The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine

An excellent and meticulously researched historical text. The level of cold, calculated brutality and unprovoked savagery used against a largely peaceful peasant population usually offering little or no resistance, a population quite unprepared for a war, who were usually just 'going about their business', is absolutely shocking. As is the clinical pre-planning and ruthless, cold efficiency with which the plan was then carried out. It is no exaggeration to compare what happened with the Nazi push into the Baltic states and Russia in the early 1940's. The reality of what actually happened during the years 1948-49, compared with the 'official' Israeli version, is astonishing. This is a subject I have had an interest in for some considerable time now, but despite my interest and knowledge of the subject, I was not prepared for the detail. The unnecessary nastiness and inhumanity of the jewish forces, is really hard to come to terms with. It is also interesting to compare the present day horror and outrage that is expressed at the actions of a 'suicide bomber' with events in early 1948 [when there was no war]. The Stern Gang and Hagana routinely threw bombs into CIVILIAN Palestinian gatherings and blew up houses with all the occupants asleep inside, often killing scores of people, simply to terrorise the population into fleeing Palestine. I am also deeply ashamed of the role [or non-role] played by the British forces, with one or two notable exceptions, [and the Bevin Government] who, until May 1948, were still officially charged with upholding law and order in Palestine. Anyone who still buys the notion that the events at Quana, the murder of the UN workers [despite hours of telephone conversations], the very high civilian casualty rates during the 2006 push into Lebanon, the deaths on the beach in Gaza and so on, were all REALLY accidental, should read this book. This particular brand of terror is long established practice by the Israelis. In fact, it is hard to understand how most of our media and politicians, people who have chosen to make a career informing the rest of us about what goes on, in and around the world, seem remarkably oblivious to this information. Well, there are no excuses now are there ? I am not sure how anyone could [intelligently] argue that this is 'a piece of anti-zionist fiction' as one of your reviewers suggests, it is far too factually based and closely referenced. It IS a testament to the power of the Israeli lobby and their campaign of distortion and misinformation that we are still presented by most of the media for most of the time the image of Israel as the victim in the Middle East. Now THAT is a piece of PRO-zionist fiction. Excellent, though disturbing book.

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

A very interesting book

A real eye opener. This book may be a little difficult for some to come to terms with and for others even more difficult to accept. It is something that has been placed in the psyche of us in Europe after the horrors of the holocaust that any criticism of the state of Israel or Zionism is equal to anti semitism. That the state of Israel was created out of the ashes of the second world war in order to provide a safe and free land for Jews the world over and a place of return for the Jews to their historical homeland. This book dispels the myth. Pappe rather presents the establishment of the state of Israel as being not only created by men whose ideology was every equal of the extreme nationalism that European Jews had suffered under but also created out of the ethnic cleansing of the native population of that land, the Palestinians. Pappe begins his book by providing us with with definitions of ethnic cleansing quoting from the United Nations amongst others. unfortunately his use of wikipedia, an 'encyclopedia' by his own admissions is edited by anyone in order to further his argument greatly diminishes his own introduction. While he may choose to use this in his own words to gauge public opinion on how genocide and ethnic cleansing is defined the fact that wikipedia is more of a soap box for anyone with a grudge makes the website frankly worthless. According to Pappe, ethnic cleansing is something that requires planning and pre-thought before execution and in the first few chapters Pappe documents how Zionist leaders wrote up maps of Palestinian areas, their populations and numbers. Pappe is also quick to point out however, how some Palestinian leaders were only too happy to sell off land to Zionist settlers believing that the greater threat to their land was the colonialism of the British. For some, the Zionists were the poor of Europe and offered little threat, little were they to know that these people would be one and the same who orchestrated their own extinction from their own lands. Pappe goes on to examine the execution of the Zionist plans of forced expulsion of Palestinians under threats of murder, how the response of Arab militias resulted in further excuses for Zionist outrages on civilian populations. Pappe gives examples of Palestinian villages of both Christian and Muslim who were wiped from the map. Further examples of man (Defined as aged between 10 and 50) being separated from their women folk and executed. Examples of mass rape, destruction of Churches, Mosques, orchards are also given. Another interesting point is the Arab-Israeli war which Pappe defines as a 'phony war' Pointing out that Jordan had no intention of defending Palestinians rather in protecting its agreed annexation of the West Bank. How the poorly armed and trained Arab armies were no match for the Zionist forces due to the Egyptians while large in numbers (Swelled by the Muslim brotherhood whose lack of any military training made them more a liability than help) The Syrians lack of modern arms, the Lebanese whose numbers were so small they were more concerned with holding onto their own land and Iraqis. Most of these forces were tied down by their own political leaders who had no intentions of seeing them defend the Palestinian people. I believe it was Robert Fisk in his book 'Pity the nation' who once pointed out the irony of the victims of genocide often being the most enthusiastic perpetrators of it. It is interesting that most of the criticism of this book is that it is 'anti semitic' (Strange considering the author is Jewish!) and reminds me of how Serbs would point out the massacres that were committed against their people in World War 2 by Croatian militias as though that somehow justifies the slaughter of thousands in Bosnia and Kosovo. Similarly Zionists use the holocaust to deflect war crimes in Lebanon and the ethnic cleansing of an entire people in Palestine. Thankfully Pappe has brought this to the worlds attention in a book that while filled with information that will be shocking and disturbing is also clear and easy to read.

I have long suspected that Israel is not as "right" as has been made out, not only by Israelis but also by their supporters. Ilan Pappe's book has spelled out what really happened, and to this day continues to happen to the Palestinians by the Israelis. That Palestine should have their own territory is, in my opinion, nothing short of correct. Quite how this can now be achieved is another matter altogether, given the massive upheavels that have occurred within what used to be known as Palestine. For a religion that, if Hitler had had his way, was to be wiped from the face of the earth I regard the treatment of the Palestinians by the Jews in the "creation" of the Israeli state to be nothing short of repugnant. Israel was created by the rape, torture, murder and expulsion of millions of Palestinians in land that had belonged to them for centuries. The whole was not helped by the indifference of my fellow countrymen (I am British) and the fledgling UN, but as the author says "The problem with Israel was never its Jewishness - Judaism has many faces and many of them provide a solid basis for peace and cohabitation; it is its ethnic Zionist character". We Brits did not help matters by, as far back as Balfour, stating that the Jews should have their own state, but today with the likes of Netanyahu and Ben-Gvir there is limited hope that the Palestinians will get suitably "compensated" for all that has happened to them. Force can be successfully applied to Israel, providing it is applied and followed through by the likes of the USA. I suspect that many (most ??) of today's Israeli youth truly believes that Israel was carved out of a wilderness, and that they have no idea of what was done to the Palestinians by the likes of Ben Gurion. Getting the truth to the average Israeli might be a good place to start. With the passing of so much time I could see a "solution" with a large chunk of what is now Israel being handed back to the Palestinians for them to form their own state. That must include a large coastal section with excellent port facilities, etc. Maybe a vastly expanded Gaza, for example. Regardless, thank you Mr. Pappe for a very instructive and educational read. As an Israeli national you are a very bold and rare breed of man to pen such a critical book of your own nation.

I've been reading many books on Palestine lately but this is the first one I've cried my way through. Credit to Ilan Pappe for the raw truth he delivers. Excellently researched and referenced with a lot of detail involving discussions amongst future Israeli leaders and notables, details of many villages they destroyed, a clear timeline and a description of the aftermath. It is easy to become cynical in these times but Pappe reminds me that there are still good, just and brave people in this world willing to speak truth to power.

Professor Pappe refers to Israel in this book as "our beloved country". He is, indeed, a true patriot, since he wants the best for his home country, a country which, sadly, has adopted am ostrich-like stance in regard to its past, and is actively encouraging its young to despise and/or hate its Arab people and its Arab neighbours.It would seem that the "eternal" war on "terror" suits the Israeli ruling classes down to the ground, providing as it does wonderful cover for the ethnic cleansing of Palestine which goes on, relentlessly, day by day as I write (good source for this is the OCHAoPT website/ bulletin). It was once more or less acceptable for educated Israelis to agree that their country's foundation was the result of a brutal invasion by largely European Jews (one can easily check the origins of Ben Gurion and practically all of the leading soldiers and politicians for the first 30-40 years of Israel) For an example of the finer type of Israeli who admitted the "original sin" of the Jewish state, one can read S Yitzhar's story of one Hagana unit's activities in the 1948 invasion of Arab lands.Pappe establishes his account around much archive material and the memoirs of participants in the "mainstream" army and in the terrorist groups such as Irgun and the Stern gang. His account is chilling, and ,perhaps even more so , is our realisation that the current Netanyahus and Liebermans exploit the "wish to deny" that is the overwhelming response of Israelis today in regard to their ancestors' remorseless expulsion of Arabs , from something like 500 villages and from parts of the larger towns.With the odd massacre along the way. We know that Benny Morris, one of the original researchers of this episode, does not deny the thrust of Pappe's argument viz. that the incoming Jews forced Arabs from their homes and massacred quite a few but regrets Ben Gurion's failure to complete the job, so that Israel still includes Palestinians as c. 16% of its population.In short, the Anglo-Israeli Morris feels that Israel would be better of as a 100% Jewish state , and could never contemplate the return of Arab refugees and their descendants to the lands and properties which were stolen from them in 1947-8. Given the general will to deny the "original sin", it is not surprising that Zionists vilify Pappe, and are less inclined to trumpet Morris's attitude, which would end in more open ethnic cleansing than is permissible in today's world (I think) We in this country are, of course, loth to admit the crimes of our past and present , and our US friends actually revel in their aggressive brutalities which they also dress up as "humanitarian interventions" . One element which Pappe could explore and expose more is, I think, the (pseudo-?) religious overlay on the project. Zionism is a sort of hybrid, of the "religious" (Israel is eternally Jewish , the Promised Land of the Bible) and of the "conquistador" mentality, of, for example, a man such as Moshe Dayan and of the pure (!!)fanaticism of the Sternists etc. However, the book is far more a factual account than a theoretical discourse, and rightly so, since, as European Jews must have known better than most at the time, forced expulsions are everyday cruelties - they do not actually need an ideological driving force, although at the extreme, such would help. In particular, it is essential not to allow individual soldiers doing the dirty work to think too much about their vicious treatment of , in this case, Palestinians. I refer again to S Yitzhar's poignant story, in the forlorn hope that any Zionist reading this review may ponder it, and repent. To sum up: the book is a brave and convincing attempt to confront Israelis with the reality of their history in the hope that one day they will eschew hatred and aggression (the settlements) and embrace decent standards of behaviour towards the people they have wronged for so long. Any visitor to the Holy Land can easily observe that the occupying forces treat the Palestinians like dirt, and this "status quo suits the Israeli Right mightily . It would seem superfluous to mention Gaza 2009 and other recent murderous attacks by the hugely superior-armed Israeli forces. The surreptitious taking over and carving up of Palestine which goes on , I repeat, daily,is scarcely reported , and one suspects that most Israelis never give the matter mature and humane thought.In 1947-8, there was, as Pappe notes, some international concern over key incidents such as the Deir Yassin massacre, but the world was probably too war-weary to be over-alarmed. Of course,UN resolution 194 stated the right of return for the displaced Palestinians , which Count Bernadotte had already stressed. For his courage, he was murdered by terrorist Jews from a group which the Israeli PM Shamir belonged to (similar background to Begin's ) We now have the Israelis confident that their "Defence Forces" are the most moral in the world. A good dose of Pappe could suggest to the brainwashed conscripts of the IDF that their tradition is questionable.Here's hoping !!!

A well-written and scarily prescient background to the present distressing (and largely ignored) present (2025). I learned a lot of detail I either didn't know or had forgotten One of my boyhood 'heroes' (Ord Wingate) outed early on! Really, a must read to maintain some kind of balanced view on the current tragedy and a reminder of Britain's role in it's development.

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

Excellent book

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

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

Good book about the clear facts. The reality is even worse than the book exposes but it stays clear from conspiracy theories.