Ilan Pappe

This major book by the renowned Israeli historian, unveils the hidden and systematic ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians in 1948, and its relevance to resolving the conflict.

Renowned Israeli historian, Ilan Pappe's groundbreaking book revisits the formation of the State of Israel. Between 1947 and 1949, over 400 Palestinian villages were deliberately destroyed, civilians were massacred and around a million men, women, and children were expelled from their homes at gunpoint.

Denied for almost six decades, had it happened today it could only have been called "ethnic cleansing". Decisively debunking the myth that the Palestinian population left of their own accord in the course of this war, Ilan Pappe offers impressive archival evidence to demonstrate that, from its very inception, a central plank in Israel's founding ideology was the forcible removal of the indigenous population. Indispensable for anyone interested in the current crisis in the Middle East.

Contents

1. An 'Alleged' Ethnic Cleansing?
2. The Drive for an Exclusively Jewish State
3. Partition and Destruction: UN Resolution 181 and its Impact
4. Finalising a Master Plan
5. The Blueprint for Ethnic Cleansing: Plan Dalet
6. The Phony War and the Real War over Palestine: May 1948
7. The Escalation of the Cleansing Operations: June--September 1948
8. Completing the Job: October 1948--January 1949
9. Occupation and its Ugly Faces
10. The Memoricide of the Nakba
11. Nakba Denial and the 'Peace Process'
12. Fortress Israel