The Israel/Palestine Question: A Reader

by Ilan Pappé (Editor)

In this second edition of The Israel/Palestine Question , Ilan Pappé showcases some of the most recent areas of scholarly interest in the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Including only works which challenge previous conceptions and paradigms, Ilan Pappé emphasizes a number of recent developments in the conventional historiography. All the chapters in this edition are written by Israeli or Palestinian scholars, illustrating how much the desire to revisit the history of the conflict comes from historians belonging to the conflicting parties. The book also presents work influenced by wider historiographical developments, for instance the current interdisciplinary drive, as well as a sceptical view of elite historical narratives and the rise of non-elite history. This edition With a fully updated introduction, Ilan Pappé's timely anthology is a stimulating guide to the complex history and politics of the Middle East.

Genres: History, Middle East, Nonfiction

304 pages, Paperback

First published February 18, 1999

About the author

Ilan 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.

Reviews

[Justin Michael James Dell · Rating 3 out of 5]

A useful compendium of chapters relating to major issues in the historiography of the Israel-Palestine conflict. The average reader will not find every entry useful, but one or two chapters are bound to command interest. However, I would warn the prospective reader that the book takes on a tone that militates against Israel.

[زكرياء · Rating 4 out of 5]

Questo libricino è stato pubblicato in italiano nel 2011 come traduzione dall'inglese ma non si capisce se fa parte del libro pubblicato nel 1999 "The Israel/Palestine Question" comunque, non è un'introduzione della causa palestinese: per chi vuole conoscerla deve tornare un secolo indietro cioè il primo congresso mondiale dei sionisti tenutosi a Basilea in Svizzera nel 1897, poi l'interveto colonialista dell'Inghilterra (1923 fino a 1948) e poi l'appoggio occidentale che contiua fin'ora ma per fortuna ci sono crescenti movimenti di resistenza e di solidarietà con la Palestina, anche dai giovani cresciuti in ambiente occidentale che ha sempre censurato e licenziato ogni voce pro palestina, tramite l'accusa politica del anti-semitismo.

Ilan Pappè è uno storico e politico, nato a Haifa nel 1954 sotto governo israeliano, i suoi genitori sono immigrati tedeschi in Palestina negli anni anni 1930, ha servito l'esercito israiliano... ma riesce a vedere la verità dei fatti.

il libro è una sintesi molto breve del movimento di solidarità con la Palestina che propone una soluzione di un stato unico libero dal colonialismo sionista, dopo un cambiamento di regime ma non dice come si chiama questo stato perchè continua a scrivere Israele/Palestina.
la conclusione è stata molto positiva.

[ST · Rating 4 out of 5]

هذا الكتاب ليس مقدمةً للصراع بالمرة. كتاب أكاديمي، بعض القطع جيدة وممتازة وأخرى أقل جودة.
الكتاب يناقش الصراع العربي الصهيوني من منظورات تاريخية مكثّفة ومختلفة، ولغته لغة نضاليّة لا أكاديمية صَرفَة، وفيه كم كبير من الحياد.
*ملاحظتان:
- يكتب في الكتاب أكاديميون يعادون بعضهم البعض أيديولوجيًا وعمليًا. بيني موريس وإيلان بابيه
- قرأت أجزاء واسعة من الكتاب لمساق تاريخ الشرق الأوسط الحديث.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Benché la storia della Palestina, dai suoi inizi fino a oggi, non sia stata altro che una storia di mero colonialismo ed espropriazione, il mondo la tratta invece come una storia ‘complessa’, difficile da capire e impossibile da risolvere”.

[Jessica Harn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really good introduction to how the historical documentations of Israel and Palestine have been conducted, and how this has contributed to the conflict today

[Vincenzo Garofalo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un piccolo saggio che tenta di riassumere la questione Palestinese. Ottimo spunto di riflessione futura e di approfondimento. Una critica al sistema Israele/Palestina e un nuovo punto di vista da adottare nell'osservare la storia ed il presente per un futuro migliore.