combattere, bombarderemo Porto Said, Alessandria e il Cairo. Questa sarà la nostra vendetta per quello che loro (gli Egiziani, gli Aramei e gli Assiri) fecero ai nostri antenati ai tempi della Bibbia.
Belle premesse…
Ben Gurion, perfino Yitzhak Rabin, sono padri fondatori di Israele, personaggi leggendari, in realtà furono "volenterosi carnefici" di Iehova.
Nonostante la cura redazionale dell’editore Fazi lasci a desiderare (ma come si fa a collocare in fondo al volume tutte le note, che in una ricerca di storia sono per forza di cose numerosissime?!), questo è un libro importante, da non perdere.
Al Nakba è come in arabo si chiama l’esodo palestinese.
La dieta dimagrante della Palestina a partire dal 1948.
Quand’è che una nazione è abbastanza forte e matura da potersi confrontare con il proprio passato?
Me ne vengono in mente diverse, anche non lontane, che ancora non riescono a scendere a patti con una parte del loro passato.
Cominciando proprio da Israele, che non riesce a conciliarsi con la sua stessa genesi.
Rifugiati palestinesi durante l'esodo del 1948. Almeno 700 mila persone furono allontanate con la forza, costrette ad andarsene senza aver mai più la possibilità di ritornare.
Il 1948 è l’anno del peccato originale, della nascita della colpa.
Ma Pappe dimostra che è l’anno in cui la colpa viene consumata (o meglio, iniziata a essere consumata, visto che si tratta di operazione che dura a tutt’oggi), ma i sintomi e i primi istanti di vita di quello che sarebbe successo quell’anno, quando gli inglesi se ne andarono dalla Palestina, e di quello che è successo nei 65 anni a seguire, fino ai nostri giorni, viene da un po’ più lontano, da quando i sionisti decisero che la Palestina era la loro Terra Promessa, la loro terra assegnata.
Ilan Pappe è uno storico israeliano che appartiene a quella che si può definire la Nuova Storiografia Israeliana, vive e lavora in Inghilterra, non è molto amato in patria, dove (ma non solo lì) suscita i soliti rigurgiti di negazionismo.
Questo libro del 2006 è basato sullo studio di documenti soltanto da poco messi a disposizione degli storici, quale il diario di Ben Gurion, e i verbali delle riunioni del Comitato di Consulta, l’organo decisionale del partito-milizia del movimento sionista, l’Haganà.
Nella notte del 31 ottobre 1946 tre giovani militanti dell'Irgun, gruppo militante sionista, fecero brillare alcune cariche esplosive piazzate a Villa Bracciano, accanto a Porta Pia, sede dell'ambasciata britannica a Roma. L'edificio, deserto al momento dell'esplosione, venne raso al suolo e quindi ricostruito nel 1971 così come lo si vede oggi. I sionisti volevano convincere gli inglesi ad abbandonare la Palestina per aver campo libero nel loro piano di pulizia etnica. I palestinesi al contrario avrebbero volentieri trattenuto i britannici.
Gli israeliani hanno sostenuto che la convivenza con gli arabi è sempre stata impossibile a causa delle continue aggressioni che hanno dovuto subire, e che gli arabi se ne sono andati dalla Palestina spontaneamente, abbandonando case beni e villaggi.
Ilan Pappe ribalta questa tesi, la smentisce in toto, e dimostra che abbandono ci fu, ma imposto con l’uso della forza e della violenza da parte degli israeliani, che progettavano già dagli anni Trenta un vero e proprio programma di pulizia etnica, scientificamente messo in atto dalle autorità, sioniste prima e israeliane poi, con l’obiettivo di allargare lo spazio della nascente Israele ben oltre i confini fissati dalle convenzioni internazionali e far sì che all’interno di questi nuovi confini non ci fossero più arabi.
Il piano ebbe successo e fu favorito dall’ignavia della comunità internazionale che, ancora presa dai sensi di colpa per la sua inattività contro lo sterminio del popolo ebraico in Europa durante la seconda guerra mondiale, si astenne da qualsiasi ingerenza.
Rovine del villaggio palestinese di Suba, presso Gerusalemme, visto dal kibbutz Zova
L’atteggiamento di Israele a Napoli verrebbe sintetizzato con una magnifica illuminante espressione: “chiagne e fotte”.
Cioè, mentre Israele si lamentava pubblicamente delle (presunte) aggressioni della popolazione araba, organizzava, preparava, iniziava e portava avanti sistematicamente la pulizia etnica del popolo palestinese.
Il mito della fondazione di Israele, secondo il quale appena iniziò la guerra ci fu un volontario esodo di palestinesi, fa acqua da tutte le parti. È pura invenzione che gli ebrei tentarono di persuadere i palestinesi a restare, cosa sulla quale s’insiste ancora oggi nei libri di scuola israeliani.
Centinaia di migliaia di palestinesi erano già stati espulsi con la forza ancor prima del conflitto e altre decine di migliaia lo sarebbero state nel corso delle prime settimane di guerra. Per la maggior parte di loro, la data del 15 maggio 1948 allora non aveva un particolare significato: era semplicemente un altro giorno nel tremendo calendario di pulizia etnica che era iniziato più di cinque mesi prima. I tremendi resoconti della pulizia etnica non offuscarono mai la narrazione ufficiale e popolare israeliana, dato che vennero completamente cancellati.
Campo di rifugiati di Jaramana in Siria.
Pappe, in epigrafe a ogni capitolo, suggerisce il paragone con il caso di pulizia etnica recente a noi più vicino, quello nei Balcani: solo che qui, gli stessi reati, non hanno privato le vittime, se non altro, del loro diritto a poter ritornare nella propria casa o a essere indennizzate.
Diritto che, invece, al di là del Mediterraneo, Israele non ha mai voluto riconoscere, nonostante la risoluzione dell’ONU.
La tesi di Pappe è che fin tanto che Israele non riconoscerà la pulizia etnica compiuta a partire dal 1948, e che in quell’anno trovò la sua massima forza, fino a quando le foreste che sono state piantate sulle macerie dei villaggi arabi derubati e distrutti non riporteranno almeno il nome originario dei luoghi, i colloqui di pace non raggiungeranno mai lo scopo che si prefiggono.
Nel diario di Ben Gurion c’è l’inizio e la spiegazione di tutto:
Noi fonderemo uno Stato cristiano in Libano…Piegheremo la Transgiordania, bombarderemo Amman e distruggeremo il suo esercito, e allora la Siria cadrà, e se, ciononostante, l’Egitto continuerà a combattere, bombarderemo Porto Said, Alessandria e il Cairo. Questa sarà la nostra vendetta per quello che loro (gli Egiziani, gli Aramei e gli Assiri) fecero ai nostri antenati ai tempi della Bibbia.
Belle premesse…
Ben Gurion, perfino Yitzhak Rabin, sono padri fondatori di Israele, personaggi leggendari, in realtà furono "volenterosi carnefici" di Iehova.
Nonostante la cura redazionale dell’editore Fazi lasci a desiderare (ma come si fa a collocare in fondo al volume tutte le note, che in una ricerca di storia sono per forza di cose numerosissime?!), questo è un libro importante, da non perdere.
Al Nakba è come in arabo si chiama l’esodo palestinese.
La dieta dimagrante della Palestina a partire dal 1948.
July 3, 2018
This book doesn't need a review. It's a piece of living history, it should be school material instead of the lies and rubbish TV churns out on a daily basis. So well documented, so much empathy. So much respect for this man having the courage to write the truth.
November 2, 2024
This book was hard to read. Descriptions of the atrocities committed against Palestinian Arabs fill its pages. The author tells the story of the devastation of rural and urban Palestinian Arab communities during the years of 1947-49, when a modern state of Israel came into being in historic Palestine.
What was the establishment of a sovereign state for one people became the Nakba for another.
The formula of Ben Gurion seems to have been to establish a Jewish state in Palestine on as much land as possible, with as many Jews as possible and as few Arabs as possible. Experience and his pragmatic approach may have shaped Ben Gurion's attitude towards the Arabs in Palestine (cf. A State at Any Cost: The Life of David Ben-Gurion).
To achieve this goal, the Zionist forces had to uproot many local villages and urban communities of Palestinian Arabs. People were expelled. People fled because of the fear of violence. The news of the Deir Yassin massacre terrified local Palestinians.
Terror was used to displace people and deter them from returning home after the guns fell silent and the dust settled.
According to the author, the Jewish leaders used the schemes of the grand mufti, Hajj Amin al-Husseini, and previous tensions between Arabs and Jews in Palestine as a pretext to justify the expulsions of Palestinian Arabs. That said, Avi Shlaim in The Iron Wall: Israel and the Arab World notes the intransigence of Hajj Amin al-Husseini and his uncompromising opposition to Zionism and the principle of partition.
Unlike the mufti, King Abdullah of Jordan (the Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan back then) negotiated with the Zionist leaders that he would annex part of Palestine (East Jerusalem and the modern-day West Bank).
From what we can piece together, the UN partition plan for Palestine was ill-conceived and made without regard for the reality on the ground. Instead of promoting peace and coexistence, it encouraged and reinforced pre-existing division.
Although it is always easier to comment on events in retrospect, certain mistakes could probably have been avoided.
Interestingly, the US suggested postponing partition and establishing "an international trusteeship over Palestine for five years, during which the two sides would negotiate an agreed solution." This proposal was not adopted.
Pappé suggests this was "the most sensible American proposal ever put forward in the history of Palestine." But perhaps Anglo-American suggestions for a settlement made in 1955 can also be mentioned as an attempt to resolve the conflict between Israel and the Arab states.
The plan may have had many shortcomings, but it included repatriation of a limited number of Palestinian refugees and compensation for the rest.
The author explains that at the core of the long-lasting conflict lies the problem of the people who became refugees in the 1948 war. Since then, there have been several UN resolutions that acknowledge the right of return of Palestinian refugees.
Israel denied its responsibility for the tragedy of the Palestinians in 1948, placing all the blame at the doorstep of the Arab governments.
Israel's aim at that time was to preserve the postwar demographic and territorial status quo.
Ilan Pappé is unafraid of moral judgments, and his support for the Palestinian cause is evident throughout the text. The book contains emotionally charged passages.
The author challenges the Israeli narrative and certain myths of Zionism. One such trope is Ben Gurion's claim that the infant state was in existential danger. According to Pappe, these claims were made mostly for public consumption. Israeli leaders were aware that the neighboring Arab states were incapable of defeating the better-equipped and trained Jewish forces. To support his argument, Pappé uses Ben Gurion's diary entries and correspondence.
One can conclude that the Palestinians were much less prepared to fight and didn't have strong leadership compared to the Israelis. Moreover, the Israelis managed to obtain weapons from the Soviet block when they needed them most.
I think this is an important work that sheds light on the suffering of the Palestinians and the failure of the international community to help them. But to form a fuller picture and understand the context, one has to learn about the interwar period when the tensions between the two populations were increasing in the region and read about other perspectives. This book does not elaborate on certain considerable variables that shaped the conflict and does not always explain the motivation behind the decisions of the principal actors. I wish the author had included more of the sources he used in his work.
3.75 stars
What was the establishment of a sovereign state for one people became the Nakba for another.
The formula of Ben Gurion seems to have been to establish a Jewish state in Palestine on as much land as possible, with as many Jews as possible and as few Arabs as possible. Experience and his pragmatic approach may have shaped Ben Gurion's attitude towards the Arabs in Palestine (cf. A State at Any Cost: The Life of David Ben-Gurion).
To achieve this goal, the Zionist forces had to uproot many local villages and urban communities of Palestinian Arabs. People were expelled. People fled because of the fear of violence. The news of the Deir Yassin massacre terrified local Palestinians.
Terror was used to displace people and deter them from returning home after the guns fell silent and the dust settled.
According to the author, the Jewish leaders used the schemes of the grand mufti, Hajj Amin al-Husseini, and previous tensions between Arabs and Jews in Palestine as a pretext to justify the expulsions of Palestinian Arabs. That said, Avi Shlaim in The Iron Wall: Israel and the Arab World notes the intransigence of Hajj Amin al-Husseini and his uncompromising opposition to Zionism and the principle of partition.
Unlike the mufti, King Abdullah of Jordan (the Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan back then) negotiated with the Zionist leaders that he would annex part of Palestine (East Jerusalem and the modern-day West Bank).
From what we can piece together, the UN partition plan for Palestine was ill-conceived and made without regard for the reality on the ground. Instead of promoting peace and coexistence, it encouraged and reinforced pre-existing division.
Although it is always easier to comment on events in retrospect, certain mistakes could probably have been avoided.
Interestingly, the US suggested postponing partition and establishing "an international trusteeship over Palestine for five years, during which the two sides would negotiate an agreed solution." This proposal was not adopted.
Pappé suggests this was "the most sensible American proposal ever put forward in the history of Palestine." But perhaps Anglo-American suggestions for a settlement made in 1955 can also be mentioned as an attempt to resolve the conflict between Israel and the Arab states.
The plan may have had many shortcomings, but it included repatriation of a limited number of Palestinian refugees and compensation for the rest.
The author explains that at the core of the long-lasting conflict lies the problem of the people who became refugees in the 1948 war. Since then, there have been several UN resolutions that acknowledge the right of return of Palestinian refugees.
Israel denied its responsibility for the tragedy of the Palestinians in 1948, placing all the blame at the doorstep of the Arab governments.
Israel's aim at that time was to preserve the postwar demographic and territorial status quo.
Ilan Pappé is unafraid of moral judgments, and his support for the Palestinian cause is evident throughout the text. The book contains emotionally charged passages.
The author challenges the Israeli narrative and certain myths of Zionism. One such trope is Ben Gurion's claim that the infant state was in existential danger. According to Pappe, these claims were made mostly for public consumption. Israeli leaders were aware that the neighboring Arab states were incapable of defeating the better-equipped and trained Jewish forces. To support his argument, Pappé uses Ben Gurion's diary entries and correspondence.
One can conclude that the Palestinians were much less prepared to fight and didn't have strong leadership compared to the Israelis. Moreover, the Israelis managed to obtain weapons from the Soviet block when they needed them most.
I think this is an important work that sheds light on the suffering of the Palestinians and the failure of the international community to help them. But to form a fuller picture and understand the context, one has to learn about the interwar period when the tensions between the two populations were increasing in the region and read about other perspectives. This book does not elaborate on certain considerable variables that shaped the conflict and does not always explain the motivation behind the decisions of the principal actors. I wish the author had included more of the sources he used in his work.
3.75 stars
February 9, 2017
التطهير العرقي في فلسطين
في الوقت الذي يخوض فيه أبطال القسام معركة جديدة مع العدو الصهيوني، قررت أن اقرأ هذا الكتاب المهم جداً للمؤرخ الإسرائيلي إيلان بابه، تأتي أهمية الكتاب من عدة عوامل، أولها ولا ريب من أن مؤلفه إسرائيلي، وهذا ينزع من الكتاب أي شبهة تعاطف مع الفلسطينيين، ويجعلنا نفترض أن الكتاب سيكون في أحسن الأحوال محايداً، الأمر الآخر هو اعتماده على وثائق إسرائيلية تعود إلى ما قبل قيام الدولة الصهيونية، من هذه الوثائق مراسلات الجيش الصهيوني، ومنها كذلك يوميات بن غوريون، وبعض الوثائق الأخرى.
من خلال هذا كله يهدم إيلان بابه كل أساطير نشوء دولة إسرائيل، ويكشف أن قيام تلك الدولة لم يكن إلا غطرسة مرعبة، وتطهيراً عرقياً مارسه اليهود ضد العرب، يكشف بابه بكل تفصيل ما حدث قبل نهاية الانتداب خلال سنة 1947 م، من حملات تطهير للقرى والمدن العربية تشمل قتل وطرد وهدم منازل الفلسطينيين، كما يكشف للأسف الخيانات والتخبطات العربية التي أوصلت العرب والقضية الفلسطينية إلى ما هي عليه الآن.
كتاب مهم جداً وشجاع.
July 2, 2020
What's "ethnic cleansing"?
Using numerous documents from Israeli government archives, entries from David Ben-Gurion's personal diary, and eyewitness accounts from Palestinian victims, Israeli historian Ilan Pappe makes a strong case that the Zionists, using most of the methods mentioned in the report, ethnically cleansed Palestine of most of its native Palestinian population in the 1948 war. Zionist soldiers and members of former terrorist groups during Mandate times used violence and terror against Palestinians civilians. They also murdered, raped, and imprisoned Palestinians and forced the survivors to walk countless miles to refugee camps in other countries. Looters stole the contents of many Palestinian homes, which the owners were forced to abandon. Afterwards, the Zionists obliterated almost all evidence that Palestinians had ever lived in Palestine for centuries.
Pappe maintains that the Zionists had another reason for obliterating most traces of Palestinian villages and towns: to prevent their occupants and descendants from ever returning to their homes and native homeland again.
Pappe also exploded key myths in the Zionists' narrative of Israel's creation. Here are just a few:
Peppe advocates a one-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli problem. Israel should become a civic, democratic state in which Jews and Palestinians can live peacefully together, like they used to do before the Zionists destroyed everything.
Pappe makes a strong case in defense of the Palestinians and his book includes copious end notes. Anyone who is interested in why there seems to be no solution to the Palestinian-Israeli problem should read this book because it gives a different point of view from the prevailing one.
According to the final report of a United Nations Commission of Experts who investigated Yugoslavia's violation of humanitarian laws in 1994, ethnic cleansing is: ". . . a purposeful policy designed by one ethnic or religious group to remove by violent and terror-inspiring means the civilian population of another ethnic or religious group from certain geographic areas . . ."
The report goes on to state that ways to forcibly expel unwanted civilian populations by ethnic cleansing can include "murder, torture, arbitrary arrest and detention, extrajudicial executions, rape and sexual assaults, severe physical injury to civilians, confinement of civilian population in ghetto areas, forcible removal, displacement and deportation of civilian population, deliberate military attacks or threats of attacks on civilians and civilian areas, use of civilians as human shields, destruction of property, robbery of personal property, attacks on hospitals, medical personnel, and locations with the Red Cross/Red Crescent emblem, among others."
The UN Commission of Experts states that the above practices ". . . constitute crimes against humanity and can be assimilated to specific war crimes. Furthermore, such acts could also fall within the meaning of the Genocide Convention.” (UN Commission of Experts)
Using numerous documents from Israeli government archives, entries from David Ben-Gurion's personal diary, and eyewitness accounts from Palestinian victims, Israeli historian Ilan Pappe makes a strong case that the Zionists, using most of the methods mentioned in the report, ethnically cleansed Palestine of most of its native Palestinian population in the 1948 war. Zionist soldiers and members of former terrorist groups during Mandate times used violence and terror against Palestinians civilians. They also murdered, raped, and imprisoned Palestinians and forced the survivors to walk countless miles to refugee camps in other countries. Looters stole the contents of many Palestinian homes, which the owners were forced to abandon. Afterwards, the Zionists obliterated almost all evidence that Palestinians had ever lived in Palestine for centuries.
Pappe maintains that the Zionists had another reason for obliterating most traces of Palestinian villages and towns: to prevent their occupants and descendants from ever returning to their homes and native homeland again.
Pappe also exploded key myths in the Zionists' narrative of Israel's creation. Here are just a few:
The Zionists were the victims of Palestinian and Arab aggression. Actually, the Zionists were the victimizers. One thing that really frustrated David Ben-Gurion and others Zionists was the Palestinians' passiveness. They didn't respond to the Zionists' repeated provocations that would justify attacking and expelling them. The Palestinians just wanted to live in their country in peace. In the end, the Zionists initiated the violence.
The Zionists were fighting a desperate war of survival. Actually, Israel was never in danger of being defeated by the Palestinians or by the Arab armies. The Zionists had two narratives. The public one was that they were fighting for survival. The secret-but-true narrative was that there was no chance of their losing. In fact, while they were fighting their so-called war of survival, Israeli soldiers and former terrorists were also shelling Palestinian villages and towns, indiscriminately killing, massacring -- and even raping -- the inhabitants, and forcing them out of their homes and into refugee camps in other countries. Many of the villages and towns had existed for centuries. Some contained both Palestinians and Jews who had been living together peacefully for centuries as friends and neighbors.
Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East. Actually, Israel is an apartheid state because of its treatment of the Palestinians who remain in Israel. Israel also treats certain groups of Jews as second-class citizens.
The Camp David negotiations in 2000 failed because Yassir Arafat refused to negotiate. Actually, Arafat wasn't allowed to negotiate because the U.S. allowed Israel to set the terms for peace. No right of return. No Jerusalem as the Palestinians' capital. Arafat refused to sign the document because it violated UN Resolution 194, which recognized the Palestinians' right to return to their homes. By signing the document, Arafat would have betrayed his people.
Peppe advocates a one-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli problem. Israel should become a civic, democratic state in which Jews and Palestinians can live peacefully together, like they used to do before the Zionists destroyed everything.
Pappe makes a strong case in defense of the Palestinians and his book includes copious end notes. Anyone who is interested in why there seems to be no solution to the Palestinian-Israeli problem should read this book because it gives a different point of view from the prevailing one.
February 14, 2022
Zionist views have been overwhelmingly influential in the United States. "The Story of Israel" that I place in quotation marks to indicate its mythological nature, has been presented repeatedly, but most famously in the novel and movie, "Exodus". It is the story of victims struggling to an empty land where they make the desert bloom and stand proudly with weapons in hand shouting "never again".
This appealing, heroic, justice-loving scenario is a fabrication. Ilan Pappé, an Israeli Jew, has, in this book, presented the facts upon which true justice must be based.
From its inception late in the 19th century, mainstream Zionism, considered early on as a kind of lunatic-fringe within Judaism, put forth the clearing of the indigenous people, the Arabs living in Palestine, as a necessity for the creation of a Jewish majority there. So it has happened.
Zionism struggled before WW2 because not enough Jews were interested in going to Palestine, but the holocaust put the movement over the top, not only providing the necessary influx but also creating a feeling of guilt among the nations of the world (not least Germany) that was leveraged into the creation of the State of Israel and its financing and militarization since (read The Holocaust Industry by Norman Finkelstein). It should be noted that most of the survivors of the holocaust wanted to go to the United States, not Palestine, but the US did not open its doors to them, a shameful thing.
This book is a detailed accounting of the horrors that occurred - the forced evacuation of hundreds of villages, executions of villagers (over 31 events are considered massacres), blowing up houses or setting fire to them with the residents inside, military attacks on unarmed civilians - pure terror by the folks who loudly denounce terror.
The contrast to what happened in the 1990's in Kosovo is startling, particularly in view of the NATO bombing that took place to stop the ethnic slaughter compared to the lack of any effort to stop the cleansing of Palestine. In fact, the United States cannot do enough to help the process as it continues to this day.
Israel, like the United States, is a country founded on injustice. The process could take place hidden away in the vastness of the American west in the 19th century, but with Israel it has been quite obvious all along. Shockingly, the world has stood by, impotent in the face of the "special relationship" between the US and Israel fostered by the political power of Zionists in the United States. This history is a blot on both countries. The ethic-cleansing has proceeded only because of US protection and not a few American Jews hold dual citizenship, having taken up residence in the Israeli settlements specifically to take the land from the natives.
As the Senate confirmation hearing on Chuck Hagel demonstrated conclusively, Congress is the puppet of Zionism. Senators fell all over themselves questioning Hagel about his views on Israel while all other matters were secondary.
Americans should wake up to the reality of Israel, a county that is injustice institutionalized, a living example of everything the American civil rights movement was out to end. The founders of the state of Israel were full, eager participants in the eviction of the Palestinians, the destruction of their homes and villages and the deliberate erasure of the evidence continued to this day by the planting of "forests" by the Jewish National Fund. All the facts are evident in the archives and in particular the diary of David Ben-Gurion, who happily viewed empty villages flushed of the Arab residents. This history is an outrage that any person, Jewish or not, should find revolting.
There is only one future for Israel - as a democracy for all people, not a place for one group. Jewish Israelis to ride herd on others. This will come as surely as it did in South Africa. The BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) movement is a great way to make progress in this.
When one's nation does wrong, only a small minority of citizens will have the courage to point it out. My deepest respect to Professor Pappé, who was hounded out of Israel and now teaches in Great Britain, for this outstanding documentary work. My deepest apologies to the Palestinian people who have endured decades of injustice and are readily labeled terrorists by those ignorant of the past and the people.
This appealing, heroic, justice-loving scenario is a fabrication. Ilan Pappé, an Israeli Jew, has, in this book, presented the facts upon which true justice must be based.
From its inception late in the 19th century, mainstream Zionism, considered early on as a kind of lunatic-fringe within Judaism, put forth the clearing of the indigenous people, the Arabs living in Palestine, as a necessity for the creation of a Jewish majority there. So it has happened.
Zionism struggled before WW2 because not enough Jews were interested in going to Palestine, but the holocaust put the movement over the top, not only providing the necessary influx but also creating a feeling of guilt among the nations of the world (not least Germany) that was leveraged into the creation of the State of Israel and its financing and militarization since (read The Holocaust Industry by Norman Finkelstein). It should be noted that most of the survivors of the holocaust wanted to go to the United States, not Palestine, but the US did not open its doors to them, a shameful thing.
This book is a detailed accounting of the horrors that occurred - the forced evacuation of hundreds of villages, executions of villagers (over 31 events are considered massacres), blowing up houses or setting fire to them with the residents inside, military attacks on unarmed civilians - pure terror by the folks who loudly denounce terror.
The contrast to what happened in the 1990's in Kosovo is startling, particularly in view of the NATO bombing that took place to stop the ethnic slaughter compared to the lack of any effort to stop the cleansing of Palestine. In fact, the United States cannot do enough to help the process as it continues to this day.
Israel, like the United States, is a country founded on injustice. The process could take place hidden away in the vastness of the American west in the 19th century, but with Israel it has been quite obvious all along. Shockingly, the world has stood by, impotent in the face of the "special relationship" between the US and Israel fostered by the political power of Zionists in the United States. This history is a blot on both countries. The ethic-cleansing has proceeded only because of US protection and not a few American Jews hold dual citizenship, having taken up residence in the Israeli settlements specifically to take the land from the natives.
As the Senate confirmation hearing on Chuck Hagel demonstrated conclusively, Congress is the puppet of Zionism. Senators fell all over themselves questioning Hagel about his views on Israel while all other matters were secondary.
Americans should wake up to the reality of Israel, a county that is injustice institutionalized, a living example of everything the American civil rights movement was out to end. The founders of the state of Israel were full, eager participants in the eviction of the Palestinians, the destruction of their homes and villages and the deliberate erasure of the evidence continued to this day by the planting of "forests" by the Jewish National Fund. All the facts are evident in the archives and in particular the diary of David Ben-Gurion, who happily viewed empty villages flushed of the Arab residents. This history is an outrage that any person, Jewish or not, should find revolting.
There is only one future for Israel - as a democracy for all people, not a place for one group. Jewish Israelis to ride herd on others. This will come as surely as it did in South Africa. The BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) movement is a great way to make progress in this.
When one's nation does wrong, only a small minority of citizens will have the courage to point it out. My deepest respect to Professor Pappé, who was hounded out of Israel and now teaches in Great Britain, for this outstanding documentary work. My deepest apologies to the Palestinian people who have endured decades of injustice and are readily labeled terrorists by those ignorant of the past and the people.
November 4, 2023
قصف، ورصاص، ودم، وتهجير، وإبادة كاملة من عشرات السنين
ولو للكتاب جزء تاني فمش محتاج تقراه
!أنت بتشوفه "لايف" الأيام دي على قناة الجزيرة
لحد إمتى هنستحمل نشوف أشلاء إخواتنا ودمهم مغرقين الأرض قدام عينينا وبنتفرج؟
لحد إمتى هنفضل نتذل من شوية أنجاس وساكتين؟
لحد إمتى هنستحمل القهر ده يا رب؟
لو منتظر مني مراجعة عقلانية للكتاب، فآسف لو هخيب ظنك، لكن كل اللي ممكن أقوله: الكتاب ده لازم لازم يتقرأ، والنهاردة قبل بكرة
ولو للكتاب جزء تاني فمش محتاج تقراه
!أنت بتشوفه "لايف" الأيام دي على قناة الجزيرة
لحد إمتى هنستحمل نشوف أشلاء إخواتنا ودمهم مغرقين الأرض قدام عينينا وبنتفرج؟
لحد إمتى هنفضل نتذل من شوية أنجاس وساكتين؟
لحد إمتى هنستحمل القهر ده يا رب؟
لو منتظر مني مراجعة عقلانية للكتاب، فآسف لو هخيب ظنك، لكن كل اللي ممكن أقوله: الكتاب ده لازم لازم يتقرأ، والنهاردة قبل بكرة
September 27, 2011
I thought I knew the history of Israel's annexation of Palestine but this was a totally shocking account! I can't believe Britain reneged so emphatically on its promise to allow the Palestinians independence. The UN also must be ashamed of its duplicitous role.
Ilan Pappe is a Jewish academic who cannot be accused of anti-semitism. He just wants people to know what really happened. Israel is guilty of war crimes aided and abetted by Britain and the UN.
It is particularly important to read this now that Palestine has applied for recgnition as a state at the UN. How can this be denied when the UN allowed Israel without any impediment?
I was absorbed by this book and recommend it to all.
Ilan Pappe is a Jewish academic who cannot be accused of anti-semitism. He just wants people to know what really happened. Israel is guilty of war crimes aided and abetted by Britain and the UN.
It is particularly important to read this now that Palestine has applied for recgnition as a state at the UN. How can this be denied when the UN allowed Israel without any impediment?
I was absorbed by this book and recommend it to all.
June 14, 2024
Great for: people wanting to learn in depth about the Nakba of 1948-49, where Israel k*lled/displaced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. This provides context via before and after the Nakba, but does not go into detail about any other major events.
Israeli historian, Ilan Pappé, tells the story of the Palestinian people who have not had a voice in Western media for so long. It’s not an easy read. He tells the story of terrible terrible atrocities - some of which are still happening - done to Palestinians in order for the country of Israel to exist. While I thought I knew a decent amount, this book - referencing Ben-Gurion’s diaries, military correspondences and reports, and first hand accounts - goes into such detail about the Nakba that it makes you truly angry about how well hidden this event has been. The parallels of what happened then and what is happening now are so important and are really shown here.
The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine primarily focuses on the Nakba of 1948-1949 where many thousands of Palestinians were massacred and hundreds of thousands were displaced from their homes, which they have never been able to go back to. In addition to the Nakba, Pappé explains how this was allowed to happen and gives a short overview of a few things that happened from 1949-2006 and their implications. While this isn’t an all-inclusive history, I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is trying to learn more about what is going on in Palestine, especially the first Nakba.
This starts my reading of books about Palestine and/or by Palestinian authors. I definitely expected my reading for this month to go a little differently, but I cannot focus on anything else and feel the need to educate myself as much as possible.
Israeli historian, Ilan Pappé, tells the story of the Palestinian people who have not had a voice in Western media for so long. It’s not an easy read. He tells the story of terrible terrible atrocities - some of which are still happening - done to Palestinians in order for the country of Israel to exist. While I thought I knew a decent amount, this book - referencing Ben-Gurion’s diaries, military correspondences and reports, and first hand accounts - goes into such detail about the Nakba that it makes you truly angry about how well hidden this event has been. The parallels of what happened then and what is happening now are so important and are really shown here.
The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine primarily focuses on the Nakba of 1948-1949 where many thousands of Palestinians were massacred and hundreds of thousands were displaced from their homes, which they have never been able to go back to. In addition to the Nakba, Pappé explains how this was allowed to happen and gives a short overview of a few things that happened from 1949-2006 and their implications. While this isn’t an all-inclusive history, I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is trying to learn more about what is going on in Palestine, especially the first Nakba.
This starts my reading of books about Palestine and/or by Palestinian authors. I definitely expected my reading for this month to go a little differently, but I cannot focus on anything else and feel the need to educate myself as much as possible.
November 11, 2024
This is my second time reading this book. I thought it was pertinent to the current climate.
I won't say much except that it gives a very detailed review beginning in 1948, the Nakkba and the displacement of over 800,000 Palestinians and the deaths of thousands.
The author, Illan Pape is a Jewish Israeli historian. He searched archives and many documented records to put together his book. I found it to be very credible.
The historical facts of this book are dark and disturbing, often hard to swallow, but so important to the current conflict.
I won't give any more details, but I will say it's an important read based on concrete research done through his life.
4.5/5 stars
I won't say much except that it gives a very detailed review beginning in 1948, the Nakkba and the displacement of over 800,000 Palestinians and the deaths of thousands.
The author, Illan Pape is a Jewish Israeli historian. He searched archives and many documented records to put together his book. I found it to be very credible.
The historical facts of this book are dark and disturbing, often hard to swallow, but so important to the current conflict.
I won't give any more details, but I will say it's an important read based on concrete research done through his life.
4.5/5 stars
December 13, 2012
I first read The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine by Ilan Pappe, one of the "Israeli New Historians" who looked at the archived materials from Cabinet meetings, politician diaries, Israel Defence Force orders etc... after they were eventually released forty years after 1948. I read Pappe following the a challenge by an politically anti-Israel Jewish friend of mine who teaches in Philosophy at UNSW.
I found Pappe's book painful as he outlined the atrocities committed by Israel - even though I was mindful of the one-sided non-contextual facts that Pappe was describing, and the consequent one-sided idealistic anti-Israel interpretation. It was painful because, as a Jew, I couldn't help feeling 'ASHamed' (as a Jew) to be just like all the other racist nationalists the world over - Christian, Buddhist, Leftist, Rightist or Muslim.
I followed Pappe up with Benny Morris' book, knowing that Morris was one of the first of the "New Historians" to look at the historical material. Morris offers the balanced contextual background to Pappe's propaganda diatribe - with a 19th century starting point instead of one which commences in 1948. Morris accepts Pappe's atrocities but he also outlines the earlier Arab atrocities; he describes the self-delusion, corruption and moral bankruptcy of Arab leadership as well as the errors of strategy and internecine rivalries of the Arab elites; and he writes his history aware of the dynamics and uncertainties that are integral to war - in contrast to Pappe's simplistic interpretation of evil consequence being a result of evil desire.
Following the reading of both books I have come to the conclusion that there will NOT be any peace between Israel and the Palestinians until both sides recognise the atrocities and the errors of judgement that they have committed. At this stage, each side only looks at the atrocities the other side has committed, though I suspect that because of more freedom of speech and political-commercial transparency-accountability, there are more Jews, Israelis and Westerners who recognise the 'evils' of their ways than there are Muslims, Arabs and Palestinians who recognise the 'evils' of their ways.
War is evil - no doubt about that. War is two-sided - no doubt about that, either. The tit-for-tat strategy that both sides use has not produced peace in the near-term and there is no reason to believe tit-for-tat will bring peace in the long-term.
It is well to keep in mind that existence and honour seem to be two infinite values. Jews and Israelis see this conflict, following centuries of oppression and last century's attempt at liquidation in terms of existence. Simultaneously, Muslims and Arabs see the past century in terms of humiliation and loss of honour. At this stage in our history, non-indigenous Westerners in general, and non-Aboriginal Australians in particular, have little understanding of either existential threat or humiliation - and so it is that when I discuss the Middle East with them, I have a sense that they are clueless.
Reading Morris after Pappe is a good ways to become clued-up.
I found Pappe's book painful as he outlined the atrocities committed by Israel - even though I was mindful of the one-sided non-contextual facts that Pappe was describing, and the consequent one-sided idealistic anti-Israel interpretation. It was painful because, as a Jew, I couldn't help feeling 'ASHamed' (as a Jew) to be just like all the other racist nationalists the world over - Christian, Buddhist, Leftist, Rightist or Muslim.
I followed Pappe up with Benny Morris' book, knowing that Morris was one of the first of the "New Historians" to look at the historical material. Morris offers the balanced contextual background to Pappe's propaganda diatribe - with a 19th century starting point instead of one which commences in 1948. Morris accepts Pappe's atrocities but he also outlines the earlier Arab atrocities; he describes the self-delusion, corruption and moral bankruptcy of Arab leadership as well as the errors of strategy and internecine rivalries of the Arab elites; and he writes his history aware of the dynamics and uncertainties that are integral to war - in contrast to Pappe's simplistic interpretation of evil consequence being a result of evil desire.
Following the reading of both books I have come to the conclusion that there will NOT be any peace between Israel and the Palestinians until both sides recognise the atrocities and the errors of judgement that they have committed. At this stage, each side only looks at the atrocities the other side has committed, though I suspect that because of more freedom of speech and political-commercial transparency-accountability, there are more Jews, Israelis and Westerners who recognise the 'evils' of their ways than there are Muslims, Arabs and Palestinians who recognise the 'evils' of their ways.
War is evil - no doubt about that. War is two-sided - no doubt about that, either. The tit-for-tat strategy that both sides use has not produced peace in the near-term and there is no reason to believe tit-for-tat will bring peace in the long-term.
It is well to keep in mind that existence and honour seem to be two infinite values. Jews and Israelis see this conflict, following centuries of oppression and last century's attempt at liquidation in terms of existence. Simultaneously, Muslims and Arabs see the past century in terms of humiliation and loss of honour. At this stage in our history, non-indigenous Westerners in general, and non-Aboriginal Australians in particular, have little understanding of either existential threat or humiliation - and so it is that when I discuss the Middle East with them, I have a sense that they are clueless.
Reading Morris after Pappe is a good ways to become clued-up.
August 2, 2012
The author's thourough and honest discourse is both immaculate and sobering. Pappe proves authoritatively that the actions by a group of supposed Zionists in Israel beginning in 1947 constitute ethnic cleansing. This perpetrated atrocity serves as a prototype for ethnic cleansing similar to that by the Nazis in Germany. According to Pappe, “(M)ore than half of Palestine’s native population, close to 800,000, had been uprooted, 531 villages had been destroyed, and eleven urban neighbourhoods emptied of their inhabitants” (p. xiii). The cabal: the Hagana. The plot: plan Dalet, the organized and enforced removal of Palestinians from their homelands. What remained enveloped in misinformation: the Palestinians’ story, which is quite excellently illuminated by Pappe.
Pappe described the reality of the war, which unfortunately consisted of large massacres via machine gun and rapes after the habitations of the Palestinians were forcefully taken and generally looted, burned and otherwise destroyed, buried and hidden by new developments. The residents of these villages were barred illegally from return to their homelands. In fact, according to Pappe, U.N. mediator Count Bernadotte was murdered after he proposed “the unconditional return of all the refugees” (p. 156). The ‘right to return’ was granted in a UN decision that has been ignored. Justice?
Why did I read this book? I like books about controversial moral issues that raise awareness about injustice. That is, books like this are really milestones of conscious work because they shed light on information that is suppressed in order to oppress a people. One might argue, ‘no, the reason for suppression is fear and the pursuit of self-interests such as safety and security.’ And, to that I say that it is important to recognize multiple perspectives. A possible consideration put forth by Pappe: a pluralistic “civic and democratic state” (p. 256). In sum, Pappe has created veracious source for future rhetorical discussions on the issue of The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine.
Also, this book is excellent for the discovery of methods of writing about history.
P.S. The latter discourse is in no way intended to convey bias or prejudice to or towards anyone.
Pappe described the reality of the war, which unfortunately consisted of large massacres via machine gun and rapes after the habitations of the Palestinians were forcefully taken and generally looted, burned and otherwise destroyed, buried and hidden by new developments. The residents of these villages were barred illegally from return to their homelands. In fact, according to Pappe, U.N. mediator Count Bernadotte was murdered after he proposed “the unconditional return of all the refugees” (p. 156). The ‘right to return’ was granted in a UN decision that has been ignored. Justice?
Why did I read this book? I like books about controversial moral issues that raise awareness about injustice. That is, books like this are really milestones of conscious work because they shed light on information that is suppressed in order to oppress a people. One might argue, ‘no, the reason for suppression is fear and the pursuit of self-interests such as safety and security.’ And, to that I say that it is important to recognize multiple perspectives. A possible consideration put forth by Pappe: a pluralistic “civic and democratic state” (p. 256). In sum, Pappe has created veracious source for future rhetorical discussions on the issue of The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine.
Also, this book is excellent for the discovery of methods of writing about history.
P.S. The latter discourse is in no way intended to convey bias or prejudice to or towards anyone.
November 5, 2023
any sane person with a conscience knows about the nakba by now. but it's one thing to know that in 1948 the israeli forces expelled over 750,000 palestinians from their ancestral homes, and it's another altogether to read in detail just how they went about it, from village to village, executing, expelling, sexually abusing, humiliating.
where i'm from, we learn a lot about the nazi atrocious crimes against jewish, slavic & romani people. we read memoirs, poetry, historical accounts. i remember reading gruesome stories at a way too early an age, that stayed with me till this day. so to say it's absolutely sickening to now read about jews committing a lot of the same barbaric crimes just mere years after the holocaust, is an understatement of my life.
this book is based in a huge part on idf's reports, israeli court cases against its soldiers, diaries of ben-gurion - don't you dare come here and tell me those are all lies.
from the river to the sea!
where i'm from, we learn a lot about the nazi atrocious crimes against jewish, slavic & romani people. we read memoirs, poetry, historical accounts. i remember reading gruesome stories at a way too early an age, that stayed with me till this day. so to say it's absolutely sickening to now read about jews committing a lot of the same barbaric crimes just mere years after the holocaust, is an understatement of my life.
this book is based in a huge part on idf's reports, israeli court cases against its soldiers, diaries of ben-gurion - don't you dare come here and tell me those are all lies.
from the river to the sea!
June 12, 2021
An eye-opening and heart-wrenching read which I would recommend to anyone who wishes to be slightly enlightened about the Israel-Palestine “conflict”. Spoiler alert: It’s not a conflict; it is a systematic and cruel expulsion of people in a bid to further establish racial supremacy.
“Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine” by Israeli historian Ilan Pappé is a painstaking account of how the all-too often forgotten Nakba of 1948, wherein Zionists carried out the mass evacuation of Arabs and attempted to expand their own territory so as to construct a country which was solely devoted to Jews, was perpetuated.
Pappé, therefore, attempts to explore both the mechanism of this ethnic cleansing as well as the cognitive system that allowed the world to move on from the Nakba like it never happened. What follows is a shocking revelation of world history that not only exhibits the utmost cruelty that human nature is capable of performing but also how the US, Britain, and the UN are instrumental in allowing the massacre of innocents to take place.
I am adding a warning that this book is not for the faint-hearted.
The book starts off with Pappé describing what Ethnic Cleansing actually means. He refers to the definition of the same in international law and then tries to portray to his readers that what took place in Palestine in 1948 falls squarely within the definition of ethnic cleansing. In a horrifying twist of events, the Nakba is celebrated as the War of Independence by Israelis and the fact that a section of society was almost wiped out at the hands of a superior military power is buried. In fact, surfing through the Jewish National Fund website after reading this book caused major cognitive dissonance for me because the website completely erases even the existence of a civilization prior to 1948.
Pappé then describes how the drive for an exclusively Jewish State unfolded by not only delving into what the Zionism as a religious ideology entails by referring to the philosophy of Theodor Herzl, but also by getting into the practicalities that were concocted by people such as David Ben-Gurion, who was the architect of the Nakba (and undoubtedly as vicious as Hitler, which is ironic because here the victims of the Holocaust have become the perpetrators).
A moral question that I encountered was, how could the same people who faced the most unimaginable atrocities on account of their race a mere few years back allow and perpetrate the same crimes? This is also a question that Pappé wanted to explore but came up empty-handed.
Anyway, this is not simply a book that explains the happening of the Nakba; it is a pure documentation of how each and every village with Arabs was “cleansed”. And cleansing is not confined to merely expulsion of people in villages; it includes the destruction of the hard work, the history, and the culture of every village. It was almost painful to read this; so much just lost to greed and barbarity.
He further deals with what allowed the Zionist ideology to bloom and how Ben-Gurion was able to execute his plan with the aid of international support/non-support, including alliances with the King of Transjordan, Western guilt stemming from the Holocaust as well as major missteps taken by the UN. It’s enough to invoke a river of fury in you, and also explains the origins of the PLO, Hamas and the Intifada.
Despite dealing with such a heavy topic, the book is extremely accessible and is replete with the smallest of details about the Nakba. A fact that I admired about Pappe was that even after writing about how costive the Jews have been toward repatriation of the Arabs, he still holds out hope for the Right to Return of the refugees and possible peace in the region. Is there a chance of that happening? Only time will tell.
PS: While reading this, it was hard to not draw parallels between Zionism and Hindutva. Much of the rhetoric pertaining to establishing a pure religious entity without the presence of Muslims is quite indistinguishable. Even the beginnings of the Nakba are eerily similar, with the disengagement of the British and then the Partition. A personal opinion, but things would have been horribly different had we had any other leader other than Nehru (despite all his failings) during our nascent years.
“Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine” by Israeli historian Ilan Pappé is a painstaking account of how the all-too often forgotten Nakba of 1948, wherein Zionists carried out the mass evacuation of Arabs and attempted to expand their own territory so as to construct a country which was solely devoted to Jews, was perpetuated.
Pappé, therefore, attempts to explore both the mechanism of this ethnic cleansing as well as the cognitive system that allowed the world to move on from the Nakba like it never happened. What follows is a shocking revelation of world history that not only exhibits the utmost cruelty that human nature is capable of performing but also how the US, Britain, and the UN are instrumental in allowing the massacre of innocents to take place.
I am adding a warning that this book is not for the faint-hearted.
The book starts off with Pappé describing what Ethnic Cleansing actually means. He refers to the definition of the same in international law and then tries to portray to his readers that what took place in Palestine in 1948 falls squarely within the definition of ethnic cleansing. In a horrifying twist of events, the Nakba is celebrated as the War of Independence by Israelis and the fact that a section of society was almost wiped out at the hands of a superior military power is buried. In fact, surfing through the Jewish National Fund website after reading this book caused major cognitive dissonance for me because the website completely erases even the existence of a civilization prior to 1948.
Pappé then describes how the drive for an exclusively Jewish State unfolded by not only delving into what the Zionism as a religious ideology entails by referring to the philosophy of Theodor Herzl, but also by getting into the practicalities that were concocted by people such as David Ben-Gurion, who was the architect of the Nakba (and undoubtedly as vicious as Hitler, which is ironic because here the victims of the Holocaust have become the perpetrators).
A moral question that I encountered was, how could the same people who faced the most unimaginable atrocities on account of their race a mere few years back allow and perpetrate the same crimes? This is also a question that Pappé wanted to explore but came up empty-handed.
Anyway, this is not simply a book that explains the happening of the Nakba; it is a pure documentation of how each and every village with Arabs was “cleansed”. And cleansing is not confined to merely expulsion of people in villages; it includes the destruction of the hard work, the history, and the culture of every village. It was almost painful to read this; so much just lost to greed and barbarity.
He further deals with what allowed the Zionist ideology to bloom and how Ben-Gurion was able to execute his plan with the aid of international support/non-support, including alliances with the King of Transjordan, Western guilt stemming from the Holocaust as well as major missteps taken by the UN. It’s enough to invoke a river of fury in you, and also explains the origins of the PLO, Hamas and the Intifada.
Despite dealing with such a heavy topic, the book is extremely accessible and is replete with the smallest of details about the Nakba. A fact that I admired about Pappe was that even after writing about how costive the Jews have been toward repatriation of the Arabs, he still holds out hope for the Right to Return of the refugees and possible peace in the region. Is there a chance of that happening? Only time will tell.
PS: While reading this, it was hard to not draw parallels between Zionism and Hindutva. Much of the rhetoric pertaining to establishing a pure religious entity without the presence of Muslims is quite indistinguishable. Even the beginnings of the Nakba are eerily similar, with the disengagement of the British and then the Partition. A personal opinion, but things would have been horribly different had we had any other leader other than Nehru (despite all his failings) during our nascent years.
November 1, 2023
Excellent from a technical standpoint, painful from every other standpoint. I'd recommend it but it took me a second because I had to pause a lot. Very infuriating
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December 31, 2021As heartbreaking as this was to read, I’m glad I picked it up. This was an extremely comprehensive and detailed account describing the Zionist ideology that led to the expulsion of Palestinians from their land to create Israel, diving into not only the ethnic cleansing acts themselves but also their effects. I appreciated that it showed both how Israelis removed the Palestinian people and how they destroyed Palestinians’ land and culture. Definitely a must-read book.
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September 28, 2020Must read non-fiction detailing the founding ideas of Israel and the impact of Zionism as an ideology that led to the systematic removal of the Palestinian people from the land.
October 8, 2020
شاهدت مناظرة شارك فيها إلان بابي، وهو مؤرخ إسرائيلي ضد الصهيونية، وأعجبتني ردوده. تشجعت لقراءة كتبه، خاصة بسبب كونه أحد "المؤرخين الجدد" كما يعرفون في إسرائيل، وهم ثلاثة مؤرخين اطلعوا على الأرشيفات الإسرائيلية التي تؤرخ لفترة النكبة وقيام إسرائيل، والذين توصلوا لنتائج تخالف الرواية الرسمي�� الإسرائيلية.
بابي يعيش حاليًا في بريطانيا ويعمل في جامعة إكزتر بعد تلقيه العديد من التهديدات بالقتل في إسرائيل بسبب مواقفه المعادية للصهيونية. قرأت له كتابين، الأول هو أكبر سجن في العالم: تاريخ الأراضي المحتلة، والثاني هو التطهير العرقي لفلسطين. كان من المفترض أن أقرأهما بالعكس، حسب الترتيب التاريخي.
أدهشني كتاب التطهير العرقي لفلسطين بشكل كبير، فرغم اعتقادي أني أعرف بصورة مجملة ما حدث في ١٩٤٧-١٩٤٨ إلا أنني كنت مخطئًا، بل وواقعًا تحت تأثير البروباغاندا الصهيونية دون أن أعلم.
الكاتب يعتمد على إرشيفات الهاغانا، مذكرات بن غوريون وغيرها من محاضر اجتماعات ووثائق تم رفع السرية عنها، ويعتمد كذلك على شهادات العيان من الجنود الصهاينة ومن الضحايا الفلسطينيين، وهذا ما يجعل الصورة التي يقدمها أكمل وأشمل من غيره من الكتب، ويرجح الكاتب أنه أول من يجمع بين هذه المصادر المختلفة.
هل كانت إسرائيل محاصرة في ١٩٤٨ ومهددة بالزوال من الدول العربية؟ هل كان تهجير الفلسطينيين هو نتيجة ثانوية للحرب؟ لقد كانت إجابتي على السؤالين هي نعم قبل قراءة هذا الكتاب، ولكني أعلم الآن أنني كنت مخطئًا.
يكشف الكتاب مدى التخطيط الصهيوني المتقدم منذ عقود لتهجير الفلسطينيين وتطهير الأرض منهم لأن الفكر الصهيوني فكر عنصري، يرى أن اليهود فقط يجب أن يعيشوا في فلسطين، هم فقط ولا أحد غيرهم. ولذلك بدأ التطهير العرقي بالقوة منذ نهاية ١٩٤٧، بل كان هو السبب في الحرب التي بدأت في مايو ١٩٤٨ وحينها كان قد تم تهجير أكثر من ٢٠٠ ألف فلسطيني من أراضيهم، بل واستمر التهجير حتى بعد انتهاء الحرب، ووقت الهدنات التي تخللتها، حتى تم طرد نصف سكان فلسطين من أراضيهم -حوالي ٧٢٠ ألف شخص- فضلًا عن القتل والاغتصابات والاعتقالات التي كانت بالآلاف كمجازر دير ياسين والطنطورة وغيرها من الجرائم التي لا يتم استذكارها في العادة.
لم يكن وجود وقيام إسرائيل في أي وقت من أوقات هذه الفترة مهددًا، بل كانت تتفوق عسكريًا من حيث العتاد والعدد، وكانت قيادات الدول العربية -رغم خطاباتها الرنانة- مترددة جدًا في معاونة الفلسطينيين، خاصة أن غالبيتها دول حديثة، وبعضها استقلت للتو مثل سوريا ولبنان وأوضاعها الداخلية غير مستقرة. أقوى جيش عربي كان الجيش الأردني ولكن الملك عبدالله لم يكن يريد تحرير فلسطين، بل كانت له مطامعه الخاصة بها، واتفق مع الصهاينة على تقاسمها، بحيث تصبح الضفة الغربية تحت سيطرة الأردن، واختلفوا حول القدس الشرقية فحسب، ولذلك حصلت معارك حولها نجحت الأردن في الانتصار فيها.
الكتاب مؤلم جدًا ومليء بخيبات الأمل، ولكنه ضروري لكل من يريد معرفة أصل الصراع وأسبابه، ولماذا اتخذ المسار التي حدث ولماذا لا يزال مستمرًا. الكتاب الثاني مكمل للأول ويربط الماضي بالحاضر ويتكلم تحديدًا عن طريقة التفكير الصهيونية التي أدت لحرب ١٩٦٧ ولماذا لم يتم ضم الضفة الغربية وغزة لإسرائيل بشكل رسمي، بل إبقاؤها تحت الإحتلال العسكري لتكون أكبر سجنٍ في العالم.
بابي يعيش حاليًا في بريطانيا ويعمل في جامعة إكزتر بعد تلقيه العديد من التهديدات بالقتل في إسرائيل بسبب مواقفه المعادية للصهيونية. قرأت له كتابين، الأول هو أكبر سجن في العالم: تاريخ الأراضي المحتلة، والثاني هو التطهير العرقي لفلسطين. كان من المفترض أن أقرأهما بالعكس، حسب الترتيب التاريخي.
أدهشني كتاب التطهير العرقي لفلسطين بشكل كبير، فرغم اعتقادي أني أعرف بصورة مجملة ما حدث في ١٩٤٧-١٩٤٨ إلا أنني كنت مخطئًا، بل وواقعًا تحت تأثير البروباغاندا الصهيونية دون أن أعلم.
الكاتب يعتمد على إرشيفات الهاغانا، مذكرات بن غوريون وغيرها من محاضر اجتماعات ووثائق تم رفع السرية عنها، ويعتمد كذلك على شهادات العيان من الجنود الصهاينة ومن الضحايا الفلسطينيين، وهذا ما يجعل الصورة التي يقدمها أكمل وأشمل من غيره من الكتب، ويرجح الكاتب أنه أول من يجمع بين هذه المصادر المختلفة.
هل كانت إسرائيل محاصرة في ١٩٤٨ ومهددة بالزوال من الدول العربية؟ هل كان تهجير الفلسطينيين هو نتيجة ثانوية للحرب؟ لقد كانت إجابتي على السؤالين هي نعم قبل قراءة هذا الكتاب، ولكني أعلم الآن أنني كنت مخطئًا.
يكشف الكتاب مدى التخطيط الصهيوني المتقدم منذ عقود لتهجير الفلسطينيين وتطهير الأرض منهم لأن الفكر الصهيوني فكر عنصري، يرى أن اليهود فقط يجب أن يعيشوا في فلسطين، هم فقط ولا أحد غيرهم. ولذلك بدأ التطهير العرقي بالقوة منذ نهاية ١٩٤٧، بل كان هو السبب في الحرب التي بدأت في مايو ١٩٤٨ وحينها كان قد تم تهجير أكثر من ٢٠٠ ألف فلسطيني من أراضيهم، بل واستمر التهجير حتى بعد انتهاء الحرب، ووقت الهدنات التي تخللتها، حتى تم طرد نصف سكان فلسطين من أراضيهم -حوالي ٧٢٠ ألف شخص- فضلًا عن القتل والاغتصابات والاعتقالات التي كانت بالآلاف كمجازر دير ياسين والطنطورة وغيرها من الجرائم التي لا يتم استذكارها في العادة.
لم يكن وجود وقيام إسرائيل في أي وقت من أوقات هذه الفترة مهددًا، بل كانت تتفوق عسكريًا من حيث العتاد والعدد، وكانت قيادات الدول العربية -رغم خطاباتها الرنانة- مترددة جدًا في معاونة الفلسطينيين، خاصة أن غالبيتها دول حديثة، وبعضها استقلت للتو مثل سوريا ولبنان وأوضاعها الداخلية غير مستقرة. أقوى جيش عربي كان الجيش الأردني ولكن الملك عبدالله لم يكن يريد تحرير فلسطين، بل كانت له مطامعه الخاصة بها، واتفق مع الصهاينة على تقاسمها، بحيث تصبح الضفة الغربية تحت سيطرة الأردن، واختلفوا حول القدس الشرقية فحسب، ولذلك حصلت معارك حولها نجحت الأردن في الانتصار فيها.
الكتاب مؤلم جدًا ومليء بخيبات الأمل، ولكنه ضروري لكل من يريد معرفة أصل الصراع وأسبابه، ولماذا اتخذ المسار التي حدث ولماذا لا يزال مستمرًا. الكتاب الثاني مكمل للأول ويربط الماضي بالحاضر ويتكلم تحديدًا عن طريقة التفكير الصهيونية التي أدت لحرب ١٩٦٧ ولماذا لم يتم ضم الضفة الغربية وغزة لإسرائيل بشكل رسمي، بل إبقاؤها تحت الإحتلال العسكري لتكون أكبر سجنٍ في العالم.
June 12, 2024
لم تكن قراءة هذا الكتاب سهلة أبداََ لقد احتاج الكثير من الوقت، والكثير من الجهد، سألت نفسي كثيراََ لماذا أفعل هذا بنفسي، نحن نعرف التاريخ جيداََ نعرف الظالم والمظلوم، سمعنا من خلال آبائنا وأجدادنا القصة كاملة وجمعنا الباقي من الكتب والروايات.....
لكن هنا بكل الأمانة العلمية لشخص من طرف العدو وصف وصفاََ دقيقاََ كل ما جرى ويجري كل ما خطط له، ومن كان متورطاََ في تنفيذه وبكل دقة وموضوعية وصف وصفاََ دقيقاََ القرى المنكو��ة وأصحابها حفظ ذكرى أشخاص كان لينساهم التاريخ، ووثق خيانة أطراف تواطئت مع العدو وهذا كان أكثر ما آلمني بالكتاب بل وبرأ أشخاصاََ شهد عليهم التاريخ دائماََ بالتواطئ والخيانة....
الأمانة العلمية هي كل ما نحتاج وبعيداََ عن المشاعر الخانقة والألم الشديد عند معرفة التفاصيل، هذا الكتاب مهم جداََ لكل من هو مهتم بالقضية التي حاولو وأدها بكل الطرق....
سنعود يوماََ إلى قرانا ومدننا وأحلامنا... سنعود لنحيي ذكرى أجدادنا وأولئك من قتلو..... وسنطهر أرضنا من الخونة والمتواطئين.....
بيننا وبينهم شلال من الدم وآلاف الجثث وثأر طويل..........
لكن هنا بكل الأمانة العلمية لشخص من طرف العدو وصف وصفاََ دقيقاََ كل ما جرى ويجري كل ما خطط له، ومن كان متورطاََ في تنفيذه وبكل دقة وموضوعية وصف وصفاََ دقيقاََ القرى المنكو��ة وأصحابها حفظ ذكرى أشخاص كان لينساهم التاريخ، ووثق خيانة أطراف تواطئت مع العدو وهذا كان أكثر ما آلمني بالكتاب بل وبرأ أشخاصاََ شهد عليهم التاريخ دائماََ بالتواطئ والخيانة....
الأمانة العلمية هي كل ما نحتاج وبعيداََ عن المشاعر الخانقة والألم الشديد عند معرفة التفاصيل، هذا الكتاب مهم جداََ لكل من هو مهتم بالقضية التي حاولو وأدها بكل الطرق....
سنعود يوماََ إلى قرانا ومدننا وأحلامنا... سنعود لنحيي ذكرى أجدادنا وأولئك من قتلو..... وسنطهر أرضنا من الخونة والمتواطئين.....
بيننا وبينهم شلال من الدم وآلاف الجثث وثأر طويل..........
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June 26, 2024دي مش مراجعة دا كلام يمكن يكون مش مترتب أوي لكني لازم أقوله..
الكتاب دا لازم يتقرأ عشان نستعيد وقائع التطهير العرقي والإبادة اللي بدأت من 1948 وما زالت مستمرة حتى الآن، رغم إننا ممكن نكون حافظين التاريخ بس لا بد نقرأ عشان نفهم ليه وازاي دا حصل، وعشان ببساطة احنا للأسف بننسى، وعشان لما التاريخ يعيد نفسه بحذافيره زي ما بيحصل دلوقتي نبقى فاهمين وفاكرين كويس.. وعشان كمان نعرف العقلية الإسرائيلية بتفكر ازاي لأن في الحقيقة هم مبيتغيروش، وأهدا��هم ومبرراتهم واضحة وضوح الشمس ومن أول يوم.
طبعًا قراءة الكتاب كانت صعبة لكن الأصعب منها الواقع.. احنا بنشوف كل حاجة بتتعاد قدامنا أو بالأحرى هي ماوقفتش أساسًا عشان تتعاد.. قصف وقتل وتهجير وهدم وسرقة ونزوح وأسر وتعذيب وقتل عشوائي واغتصاب.. مفيش حاجة جديدة بيعملوها، كل دا حصل قبل كدا ومستمر قدامنا فبالتالي مفيش خيار غير المقاومة. المقاومة هي الخيار الوحيد لمواجهة الاحتلال. ومش محتاجين مبررات عشان يقاوموا، دا حقهم. والمقاومة مش هي اللي مسؤولة عن جرائم الاحتلال. لأنه بكل وضوح دا احتلال! هو احنا مش عارفين معنى الاحتلال ايه؟ قد يبدو الكلام بديهي لكن اللي الواحد بيشوفه وبيسمعه اليومين دول من ناس محسوبين علينا بني آدمين ومثقفين وكدا بيخلي الواحد يستعجب من مدى الانحطاط اللي وصلوا له!
ودي فقرة من الكتاب بتلخص كلام كتير:
"ما لم تعترف إسرائيل بالدور الرئيسي الذي قامت به وتواصل القيام به في نهب أراضي الفلسطينيين وطردهم، وما لم تقبل ما يتضمنه هذا الاعتراف بقيامها بالتطهير العرقي من نتائج، فإن محاولات حل الصراع الإسرائيلي- الفلسطيني جميعها سيكون نصيبها الفشل، كما اتضح في سنة 2000 عندما انهارت مبادرة أوسلو بسبب حق الفلسطينيين في العودة. لكن هدف المشروع الصهيوني كان دائمًا بناء قلعة «بيضاء» (غربية) في عالم «أسود» (عربي)، والدفاع عنها. ويكمن في صميم رفض السماح للفلسطينيين بممارسة حق العودة خوف اليهود الإسرائيليين من أن يتفوق العرب عليهم عدديًا في النهاية. ويثير هذا التوقع -أن تصبح قلعتهم مهددة- مشاعر قوية إلى درجة أن الإسرائيليين لم يعد يهمهم، كما يبدو، أن يدين العالم بأسره أفعالهم. وقد أبطل مبدأ المحافظة على أغلبية يهودية ساحقة مهما يكن الثمن كل الاعتبارات السياسية وحتى المدنية، وأدى إلى استبدال النزوع الديني اليهودي إلى طلب الغفران بالاستخفاف المتعجرف بالرأي العام العالمي والتعالي الأخلاقي الذاتي، اللذين تصد إسرائيل بصورة روتينية من خلالهما الانتقادات الموجهة إليها."
كتاب طويل ومرهق نفسيًا لكنه مهم وضروري.
الكتاب دا لازم يتقرأ عشان نستعيد وقائع التطهير العرقي والإبادة اللي بدأت من 1948 وما زالت مستمرة حتى الآن، رغم إننا ممكن نكون حافظين التاريخ بس لا بد نقرأ عشان نفهم ليه وازاي دا حصل، وعشان ببساطة احنا للأسف بننسى، وعشان لما التاريخ يعيد نفسه بحذافيره زي ما بيحصل دلوقتي نبقى فاهمين وفاكرين كويس.. وعشان كمان نعرف العقلية الإسرائيلية بتفكر ازاي لأن في الحقيقة هم مبيتغيروش، وأهدا��هم ومبرراتهم واضحة وضوح الشمس ومن أول يوم.
طبعًا قراءة الكتاب كانت صعبة لكن الأصعب منها الواقع.. احنا بنشوف كل حاجة بتتعاد قدامنا أو بالأحرى هي ماوقفتش أساسًا عشان تتعاد.. قصف وقتل وتهجير وهدم وسرقة ونزوح وأسر وتعذيب وقتل عشوائي واغتصاب.. مفيش حاجة جديدة بيعملوها، كل دا حصل قبل كدا ومستمر قدامنا فبالتالي مفيش خيار غير المقاومة. المقاومة هي الخيار الوحيد لمواجهة الاحتلال. ومش محتاجين مبررات عشان يقاوموا، دا حقهم. والمقاومة مش هي اللي مسؤولة عن جرائم الاحتلال. لأنه بكل وضوح دا احتلال! هو احنا مش عارفين معنى الاحتلال ايه؟ قد يبدو الكلام بديهي لكن اللي الواحد بيشوفه وبيسمعه اليومين دول من ناس محسوبين علينا بني آدمين ومثقفين وكدا بيخلي الواحد يستعجب من مدى الانحطاط اللي وصلوا له!
ودي فقرة من الكتاب بتلخص كلام كتير:
"ما لم تعترف إسرائيل بالدور الرئيسي الذي قامت به وتواصل القيام به في نهب أراضي الفلسطينيين وطردهم، وما لم تقبل ما يتضمنه هذا الاعتراف بقيامها بالتطهير العرقي من نتائج، فإن محاولات حل الصراع الإسرائيلي- الفلسطيني جميعها سيكون نصيبها الفشل، كما اتضح في سنة 2000 عندما انهارت مبادرة أوسلو بسبب حق الفلسطينيين في العودة. لكن هدف المشروع الصهيوني كان دائمًا بناء قلعة «بيضاء» (غربية) في عالم «أسود» (عربي)، والدفاع عنها. ويكمن في صميم رفض السماح للفلسطينيين بممارسة حق العودة خوف اليهود الإسرائيليين من أن يتفوق العرب عليهم عدديًا في النهاية. ويثير هذا التوقع -أن تصبح قلعتهم مهددة- مشاعر قوية إلى درجة أن الإسرائيليين لم يعد يهمهم، كما يبدو، أن يدين العالم بأسره أفعالهم. وقد أبطل مبدأ المحافظة على أغلبية يهودية ساحقة مهما يكن الثمن كل الاعتبارات السياسية وحتى المدنية، وأدى إلى استبدال النزوع الديني اليهودي إلى طلب الغفران بالاستخفاف المتعجرف بالرأي العام العالمي والتعالي الأخلاقي الذاتي، اللذين تصد إسرائيل بصورة روتينية من خلالهما الانتقادات الموجهة إليها."
كتاب طويل ومرهق نفسيًا لكنه مهم وضروري.
April 8, 2015
This is the type of book wealthy hipster kids and trustafarians like to read to feel good about themselves. The book is incredibly manipulative and tugs at the emotional strings of clueless readers to indoctrinate them with anti-Israeli and Islamist-aligned propaganda. There are some truths in the book and there's no doubt Israel has had it's share of committing atrocities, but this book completely glosses over all of the atrocities committed by the Palestinians on the Christian Palestinians as well as the Muslim ones too. It doesn't explain how the majority of Bedouin-Israelis and Druze-Israelis support and often fight for Israel. This is the type of propaganda used by pan-Islamic nationalists in the middle of the 20th-century to promote Muslim unity by developing the narrative if an evil enemy (Israel) and the poor, helpless victims Palestinians. Somehow this Islamist narrative became in vogue amongst the left-wing, self-congratulating academics sitting the Ivory Towers of the West. Now the Palestinians are professional victims who have become a mascot of the self-righteous hipsters, progressives and college activists. The book ignores how the Arab nations never accepted the Palestinian refugees and massacred them as well in Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. Compare this with the Jewish nakba where 700,000 Jews were expelled from Arab nations and were peacefully assimilated and welcomed into Israeli society. What happened in the past was a tragedy for both sides, but during this time, numerous groups of people migrated and many borders were redrawn (Partition of India, Armenian genocide, Greek expulsion from Turkey), but only the Palestinians continue to play professional victims as a political tool for the anti-Semitic Islamists and their left-wing apologists.
May 12, 2015
"ملحوظة قبل البدء: لم أقرأ الكتاب وإنما قمت بقراءة ملخص له كتبه غازي الصوراني"
لا أعلم لم قمت بقراءة الكتاب وأنا أعلم بأني سأخرج منه بكمية غضب وإحباط وقهر ولكني قرأته على أي حال :/
ما فعله الصهاينة خلال السنوات الماضية من اغتصاب للأراضي الفلسطينية يستحقونه .. نعم يستحقونه وسترى ذلك من خلال قراءتك للكتاب فسعيهم الحثيث والذي يظهر بوضوح من خلال قراءة كل صفحة بل كل سطر يدلك على أن هنالك حسن تخطيط ووضوح هدف وتكاتف في سبيل الوصول للهدف وقبل هذا اجتماعهم على عقيدة واحدة بينما تفرقنا نحن !
كل سطر في هذا الكتاب يتحدث عن تقدم ملحوظ قاموا به فسطر يتحدث عن مستوطناتهم يليه سطر يتحدث عن اغتصاب القرى الفلسطينية يليه سطر يتحدث عن طرد اللاجئين وهكذا تجد خطواتهم سريعة ووااااسعة بشكل مذهل يجعلك لا تعجب من التمدد الذي قاموا به بل تعجب من وجودهم بين ٢٢ دولة عربية وإسلامية بل ربما أكثر وكل ما فعلوه هو الاستنكار والاعتراض "الكلامي" فقط !
ثم بعد ذلك نأتي لنطالب بعودة فلسطين فلنستعد نحن ديننا ورجولتنا وعروبتنا أولا !
أختلف مع المؤلف والذي أكد بشكل متكرر أن الهدف هو التطهير العرقي وأن الاستيطان بني على ذلك بينما يدعونا للدفاع باسم العرق العربي ، نعم هنالك عداوة من قبلهم معنا كعرب ولكني لا أجد هدفا أقوى وأشد ورابطة تجمع أمة ما وتجعلها تتفوق على أخرى كالعقيدة ، لذا أرى أن الهدف والدافع عقدي صهيو��ي بحت يليه هدف التطهير العرقي وبالمقابل أرى أن الانتصار لن يكون باسم العروبة أبدا وإن أتى فسيكون باسم الدين والعقيدة الإسلامية ..
المشكلة يا رفاق كانت ولا زالت عقدية منذ الأزل (ولن ترضى عنك اليهود ولا النصارى حتى تتبع ملتهم) .
لا أعلم لم قمت بقراءة الكتاب وأنا أعلم بأني سأخرج منه بكمية غضب وإحباط وقهر ولكني قرأته على أي حال :/
ما فعله الصهاينة خلال السنوات الماضية من اغتصاب للأراضي الفلسطينية يستحقونه .. نعم يستحقونه وسترى ذلك من خلال قراءتك للكتاب فسعيهم الحثيث والذي يظهر بوضوح من خلال قراءة كل صفحة بل كل سطر يدلك على أن هنالك حسن تخطيط ووضوح هدف وتكاتف في سبيل الوصول للهدف وقبل هذا اجتماعهم على عقيدة واحدة بينما تفرقنا نحن !
كل سطر في هذا الكتاب يتحدث عن تقدم ملحوظ قاموا به فسطر يتحدث عن مستوطناتهم يليه سطر يتحدث عن اغتصاب القرى الفلسطينية يليه سطر يتحدث عن طرد اللاجئين وهكذا تجد خطواتهم سريعة ووااااسعة بشكل مذهل يجعلك لا تعجب من التمدد الذي قاموا به بل تعجب من وجودهم بين ٢٢ دولة عربية وإسلامية بل ربما أكثر وكل ما فعلوه هو الاستنكار والاعتراض "الكلامي" فقط !
ثم بعد ذلك نأتي لنطالب بعودة فلسطين فلنستعد نحن ديننا ورجولتنا وعروبتنا أولا !
أختلف مع المؤلف والذي أكد بشكل متكرر أن الهدف هو التطهير العرقي وأن الاستيطان بني على ذلك بينما يدعونا للدفاع باسم العرق العربي ، نعم هنالك عداوة من قبلهم معنا كعرب ولكني لا أجد هدفا أقوى وأشد ورابطة تجمع أمة ما وتجعلها تتفوق على أخرى كالعقيدة ، لذا أرى أن الهدف والدافع عقدي صهيو��ي بحت يليه هدف التطهير العرقي وبالمقابل أرى أن الانتصار لن يكون باسم العروبة أبدا وإن أتى فسيكون باسم الدين والعقيدة الإسلامية ..
المشكلة يا رفاق كانت ولا زالت عقدية منذ الأزل (ولن ترضى عنك اليهود ولا النصارى حتى تتبع ملتهم) .
October 15, 2023
كتاب يوثق حقيقة المشروع الصهيوني في فلسطين بقلم مواطن اسرائيلي. و اكاد لا اصدق الصمت الدولي امام تلك الأدلة الموثقة بالتاريخ و اسماء الخطط و المجرمين مع وصف دقيق للقرى و موقعها الجغرافي.
بعد قراءته يمكننا القول ان العالم غابة لا عدالة فيه و لا حقوق بسبب وحشية الانسان و جشعه.
هو دائماً اكثر شراسة و توحش مما نتخيل. و القوة هي اللغة السائدة مهما حاولنا رفع شعارات الانسانية و الحرية.
اقرؤوا الكتاب لكي لا ننسى و نخسر ما تبقى من الامل ~
10/2023
الالم الفلسطيني كبير و لا ينتهي ..
اللهم كن مع اهلنا في غزة ..
اللهم الطف بهم و نجيهم من القوم الظالمين 🤲
بعد قراءته يمكننا القول ان العالم غابة لا عدالة فيه و لا حقوق بسبب وحشية الانسان و جشعه.
هو دائماً اكثر شراسة و توحش مما نتخيل. و القوة هي اللغة السائدة مهما حاولنا رفع شعارات الانسانية و الحرية.
اقرؤوا الكتاب لكي لا ننسى و نخسر ما تبقى من الامل ~
10/2023
الالم الفلسطيني كبير و لا ينتهي ..
اللهم كن مع اهلنا في غزة ..
اللهم الطف بهم و نجيهم من القوم الظالمين 🤲
May 28, 2021
التطهير العرقي في فلسطين
٢٧ مايو ٢٠٢١
كتاب تأريخ قيّم جدا على صعيد المعلومات التاريخية وتحديد المفاهيم. أعترف بأن الكثير مما طرحه من معلومات كان جديدا بالنسبة لي.
في هذا الكتاب، يطرح إيلان بابيه مفهوم التطهير العرقي، وكيف ينطبق هذا المفهوم على ما فعله الصهاينة في فلسطين (ولا يزالون يفعلونه). ثم يذهب بطيئا في التاريخ منذ أيام الانتداب البريطاني وبدايات الهجرة الصهيونية ليذكر بالتفصيل الخطوات التي قام بها الصهيانة لتنفيذ خطتهم، بتهجير الفلسطينيين من أرضهم عبر منهاج من جرائم وحشية تضمنت القتل والتدمير ومحو القرى من أساس وجودها، من أجل إنشاء دولة يهودية. يستند الكاتب إلى وثائق رسمية ومراسلات ومذكرات من أطراف متفرقة، البريطانيين، الصهاينة والمؤسسات الدولية كالأمم المتحدة، بالإضافة إلى ما تم توثيقه من شهادات شفهية للضحايا. هناك الكثير من الفصول الموجعة لجرائم مرعبة تعرض لها الشعب الفلسطيني.
ويتحدث الكاتب أيضا، وبصورة مباشرة، عن كيف حدثت كل تلك الجرائم بحضور مراقبين وشهود دوليين (الانتداب البريطاني أولا، ثم مراقبين الامم المتحدة، وحتى القيادات العربية) وكيف سمحوا بمرور تلك الجرائم وتراوحت ردات فعلهم بين إشاحة الوجه عنها، أو القيام بمظاهر شكلية وغير جادة لإيقافها. وأيضا، يتحدث عن الخيانة العربية، مسميا الأسماء، والتواريخ والتفاصيل، في مقاطع مثيرة للغضب، عن ”الحرب المزيفة“ التي لم يكن هدفها تحرير فلسطين بقدر ما هدفت لإقتطاع حصة من الكيكة.
الكتاب حافل ولا يمكن تلخيصه، ولكن هذه بعض النقاط المهمة التي أكتفي بتدوينها هنا.
التطهير العرقي والنكبة لم تبدأ فعليا منذ مايو ١٩٤٨، بل سبقت ذلك التاريخ، منذ نهاية العام ١٩٤٧ (فترة انتداب بريطاني) حين تعرضت أول قرى الفلسطينيين لإغارات التطهير، وامتدت إلى أواخر ١٩٤٩. إنها سنوات طويلة من الجرائم الصهيونية والصمت الدولي.
أن يكون هناك الكثير من الوثائق والشهود الدوليين لهذه الجرائم، ولا يُنصف ضحاياها، بل وأشد من ذلك، يمضي العالم بإتجاه نسيان وإنكار النكبة، أو تجاوزها كما لو كانت جرحا في إصبع من أجل ”عملية السلام“ الخ، هذا تعامي وتواطؤ دولي في الجريمة. إنه إشارة صارخة لعدم عدالة هذا العالم.
التطهير الذي يصفه الكاتب لا يزال مستمرا، وإن كان يأخذ شكلا أكثر ”تحضّرا“ في عالم اليوم، كما يحدث في القدس هذه الأيام. يترافق ذلك مع العمل المستمر لمحو ذاكرة النكبة وصناعة ذاكرة جديدة. الفصول التي تحدث فيها الكاتب عن تغيير هوية الأرض جغرافيا وثقافيا، والغابات الشاسعة التي زرعوها فوق القرى الممسوحة لطمس كل أثر وتاريخ لها، كانت مذهلة.
يصف الكتاب في العديد من منعطفات خطة التطهير العرقي كيف استثمر الصهاينة ذكرى الهولوكوست لصالح تمرير جرائمهم، في عالم دولي جبان ومجلل بخزي جريمته السابقة، حتى أنه يتواطأ بغض نظره عن جرائم الصهاينة، والحذر في توجيه النقد لهم بسبب ما مروا به. ومن الجهة الأخرى يصف الكتاب أيضا كيف تجنب الصهاينة في سنوات النكبة تلك كل ما يمكن أن يربط بين ما جرى لليهود على يد النازية وما يقومون به تجاه الفلسطينيين (وهو متشابه جدا!)، حتى أنهم دفعوا بإتجاه انشاء وكالة مستقلة للاجئين الفلسطينيين لكي لا تكون منظمة اللاجئين الدولية ذاتها التي دافعت عن اليهود سابقا، هي المدافعة عن نفس الحق للفلسطينيين.
أعتقد أن الكاتب رغم كونه اسرائيلا بدا منصفا ومتحيزا فقط لموضوعه وأطروحته، وسعيه لإثبات حدوث جريمة التطهير العرقي في فلسطين، متشبثا بفكرة أن الوصول إلى حل للمشكلة القائمة، يبدأ بالاعتراف بوقوع الجريمة، تسميتها التسمية الصحيحة، والبدء بإنصاف الضحايا.
الكتاب مهم وأنصح بقراءته لكل مهتم بفلسطين.
٢٧ مايو ٢٠٢١
كتاب تأريخ قيّم جدا على صعيد المعلومات التاريخية وتحديد المفاهيم. أعترف بأن الكثير مما طرحه من معلومات كان جديدا بالنسبة لي.
في هذا الكتاب، يطرح إيلان بابيه مفهوم التطهير العرقي، وكيف ينطبق هذا المفهوم على ما فعله الصهاينة في فلسطين (ولا يزالون يفعلونه). ثم يذهب بطيئا في التاريخ منذ أيام الانتداب البريطاني وبدايات الهجرة الصهيونية ليذكر بالتفصيل الخطوات التي قام بها الصهيانة لتنفيذ خطتهم، بتهجير الفلسطينيين من أرضهم عبر منهاج من جرائم وحشية تضمنت القتل والتدمير ومحو القرى من أساس وجودها، من أجل إنشاء دولة يهودية. يستند الكاتب إلى وثائق رسمية ومراسلات ومذكرات من أطراف متفرقة، البريطانيين، الصهاينة والمؤسسات الدولية كالأمم المتحدة، بالإضافة إلى ما تم توثيقه من شهادات شفهية للضحايا. هناك الكثير من الفصول الموجعة لجرائم مرعبة تعرض لها الشعب الفلسطيني.
ويتحدث الكاتب أيضا، وبصورة مباشرة، عن كيف حدثت كل تلك الجرائم بحضور مراقبين وشهود دوليين (الانتداب البريطاني أولا، ثم مراقبين الامم المتحدة، وحتى القيادات العربية) وكيف سمحوا بمرور تلك الجرائم وتراوحت ردات فعلهم بين إشاحة الوجه عنها، أو القيام بمظاهر شكلية وغير جادة لإيقافها. وأيضا، يتحدث عن الخيانة العربية، مسميا الأسماء، والتواريخ والتفاصيل، في مقاطع مثيرة للغضب، عن ”الحرب المزيفة“ التي لم يكن هدفها تحرير فلسطين بقدر ما هدفت لإقتطاع حصة من الكيكة.
الكتاب حافل ولا يمكن تلخيصه، ولكن هذه بعض النقاط المهمة التي أكتفي بتدوينها هنا.
التطهير العرقي والنكبة لم تبدأ فعليا منذ مايو ١٩٤٨، بل سبقت ذلك التاريخ، منذ نهاية العام ١٩٤٧ (فترة انتداب بريطاني) حين تعرضت أول قرى الفلسطينيين لإغارات التطهير، وامتدت إلى أواخر ١٩٤٩. إنها سنوات طويلة من الجرائم الصهيونية والصمت الدولي.
أن يكون هناك الكثير من الوثائق والشهود الدوليين لهذه الجرائم، ولا يُنصف ضحاياها، بل وأشد من ذلك، يمضي العالم بإتجاه نسيان وإنكار النكبة، أو تجاوزها كما لو كانت جرحا في إصبع من أجل ”عملية السلام“ الخ، هذا تعامي وتواطؤ دولي في الجريمة. إنه إشارة صارخة لعدم عدالة هذا العالم.
التطهير الذي يصفه الكاتب لا يزال مستمرا، وإن كان يأخذ شكلا أكثر ”تحضّرا“ في عالم اليوم، كما يحدث في القدس هذه الأيام. يترافق ذلك مع العمل المستمر لمحو ذاكرة النكبة وصناعة ذاكرة جديدة. الفصول التي تحدث فيها الكاتب عن تغيير هوية الأرض جغرافيا وثقافيا، والغابات الشاسعة التي زرعوها فوق القرى الممسوحة لطمس كل أثر وتاريخ لها، كانت مذهلة.
يصف الكتاب في العديد من منعطفات خطة التطهير العرقي كيف استثمر الصهاينة ذكرى الهولوكوست لصالح تمرير جرائمهم، في عالم دولي جبان ومجلل بخزي جريمته السابقة، حتى أنه يتواطأ بغض نظره عن جرائم الصهاينة، والحذر في توجيه النقد لهم بسبب ما مروا به. ومن الجهة الأخرى يصف الكتاب أيضا كيف تجنب الصهاينة في سنوات النكبة تلك كل ما يمكن أن يربط بين ما جرى لليهود على يد النازية وما يقومون به تجاه الفلسطينيين (وهو متشابه جدا!)، حتى أنهم دفعوا بإتجاه انشاء وكالة مستقلة للاجئين الفلسطينيين لكي لا تكون منظمة اللاجئين الدولية ذاتها التي دافعت عن اليهود سابقا، هي المدافعة عن نفس الحق للفلسطينيين.
أعتقد أن الكاتب رغم كونه اسرائيلا بدا منصفا ومتحيزا فقط لموضوعه وأطروحته، وسعيه لإثبات حدوث جريمة التطهير العرقي في فلسطين، متشبثا بفكرة أن الوصول إلى حل للمشكلة القائمة، يبدأ بالاعتراف بوقوع الجريمة، تسميتها التسمية الصحيحة، والبدء بإنصاف الضحايا.
الكتاب مهم وأنصح بقراءته لكل مهتم بفلسطين.
Read
July 7, 2021The Amerie's Book Club selection for July 2021 is THE ETHNIC CLEANSING OF PALESTINE by Ilan Pappe.
In The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, Israeli historian Ilan Pappe lays out in intricate detail how the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from their land was not a side effect of, but a pre-planned essential step for, the creation of the state of Israel. This series of massacres and expulsions—The Nakba—is commemorated by the Palestinian people as a catastrophe both past and present, but it has never been acknowledged by Israel, even as the Nakba—and the right of millions of Palestinians to return to their homeland—is at the crux of any chance for peace. In brilliant fashion, Professor Pappe revisits what happened in the early 20th century so that we might understand what is happening now, and finally, hopefully, move toward a long-awaited peace.
📚
#AmeriesBookClub #ReadwithAmerie #ABC #IlanPappe #TheEthnicCleansingofPalestine @AmeriesBookClub @oneworldpublications
ABOUT ILAN PAPPE
Professor Ilan Pappe is an Israeli historian and socialist activist. He is also the author of the bestselling The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine (Oneworld), A History of Modern Palestine (Cambridge), The Modern Middle East (Routledge), The Israel/Palestine Question (Routledge), The Forgotten Palestinians: A History of the Palestinians in Israel (Yale), The Idea of Israel: A History of Power and Knowledge (Verso) and with Noam Chomsky, Gaza in Crisis: Reflections on Israel's War Against the Palestinians (Penguin). He writes for, among others, the Guardian and the London Review of Books.
Professor Pappé obtained his BA degree from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem in 1979 and the D. Phil from the University of Oxford in 1984.
He founded and directed the Academic Institute for Peace in Givat Haviva, Israel between 1992 to 2000 and was the Chair of the Emil Tuma Institute for Palestine Studies in Haifa between 2000 and 2006.
Professor Pappé was a senior lecturer in the department of Middle Eastern History and the Department of Political Science in Haifa University, Israel between 1984 and 2006.
He was appointed as chair in the department of History in the Cornwall Campus, 2007-2009 and became a fellow of the IAIS in 2010.
His research focuses on the modern Middle East and in particular the history of Israel and Palestine. He has also written on multiculturalism, Critical Discourse Analysis and on Power and Knowledge in general.
In The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, Israeli historian Ilan Pappe lays out in intricate detail how the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from their land was not a side effect of, but a pre-planned essential step for, the creation of the state of Israel. This series of massacres and expulsions—The Nakba—is commemorated by the Palestinian people as a catastrophe both past and present, but it has never been acknowledged by Israel, even as the Nakba—and the right of millions of Palestinians to return to their homeland—is at the crux of any chance for peace. In brilliant fashion, Professor Pappe revisits what happened in the early 20th century so that we might understand what is happening now, and finally, hopefully, move toward a long-awaited peace.
📚
#AmeriesBookClub #ReadwithAmerie #ABC #IlanPappe #TheEthnicCleansingofPalestine @AmeriesBookClub @oneworldpublications
ABOUT ILAN PAPPE
Professor Ilan Pappe is an Israeli historian and socialist activist. He is also the author of the bestselling The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine (Oneworld), A History of Modern Palestine (Cambridge), The Modern Middle East (Routledge), The Israel/Palestine Question (Routledge), The Forgotten Palestinians: A History of the Palestinians in Israel (Yale), The Idea of Israel: A History of Power and Knowledge (Verso) and with Noam Chomsky, Gaza in Crisis: Reflections on Israel's War Against the Palestinians (Penguin). He writes for, among others, the Guardian and the London Review of Books.
Professor Pappé obtained his BA degree from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem in 1979 and the D. Phil from the University of Oxford in 1984.
He founded and directed the Academic Institute for Peace in Givat Haviva, Israel between 1992 to 2000 and was the Chair of the Emil Tuma Institute for Palestine Studies in Haifa between 2000 and 2006.
Professor Pappé was a senior lecturer in the department of Middle Eastern History and the Department of Political Science in Haifa University, Israel between 1984 and 2006.
He was appointed as chair in the department of History in the Cornwall Campus, 2007-2009 and became a fellow of the IAIS in 2010.
His research focuses on the modern Middle East and in particular the history of Israel and Palestine. He has also written on multiculturalism, Critical Discourse Analysis and on Power and Knowledge in general.
December 7, 2023
My god what Palestinians have gone through, wow. This was incredibly eye opening. I personally struggle reading nonfiction, but I found this pretty easy to read. The author has done a good job at using straight forward language. Additionally, I read this via audiobook, and I think that helped.
Highly, highly recommend. Wow.
Highly, highly recommend. Wow.
October 12, 2024
Asymmetrical power dynamic.
This is a book about the historical fact of the Nakba in 1948, when the budding nation of Israel systematically performed the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians all over Palestine. This ethnic cleansing involved murder, mass murder, rape, violent dislocation and destruction of entire villages. Around 800,000 Palestinians were expulsed and citizens of Israel took control of their territory, around 70%. This ethnic cleansing was sparked by the UN resolution 181 after which British occupation ended. The nascent Israeli nation was support by both the USSR, Jordan and later the US in this endeavor.
This book also has plenty of moral judgment from the author about the formation of Israel and the ongoing dispossession and de facto apartheid-like social and political fabric that exists today. You will get bias from the author and you will get indisputable fact about the history of 1948 and how it impacts the conflict there today. You will not receive much history before 1948 which is a weakness of the book as it may not provide the whole historical picture of this region.
In my opinion, history never ceases and the etiology of conflict can be explored going centuries back. This may be useful for someone seeking confirmation bias, which this book may be uses for, but I don't believe it's useful to provide solutions. Much like the ethnic cleansing that happened in Yugoslavia during that time of ethnic factionalization, there are always legitimate grievances on either side. For me, solutions are found in the present power dynamic. The current power dynamic in Israel is laughably asymmetrical. A nuclear nation with the support of the most powerful nation in history is in conflict with impoverished and dispossessed people and the terrorists groups that exploit their circumstances to justify violence and terror, exacerbating the violence and terror. The belligerent with the most power in a conflict has much more leverage and influence to de-escalate violence and pivot toward peace and that responsibility largely rests on Israel's and America's shoulder which they are currently eschewing with disastrous impact on innocent Palestinian lives.
To quote Chomsky: “Everyone’s worried about stopping terrorism. Well, there’s really an easy way: Stop participating in it.” This advice is applicable to all.
This book is a must read but cannot be your only read if you're trying to attempt to understand what is happening in Israel and Palestine.
This is a book about the historical fact of the Nakba in 1948, when the budding nation of Israel systematically performed the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians all over Palestine. This ethnic cleansing involved murder, mass murder, rape, violent dislocation and destruction of entire villages. Around 800,000 Palestinians were expulsed and citizens of Israel took control of their territory, around 70%. This ethnic cleansing was sparked by the UN resolution 181 after which British occupation ended. The nascent Israeli nation was support by both the USSR, Jordan and later the US in this endeavor.
This book also has plenty of moral judgment from the author about the formation of Israel and the ongoing dispossession and de facto apartheid-like social and political fabric that exists today. You will get bias from the author and you will get indisputable fact about the history of 1948 and how it impacts the conflict there today. You will not receive much history before 1948 which is a weakness of the book as it may not provide the whole historical picture of this region.
In my opinion, history never ceases and the etiology of conflict can be explored going centuries back. This may be useful for someone seeking confirmation bias, which this book may be uses for, but I don't believe it's useful to provide solutions. Much like the ethnic cleansing that happened in Yugoslavia during that time of ethnic factionalization, there are always legitimate grievances on either side. For me, solutions are found in the present power dynamic. The current power dynamic in Israel is laughably asymmetrical. A nuclear nation with the support of the most powerful nation in history is in conflict with impoverished and dispossessed people and the terrorists groups that exploit their circumstances to justify violence and terror, exacerbating the violence and terror. The belligerent with the most power in a conflict has much more leverage and influence to de-escalate violence and pivot toward peace and that responsibility largely rests on Israel's and America's shoulder which they are currently eschewing with disastrous impact on innocent Palestinian lives.
To quote Chomsky: “Everyone’s worried about stopping terrorism. Well, there’s really an easy way: Stop participating in it.” This advice is applicable to all.
This book is a must read but cannot be your only read if you're trying to attempt to understand what is happening in Israel and Palestine.
Read
December 7, 2023Don't take the lack of rating to mean this isn't well written or informative or emotionally impactful. It's all those things but I don't rate non-fiction as a rule.
I don't know what to say about this book except that if you come out the end (hell, if you make it to chapter one) still believing the state of Israel is in the right and the actions of the Zionists are acceptable, there's no convincing you otherwise. Because you've seen the atrocities live on social media, in the photos, the reports, the conditions that existed (though many of us were ignorant to, myself included) even pre-bombing. And if this still doesn't change your opinion of the situation.. nothing will. Certainly not this review which won't even be a review. Instead I'll be pasting in some passages not to provide context and not for your consideration. But because everything that was done, and continues to be done, is horrible and horrifying and it's right there in black and white. Full of facts and receipts (or in this case footnote references) of the premeditated evil that was and continues to be perpetrated today.
After the Holocaust, it has become almost impossible to conceal large-scale crimes against humanity. Our modern communication-driven world, especially since the upsurge of electronic media, no longer allows human-made catastrophes to remain hidden from the public eye or to be denied. And yet, one such crime has been erased almost totally from the global public memory: the dispossession of the Palestinians in 1948 by Israel.
This, the most formative event in the modern history of the land of Palestine, has ever since been systematically denied, and is still today not recognised as an historical fact, let alone acknowledged as a crime that needs to be confronted politically as well as morally.
Besides their trauma, the deepest form of frustration for Palestinians has been that the criminal act these men were responsible for has been so thoroughly denied, and that Palestinian suffering has been so totally ignored, ever since 1948.
Approximately thirty years ago, the victims of the ethnic cleansing started reassembling the historical picture that the official Israeli narrative of 1948 had done everything to conceal and distort. The tale Israeli historiography had concocted spoke of a massive “voluntary transfer’ of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who had decided temporarily to leave their homes and villages so as to make way for the invading Arab armies bent on destroying the fledgling Jewish state.
The attempt to portray Palestinians, and Arabs in general, as Nazis was a deliberate public relations ploy to ensure that, three years after the Holocaust, Jewish soldiers would not lose heart when ordered to cleanse, kill and destroy other human beings.
Israeli, and in particular American, public opinion, however, succeeded in perpetuating the myth of potential destruction or a ‘second Holocaust’ awaiting the future Jewish state. Exploiting this mythology, Israel was later able to secure massive support for the state in Jewish communities around the world, while demonising the Arabs as a whole, and the Palestinians in particular, in the eyes of the general public in the US. The reality on the ground was, of course, almost the complete opposite.
Under the watchful eyes of UN observers who were patrolling the skies of the Galilee, the final stage of the ethnic cleansing operation, begun in October 1948, continued until the summer of 1949. Whether from the sky or on the ground, no one could fail to spot the hordes of men, women and children streaming north every day. Ragged women and children were conspicuously dominant in these human convoys: the young men were gone – executed, arrested or missing. By this time UN observers from above and Jewish eyewitnesses on the ground must have become desensitised towards the plight of the people passing by in front of them: how else to explain the silent acquiescence in the face of the massive deportation unfolding before their eyes?
[..] three years after the Holocaust, what went through the minds of those Jews who watched these wretched people pass by?
In order to forestall international indignation over collective dispossession, the Israeli government appointed a custodian’ for the newly acquired properties, pending a final decision over their fate. Typical of previous Zionist conduct, this ‘pragmatic’ solution became policy until a ‘strategic’ decision would follow to change it (i.e., by redefining the status of the dispossessed assets). The Custodian was thus a function the Israeli government created in order to fend off any possible fallout from UN Resolution 194 that insisted that all refugees be allowed to return and/or be compensated. By putting all private and collective possessions of the expelled Palestinians under its custody, the government could, and in effect did, sell these properties to public and private Jewish groups and individuals later under the spurious pretext that no claimants had come forward. Moreover, the moment the confiscated lands from Palestinian owners were put under government custodianship they became state lands, which by law belonged to the Jewish nation, which, in turn, meant that none of it could be sold to Arabs.
But return or resettlement was not the only issue. There was also the question of the money expropriated from the 1,300,000 Palestinians, the ex-citizens of Mandatory Palestine, whose finances had been invested in banks and institutions that were all seized by the Israeli authorities after May 1948. Neither did Israel’s proposed policy of resettlement address the issue of Palestinian property now in Israeli hands. A member of the committee was the first governor of the national bank, David Horowitz, and he estimated the combined value of property ‘left by the Arabs’ at 100 million pounds. To avoid becoming embroiled in international investigations and scrutiny, he suggested as a solution: ‘Maybe we can sell it to American Jews?
As the owner of lands in general, along with other agencies that possess state land in Israel such as the Israeli Land Authority, the army and the government, the Jewish National Fund was also involved in establishing new Jewish settlements on the lands of the destroyed Palestinian villages. Here, dispossession was accompanied by the renaming of the places it had seized, destroyed and now recreated. This mission was accomplished with the help of archaeologists and biblical experts who volunteered to serve on an official Naming Committee whose job it was to Hebraize Palestine’s geography.
The world looks on as the strongest milita power in the region, with its Apache helicopters, tanks and bulldozers, attacks an unarmed and defenseless population civilians and impoverished refugees, among whom small groups poorly equipped militias try to make a brave but ineffective stand.
Israel’s “treatment’ of the Palestinians in [1948] is bound to raise troubling questions about the moral legitimacy of the Zionist project as a whole. This makes it crucial for Israelis to keep a strong mechanism of denial in place, not only to help them defeat the counter-claims Palestinians were making in the peace process, but – far more importantly – so as to thwart all significant debate on the essence and moral foundations of Zionism.
For Israelis, to recognise the Palestinians as the victims of Israeli actions is deeply distressing, in at least two ways. As this form of acknowledgement means facing up to the historical injustice in which Israel is incriminated through the ethnic cleansing of Palestine in 1948, it calls into question the very foundational myths of the State of Israel, and it raises a host of ethical questions that have inescapable implications for the future of the state.
[..] unless Israel acknowledges the cardinal role it has played, and continues to play, in the dispossession of the Palestinian nation, and accepts the consequences this recognition of the ethnic cleansing implies, all attempts to solve the Israel-Palestine conflict are bound to fail.
And finally, as we reached the end, this seemed like a very prescient note to end on :
Not all the Jews in Israel are blind to the scenes of carnage that their army left behind in 1948, nor are they deaf to the cries of the expelled, the wounded, the tortured and the raped as they keep reaching us through those who survived, and through their children and grandchildren. In fact, growing numbers of Israelis are aware of the truth of what happened in 1948, and fully comprehend the moral implications of the ethnic cleansing that raged in the country. They also recognise the risk of Israel re-activating the cleansing programme in a desperate attempt to maintain its absolute Jewish majority.
Organisations such as Hizbullah and Hamas, which dare to question Israel’s right to impose its unilateral will on Palestine, have faced Israel’s military might and, so far (at the time of writing) are managing to withstand the assault. But it is far from over. [..] the risk of even more devastating conflict and bloodshed has never been so acute.
I won’t lie. There were so many names, both of people and towns, the numbers of expelled persons and those who died, so much of which I won’t remember. But nonetheless the writing was very easy to follow and the impact of it all will linger as it provides so much context and historical trauma to the events we have seen, and continue to see, play out in front of us every day.
This was the first reading I’ve done on the history of Palestine and its occupation and while it was hard, and it took time to get through, it definitely won’t be the last. Very much recommended.
---
This review can also be found at A Take From Two Cities.
I don't know what to say about this book except that if you come out the end (hell, if you make it to chapter one) still believing the state of Israel is in the right and the actions of the Zionists are acceptable, there's no convincing you otherwise. Because you've seen the atrocities live on social media, in the photos, the reports, the conditions that existed (though many of us were ignorant to, myself included) even pre-bombing. And if this still doesn't change your opinion of the situation.. nothing will. Certainly not this review which won't even be a review. Instead I'll be pasting in some passages not to provide context and not for your consideration. But because everything that was done, and continues to be done, is horrible and horrifying and it's right there in black and white. Full of facts and receipts (or in this case footnote references) of the premeditated evil that was and continues to be perpetrated today.
After the Holocaust, it has become almost impossible to conceal large-scale crimes against humanity. Our modern communication-driven world, especially since the upsurge of electronic media, no longer allows human-made catastrophes to remain hidden from the public eye or to be denied. And yet, one such crime has been erased almost totally from the global public memory: the dispossession of the Palestinians in 1948 by Israel.
This, the most formative event in the modern history of the land of Palestine, has ever since been systematically denied, and is still today not recognised as an historical fact, let alone acknowledged as a crime that needs to be confronted politically as well as morally.
Besides their trauma, the deepest form of frustration for Palestinians has been that the criminal act these men were responsible for has been so thoroughly denied, and that Palestinian suffering has been so totally ignored, ever since 1948.
Approximately thirty years ago, the victims of the ethnic cleansing started reassembling the historical picture that the official Israeli narrative of 1948 had done everything to conceal and distort. The tale Israeli historiography had concocted spoke of a massive “voluntary transfer’ of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who had decided temporarily to leave their homes and villages so as to make way for the invading Arab armies bent on destroying the fledgling Jewish state.
The attempt to portray Palestinians, and Arabs in general, as Nazis was a deliberate public relations ploy to ensure that, three years after the Holocaust, Jewish soldiers would not lose heart when ordered to cleanse, kill and destroy other human beings.
Israeli, and in particular American, public opinion, however, succeeded in perpetuating the myth of potential destruction or a ‘second Holocaust’ awaiting the future Jewish state. Exploiting this mythology, Israel was later able to secure massive support for the state in Jewish communities around the world, while demonising the Arabs as a whole, and the Palestinians in particular, in the eyes of the general public in the US. The reality on the ground was, of course, almost the complete opposite.
Under the watchful eyes of UN observers who were patrolling the skies of the Galilee, the final stage of the ethnic cleansing operation, begun in October 1948, continued until the summer of 1949. Whether from the sky or on the ground, no one could fail to spot the hordes of men, women and children streaming north every day. Ragged women and children were conspicuously dominant in these human convoys: the young men were gone – executed, arrested or missing. By this time UN observers from above and Jewish eyewitnesses on the ground must have become desensitised towards the plight of the people passing by in front of them: how else to explain the silent acquiescence in the face of the massive deportation unfolding before their eyes?
[..] three years after the Holocaust, what went through the minds of those Jews who watched these wretched people pass by?
In order to forestall international indignation over collective dispossession, the Israeli government appointed a custodian’ for the newly acquired properties, pending a final decision over their fate. Typical of previous Zionist conduct, this ‘pragmatic’ solution became policy until a ‘strategic’ decision would follow to change it (i.e., by redefining the status of the dispossessed assets). The Custodian was thus a function the Israeli government created in order to fend off any possible fallout from UN Resolution 194 that insisted that all refugees be allowed to return and/or be compensated. By putting all private and collective possessions of the expelled Palestinians under its custody, the government could, and in effect did, sell these properties to public and private Jewish groups and individuals later under the spurious pretext that no claimants had come forward. Moreover, the moment the confiscated lands from Palestinian owners were put under government custodianship they became state lands, which by law belonged to the Jewish nation, which, in turn, meant that none of it could be sold to Arabs.
But return or resettlement was not the only issue. There was also the question of the money expropriated from the 1,300,000 Palestinians, the ex-citizens of Mandatory Palestine, whose finances had been invested in banks and institutions that were all seized by the Israeli authorities after May 1948. Neither did Israel’s proposed policy of resettlement address the issue of Palestinian property now in Israeli hands. A member of the committee was the first governor of the national bank, David Horowitz, and he estimated the combined value of property ‘left by the Arabs’ at 100 million pounds. To avoid becoming embroiled in international investigations and scrutiny, he suggested as a solution: ‘Maybe we can sell it to American Jews?
As the owner of lands in general, along with other agencies that possess state land in Israel such as the Israeli Land Authority, the army and the government, the Jewish National Fund was also involved in establishing new Jewish settlements on the lands of the destroyed Palestinian villages. Here, dispossession was accompanied by the renaming of the places it had seized, destroyed and now recreated. This mission was accomplished with the help of archaeologists and biblical experts who volunteered to serve on an official Naming Committee whose job it was to Hebraize Palestine’s geography.
The world looks on as the strongest milita power in the region, with its Apache helicopters, tanks and bulldozers, attacks an unarmed and defenseless population civilians and impoverished refugees, among whom small groups poorly equipped militias try to make a brave but ineffective stand.
Israel’s “treatment’ of the Palestinians in [1948] is bound to raise troubling questions about the moral legitimacy of the Zionist project as a whole. This makes it crucial for Israelis to keep a strong mechanism of denial in place, not only to help them defeat the counter-claims Palestinians were making in the peace process, but – far more importantly – so as to thwart all significant debate on the essence and moral foundations of Zionism.
For Israelis, to recognise the Palestinians as the victims of Israeli actions is deeply distressing, in at least two ways. As this form of acknowledgement means facing up to the historical injustice in which Israel is incriminated through the ethnic cleansing of Palestine in 1948, it calls into question the very foundational myths of the State of Israel, and it raises a host of ethical questions that have inescapable implications for the future of the state.
[..] unless Israel acknowledges the cardinal role it has played, and continues to play, in the dispossession of the Palestinian nation, and accepts the consequences this recognition of the ethnic cleansing implies, all attempts to solve the Israel-Palestine conflict are bound to fail.
And finally, as we reached the end, this seemed like a very prescient note to end on :
Not all the Jews in Israel are blind to the scenes of carnage that their army left behind in 1948, nor are they deaf to the cries of the expelled, the wounded, the tortured and the raped as they keep reaching us through those who survived, and through their children and grandchildren. In fact, growing numbers of Israelis are aware of the truth of what happened in 1948, and fully comprehend the moral implications of the ethnic cleansing that raged in the country. They also recognise the risk of Israel re-activating the cleansing programme in a desperate attempt to maintain its absolute Jewish majority.
Organisations such as Hizbullah and Hamas, which dare to question Israel’s right to impose its unilateral will on Palestine, have faced Israel’s military might and, so far (at the time of writing) are managing to withstand the assault. But it is far from over. [..] the risk of even more devastating conflict and bloodshed has never been so acute.
I won’t lie. There were so many names, both of people and towns, the numbers of expelled persons and those who died, so much of which I won’t remember. But nonetheless the writing was very easy to follow and the impact of it all will linger as it provides so much context and historical trauma to the events we have seen, and continue to see, play out in front of us every day.
This was the first reading I’ve done on the history of Palestine and its occupation and while it was hard, and it took time to get through, it definitely won’t be the last. Very much recommended.
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This review can also be found at A Take From Two Cities.
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