A Very Short History of the Israel–Palestine Conflict

by Ilan Pappé

An indispensable guide to understanding the Israel-Palestine conflict, and how we might yet still find a way out of it.

"Ilan Pappe is the most original, radical and hard-hitting of Israel's 'new historians.'" -Avi Shlaim, author of Three Worlds

The devastation of 7 October 2023 and the horrors that followed astounded the world. But the Israel-Palestine conflict didn't start on 7 October. It didn't start in 1967 either, when Israel occupied the West Bank, or in 1948 when the state of Israel was declared. It started in 1882, when the first Zionist settlers arrived in what was then Ottoman Palestine. Ilan Pappe untangles the history of two peoples, now sharing one land. Going back to the founding fathers of Zionism, Pappe expertly takes us through the twists and turns of international policy towards Israel-Palestine, Palestinian resistance to occupation, and the changes taking place in Israel itself.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Politics, Audiobook, Middle East, War, Israel

160 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 2024

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

[naggyyna · Rating 5 out of 5]

as i made my way through this book, i felt an irrevocable sense of despair for everything that has been lost and continues to be lost- both Palestinian lives and the world’s collective humanity as it allows this to continue.

The account of events in this book is indeed a very short history, but you don’t need more than that in the first instance to identify Israel for what it is- a ruthless settler-colonial project.

There is no excuse for ignorance.

We owe it to our humanity to read about a genocide that started before most of our lifetimes yet continues to unfold in front of our very eyes today.

[Maziyar Yf · Rating 4 out of 5]

تاریخچه نزاع اسرائیل و فلسطین ، کتابی ایست از ایلان پاپه ، نویسنده و مورخ اسرائیلی . او در این کتاب کوتاه اما جامع کوشیده ریشه های درگیری میان فلسطین و اسرائیل و پیامدهای ویران کننده آن را برای فلسطین بیان کند .
بر خلاف آن چه که رسانه های خارج از کشور بیان می کنند ، آغاز درگیری ها هفت اکتبر 2023 نبوده ، حتی سال 1948 و تاسیس اسرائیل را هم نباید به عنوان شروع درگیری در نظر گرفت ، به داوری پاپه ، اولین درگیری‌های جدی و گسترده بین فلسطینیان و یهودیان به اواخر قرن نوزدهم و اوایل قرن بیستم بازمی‌گردد. این درگیری‌ها با افزایش مهاجرت یهودیان به فلسطین و خرید زمین توسط سازمان‌های صهیونیستی شدت گرفت .
نکته مهم دیگری که پاپه به آن پرداخته ، نقش بریتانیا در دوره قیمومیت بر فلسطین و سیاست‌های آن است که زمینه را برای مهاجرت یهودیان و افزایش تنش‌ها فراهم کرد. پاپه نشان می دهد که گرچه بریتانیا در تمام دوره قیمومیت به طور یکپارچه و بدون تغییر طرفدار یهودیان نبوده و و در مقاطع مختلف، رویکردهای متفاوتی داشته ، اما اعلامیه بالفور و سیاست‌های اولیه بریتانیا در تسهیل مهاجرت یهودیان ، ایجاد نهادهای صهیونیستی ، لابی گسترده یهودیان و البته چشم انداز وجود یک کشور متحد در خاورمیانه و تامین منافع بلند مدت استراتژیک ، نقش مهمی در هواداری بریتانیا از یهودیان و سپس تشکیل اسرائیل داشت .
نکته دیگری که پاپه به آن پرداخته ، هدف پروژه صهیونیسم ، از روز اول تاسیس به دست تئودور هرتزل ، تا این لحظه ، اخراج فلسطینی ها و عرب ها از سرزمین خود و ساکن کردن یهودیان به جای آنان است . به بیان ساده تر ، تاسیس دولتی یهودی در سرزمین های غیر یهودی . پاپه درک این نکته را بسیار مهم می داند و معتقد است که با فهم اصل فوق ، درک شکست تمامی مذاکرات صلح بسیار آسان می شود . در حقیقت اسرائیل ، هیچ وقت خواهان صلح نبوده و هیچ گاه هم وجود دولت فلسطین در کنار خود را نخواهد پذیرفت . اسرائیل مسیر دیگر را انتخاب کرده ، جنگی ویرانگر و وحشیانه ( مانند جنگ غزه ) که منجر به اخراج یا فرار باقی مانده فلسطینی ها شود .
پاپه به نقش گروه های مختلف فلسطینی مانند مانند سازمان آزادی‌بخش فلسطین و یاسر عرفات در مبارزه با اسرائیل ، چه سیاسی و چه نظامی هم پرداخته . اما او نقش این گروه ها را بیشتر مبارزه در جهت کسب قدرت می داند ، نه برای آزاد سازی فلسطین
در مجموع ، کتاب پاپه را می توان کتاب کوتاه اما مفید و جامعی دانست . او کوشیده تا با ارائه دیدگاهی متفاوت ، روایت‌های رایج منازعه اسرائیل و فلسطین را به چالش کشیده و خواننده را با دیدگاهی متفاوت از این نزاع طولانی آشنا کند . دیدگاهی که به نظر فلسطینیان نزدیک تر است .

[Vanessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

For those who describe this book as "biased", have you ever read other books/articles about the conflict? have you ever documented yourself? have you ever considered the possibility western governments aren't always on the correct side?

Europe (and the USA) made so many wrong decisions and now they can't admit they were wrong and their actions have consequences.

Essential reading.

[Irene Alva · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Algunos de los ideólogos sionistas esperaban que los palestinos emigraran voluntariamente a los países árabes vecinos si se les proporcionaba una compensación económica adecuada. Pero, si no era así, el traslado forzoso seguía siendo una opción viable.”

En esta reseña no voy a hablar de lo que trata este libro. No voy a hacer un resumen, no voy a tratar de sintetizar su contenido. En esta reseña voy a tratar de convenceros de la importancia que tiene (tuvo y tendrá) leer este libro.

Se estima que desde el 7 de octubre de 2023 hasta el día de hoy, Israel ha 4sesinad0 a más de 65.000 palestinos. Sólo en dos años. Pero este genocidio, esta masacre, empezó mucho, mucho antes.

A lo largo de las escasas 130 páginas que tiene este libro, el autor despliega ante nosotros un ejercicio de Historia apabullante. Una realidad oculta. La verdad de un conflicto mal llamado. Porque nunca fue un conflicto. Fue, es y seguirá siendo un genocidio. La masacre de un pueblo. M4t4r día sí y día también a personas inocentes. ¿El motivo? Querer usurpar un territorio por la fuerza. Un territorio que no te pertenece. ¿Y la explicación? El racismo, la discriminación, la xenofobia. Llámalo como quieras. Pero todo esto nace de la supremacía que Israel cree tener sobre Palestina. Una supremacía siempre apoyada por potencias como Estados Unidos, Reino Unido o Rusia.

Y en nombre de esa supremacía, Israel lleva años llevándose algo que no es suyo. Robando, usurpando y ocupando un territorio que nunca le ha pertenecido. Exterminando vidas que no considera importantes. Porque para Israel, los palestinos son una piedra en el camino. Son los que le impiden convertirse en el estado opresor, violento y reinante que quieren ser. Israel, que existe por la fuerza. Que existe por el exterminio. Un estado forjado con sangre y cadáveres. Un estado que para permanecer, hará desaparecer a quien haga falta.

Un libro necesario. Un libro objetivo. Un libro que habla de Historia, con mayúsculas. Que habla de la verdad y de la realidad. Para entender lo que está pasando. Para comprender el por qué de las cosas. Para entender por qué el pueblo palestino sigue luchando por su tierra. Para saber que esto no empezó hace dos años, sino hace mucho, mucho más.

Y si a pesar de leerlo, sigues pensando que no existe tal genocidio, aquí va un pequeño consejo: empatía, humanidad y ética. En Palestina 4sesin4n cada día a una media 100 personas. Les arrebatan todo. Sus casas, sus tierras, sus familias, y sus vidas. Los masacran. Quieren deshacerse del pueblo palestino. Así que cuando te preguntes por qué seguimos protestando y luchando, aquí va la respuesta: por Palestina libre.

[Ali · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The occupation, whether carried out in the name of the military or a civil administration, made detention without trial, killings, home demolition, expropriation of land and abuse by the army into features of everyday life for Palestinians. In 1987 and 2000, frustration at this ongoing persecution erupted into open resistance: the First and Second Intifadas. It was only a matter of time before a third one broke out. The failure of the two uprisings was also a failure of the more secular Palestinian liberation movement to end the subjugation of Palestinians. Accordingly, many Palestinians found new hope in Islamist groups such as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. For them and many Muslims in Palestine, the constant violation of the sanctity of Haram al-Sharif, the Holy Mount in Jerusalem where the al-Aqsa mosque lies, the third holiest place for Islam, was an added insult to the degradation they experienced themselves. Palestinian Christians, one of the oldest Christian communities in the world, had similar grievances regarding how Israel dealt with their holy sites in Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Israel has now destroyed a Greek Orthodox Church in Gaza.
Hamas and other Palestinian groups warned numerous times that continued detention of thousands of political prisoners and the provocations regarding Haram al-Sharif would push them to take drastic action against Israel. They invoked the example of the 2021 movement.
And most recently of all, the Gaza Strip has been subject to an unforgiving siege for seventeen years. Within these seventeen years, Israeli forces have directly attacked Gaza four times, from the land, the sea and the air. Half of the people of Gaza are under twenty-one, so this reality of siege and bombardments is the only one they know. For those of us safe and cosy in our homes, it’s hard to grasp the destructive capacity of the bombs that many of our governments sell to Israel. An air bombardment in the twenty-first century is worse than what you have read about in books on the Second World War. Even if you escape injury and death in these bombardments, the trauma will never leave you.
The Hamas fighters who stormed into Israel on 7 October were largely young people who learned the language of violence from the bombs that Israel dropped on them. This is not a justification of what they did. But we should not be so certain that, had we been subject to the same trauma, with no resolution in sight, we would respond much better."
— A Very Short History of the Israel–Palestine Conflict, Illan Pappé

Nerves are raw.

After experiencing 12 days of air bombardement from Israel, lots of us were losing it. And then it was mostly the sound from our own AAA fire that kepts us wide awake (at least those of us not in Tehran, where bombing was the most intense and there was a good chance to be hit by a precision bomb gone dumb and becoming "collateral").

I'm not going to talk about that, because I still can't figure out what the hell happened and is happening. That aside, now I can imagine (only a bit) how it feels to be on the receiving end of massive air strikes and what the Palestinians have gone through in the past few decades, particularly post October 2023.

Illan Pappė is not presenting a solid history here. Absent is any real coherence or solid narrative and this is not really a good history book. By jumping around wildly in time to offer some insights on the continuity of the Israeli attitude towards the Palenstinian "problem", Pappé is not really adhering to a chronological order. You will find yourself reading about Trump and Netanyahu in a chapter dealing with the pre-1967 War period.

No notes are included, and sometimes you can only wonder where Pappé is basing his conclusions on. Though to be fair, a lot of things that he points out, like the settler-colonialism nature of the Israel creation and expansion, is to the extent of my knowledge, kind of evident — especially after reading Khalidi's book. Compared to Khalidi's, this book suffers a lot from lack of end-notes and the personal touch that Khalidi has written his book with — Khalidi is after all a Palestinian who has experienced some of the depredations of war first-hand.

That said, Pappé presents very poignant observations, especially in the few chapters where he abandons writing history per se, and goes into what I call "activist mode" (I'm not using it derisively here, just to juxtapose it with even-handed historiography). The conflict being pretty much alive, open-ended, expanding and spilling into the wider region, objectivity and long-term hindsight-based analysis are well nigh impossible.

As for possible solutions, Pappé is an advocate of one-state solution, based on decolonization and liberation (one-state alongside decolonization? it seems contradictory but Pappé doesn't really expound it). He doesn't believe it possible for Israel to give up lands that it has secured and colonized since the 1948 War. Now that Israel finds itself in a strong position, it seems less likely than ever that a two state solution can emerge in the near future. More sincerely, Pappé stresses that he doesn't have a roadmap for a possible and enduring peace.

What is clear is that Israel has adamently refused to recognize Palestinian rights and equality, be it those living in their own midst or those living (if mere survival can be called life), in the strip or the West Bank. Unless that changes or an external structure is imposed to enforce that, a two-state or one-state solution wouldn't address the main issue. And with the current U.S administration and Israel infatuated with their string of recent tactical military successes, it is likely that the trampling of Palestinian rights and crushing of lives will continue (overtly and otherwise) until satisfied that the resistance is "obliterated" or that the Palestinians are vanished through hunger, disease, or forced exodus.

Developing situation with no clear end in sight. As GIs said it in WWII, it's SNAFU all the over region, as usual. But with a new war added to the pile and an inconclusive air campaign launched by a president who insists that it eradicated the danger of regional nuclear arms race. An "unprecedented" operation that looks eerily similar to 1998 Desert Fox. Will it develop and end along similar lines? The devil knows.

[Mohammad · Rating 4 out of 5]

وااای همه خوبن بعد از جنگ؟؟؟؟

در میان جنگ ایران اسرائیل و ایران خوندم. یه اسرائیلی نوشته کتابو. کوتاه و مختصر میگه پایه اسراییلو با تجاوز و دروغ و ارعاب ساختن. برای ادامه اش انتظارتون چیه

[emanumela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Indispensabile.

[Aishah Ahmad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Give this to any zionist who might somehow, for whatever reason, exist in your life. Tell them they can do it, it’s only 160 pages. I completely understand we can’t hate people just because they are Jews. Of course, that would be dumb. Israelis, Jews and Zionist are separate concepts, One can be one thing without the other and one can be Zionist without being Jews. But what infuriates me is the number of people who quick to blame us racists and use anti semitism movement to excuse every single despicable thing they’ve done. And then there are those who are quick to remind us not to hate on Jews, as if that’s the most urgent issue to address right now? 40,000 people, including babies and children, have been killed. And yet, people are telling us relax. Huh. Get your priorities straight.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

As undoubtely most people I want to make sense of the mess called the Israel-Palastine conflict especially now that Israël has a lethal choke hold on Gaza and seemingly is killing children & women because they can and the world just watches. I understand the revenge of the 7th of October massacre but the state of Israël has gone beyond revenge.

Ilan Pappe is an Israeli new historian whose view are no longer welcome in Israël because hé looks different on the views of how Israël was created than the Israëli propaganda wants it to be conceived. Hé was asked to leave his seat of the Jerusalem university and was threatened if hé stayed by the more rabid members of the state of Israël.

This short history shows how explosive the State of Israël has grown since the UN decided that there should be a place for Jewish people in the middle east. What it turned out to be was not a 2 state solution with similar rights but a single Jewish state which has taken away all rights from the original inhabitants including their property.

Reading this book takes away a lot of illusions which felt safe in our western worlds. I never heard of settler colonisation but it is something that has been applied a lot in our history.

This book seems to be one side but considering the subject it is denied by the Israeli government but the current state of affairs in Israël, the westbank and Gaza it is hard to deny the truth that the Jewish solution towards the Palastinians seems to be genocide

The most troubling aspect seems to be that Israël could change into a theocratic ruled country if the right has something to say about it.

A little book with a lot of ideas and history. One thing does annoy me and that is how Hezbollah, HAMAS are portrayed and the involvement of Iran is swept under the carpet as serious opponent of Israël.

[مَرْيَمْ نَاصِر · Rating 4 out of 5]

التقييم: من 4 لـ 3.5 كده 🌟

يحكي لنا إيلان بابيه وبشكلٍ موجز في خمسة عشر فصلا وكلمة تقديمية ومقدمة وخاتمة عن الصراع الإسرائيلي -الفلسطيني

يقول آفي شلايم في كلمته التقدمية للكتاب:
❞ لقد أُلِّف هذا الكتاب في ظلِّ الأحداث الدامية التي شهدتها غزة، والتي اندلعت عقب الهجوم الذي شنَّتهُ حماس في السابع من أكتوبر عام ٢٠٢٣. ويُخْتَتَم الكتاب بفصلٍ يتناول هجوم ٧ أكتوبر ٢٠٢٣ في سياقه التاريخي والأخلاقي، مُشدِّدًا على أنه لم يحدث في فراغ، بل جاء كردِّ فعلٍ على قَرن من الاستعمار الاستيطاني الصهيوني الذي حظيَ بدعم من الإمبريالية الغربية. ووفقًا لمنطق الاستعمار الاستيطاني، فإنَّ الهدف النهائي منه إزالةُ السكانِ الأصليينَ، وهي الفكرة التي أكَّدها نعوم تشومسكي، الذي شارك پاپيه في تأليف كتاب عن غزة، عندما وصفَ الاستعمار الاستيطاني بأنه «أكثر أشكال الإمبريالية تطرُّفًا ووحشيةً». ❝

وفي المقدمة يقول إيلان عن هدفه من الكتاب:
❞ أودُّ تسليط الضوء على الأحداث الرئيسة، والشخصيات، والعمليات التي أدَّت إلى تفاقم هذا الصراع منذ وصول أوائل المستوطنين اليهود إلى فلسطين التاريخية وحتى يومنا هذا. لا أدَّعي الشمولية في هذا السياق، فهناك كمٌّ هائل من الأدبيات الممتدة عبر عقودٍ لمن يرغب في الغوص بعمق أكبر في هذا الموضوع. لكنني أعتقد أن أيَّ شخص يعارض الظلم والعدوان يمكنه فهم الأساسيات لما نُعرِّفه الآن بالصراع بين إسرائيل وفلسطين. وهذا الكتاب هو محاولتي لتوضيح هذه الأساسيات. ❝

-الكتاب موجه بشكل عام للقارئ الغربي لكن الكتاب يحتوي على بعض التفاصيل مكنتش اعرفها أو يمكن معروفة بس قليل الكلام عنها او الانتباه ليها.

-طبعا إيلان بابيه معروف ومشهور بكتابه "التطهير العرقي في فلسطين"

-ماقدرش اقول أن الكتاب منصف ١٠٠٪، لأن بابيه مؤرخ إسرائيلي، نعم يدافع عن حقوق الفلسطينين لكن احيانا استفزني حديثه عن إسرائـ.يـ.ل كأنها دولة زي بقية الدول عادي، وإيمانه الكامل ان حل القضية هو حل الدولتين والتعايش مع الصهاينة رغم انه قال بنفسه بردو ان ده فشل في أوسلو بالأساس، حسيت بالتناقض شويه..

-حاسه انه مهما كتب كُتاب غريبين عن القضية الفلسطينية انهم عمرهم ما هيفهموها بردو ولا هيفهموا قدسية المسجد الأقصى وبلاد الشام ككل بالنسبة لنا كـ مسلمين على الأقل

-كنت أول مرة اعرف عن اليهود العرب بشكل موجز جدًا وازاي إسرائيل دمرت مجمتعهم خاصة في العراق

-الترجمة جيدة جدًا والهوامش كانت مفيدة.

بعض الاقتباسات استوقفتني:
عن الصهيونية وفكرتها
❞ تُعتبر الصهيونية فكرة مستوردة من الغرب. نشأتْ كمشروع مسيحي إنجيلي خلال القرن السادس عشر في أوروبا. واعتقد عددٌ كبير من المسيحيين البروتستانت أن عودة اليهود إلى «صهيون» ستحقق وعود الله لليهود في العهد القديم. وسيكون ذلك بِشارة مجيء المسيح الثاني، إيذانًا ببداية نهاية العالم - وهي عملية أراد كثيرٌ من الإنجيليين تسريعها. كانوا أول من اعتبر اليهودية أمةً أو عِرقًا، وليستْ مجرد ديانةٍ. نشطوا بشكل خاص في الولايات المتحدة وبريطانيا، وشغل بعضهم مناصبَ عُليا، مثل وليام بلاكستون في الولايات المتحدة واللورد شافتسبوري في بريطانيا. ❝
عن مفهوم الاستعمار الاستيطاني
❞ دعني أوضح ما أعنيه بالاستعمار الاستيطاني وِفْقًا للمفهوم التقليدي للاستعمار، تُسيطر الدول الأم على المستعمرات - كما حكمت بريطانيا في الهند، أو كما أدارت البرتغال مستعمراتها الإفريقية الهدف هو تحويل السكان الأصليين إلى رعايا مُسْتَعْمَرين مخلصينَ لهم فلا يهدف المُسْتَعْمِرُون أبدًا إلى أن يصبحوا الأغلبية السكانية المهيمنة في المستعمرة في الاستعمار الاستيطاني، يهدف المستعمِر إلى استبدال المجتمع الأصلي بالكامل بإحلال مجتمعه هو غالبًا ما يكون المستوطنون من المنبوذين في أوطانهم- فقد استُعمرت أمريكا الشمالية من قبل أشخاص فرُّوا من الاضطهاد الديني في أوروبا يحاول المستعمرون الاستيطانيون بناء وطن يريدهم ويرحب بهم وهم أداة فعَّالة للقوى الإمبريالية لتوسيع نفوذها، كي تتحول إلى أنظمة حليفة في أراضٍ بعيدة.❝

الاقتباسات كتير الحقيقة والكتاب يستحق القراءة ويصلح كبداية للقراءة عن القضية -رغم ما حدث ومازال يحدث في غـ.زة والضفة لا يحتاج إلى قراءة- وللأسف من واقعي الشخصي وبعد حتى عامين من الإبـ.ـادة في عْـ.زة بعض الناس مازالوا لا يعرفون بعض البديهيات عن القضية وتاريخها والله المستعان...
رحم الله الشهداء..

ملحوظة: الغلاف جميل اوي.

٢١ ربيع الآخر ١٤٤٧
١٢ أكتوبر ٢٠٢٥

[Holly | Raise Your Words · Rating 3 out of 5]

​| 3/5 Stars | ★★★☆☆

Trigger Warnings for A Very Short History of the Israel-Palestine Conflict: Violence, War, Death, Ethnic Cleansing, Genocide, Displacement, Colonialism, Oppression, Political Conflict, Trauma, Human Rights Violations

A Very Short History of the Israel-Palestine Conflict​ is a short nonfiction book by Ilan Pappé. This book takes us back to 1882 and walks us - or should I say, runs us - to the present day Israel-Palestine conflict. Pappé takes particular focus in helping us to understand Palestinian resistance to occupation.

A Very Short History of the Israel-Palestine Conflict is incredibly informative, but woof was it a tough read. It was tough particularly due to both how dry it was and how dense the material is. This felt like reading a textbook and I felt like I was cramming for a test. All of this being said, Pappé really has created an indispensable guide to understanding the Israel-Palestine conflict. As someone who came in without much knowledge and, therefore, no strong feelings, I truly learned so much.

I absolutely recommend A Very Short History of the Israel-Palestine Conflict, with the caveat that you should try to listen to it on audio rather than read the physical version. This was a great book to listen to while doing other things, like cleaning or driving. I don't think it would have held my attention if I had to pick up the physical book.

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[sjk · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unbelievably biased, one-sided, and full of “facts” that are stated without the full picture. It’s sad that people eat this up. If Israel wanted genocide the war would have been over on October 8th.

[Vartika · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this work of precision and economy, Israeli historian and political scientist Ilan Pappé provides a historical overview of the 'conflict' in the Middle East, from the origins of Zionism in the 16th century to the wretched, catastrophic present.

He starts by showing how the vision of a Jewish homeland first came about through Christian Evangelist interest in Jewish return to a Biblical 'Zion', began taking its present form in the late 19th century due to growing anti-semitism in Eastern and Central Europe, and was solidified by Imperial Britain's twin-aims of securing control in the Middle East after the fall of the Ottoman Empire (Israel, in Theodore Herzl's vision, could have just as easily been established in Uganda) and limiting 'undesirable' Jewish immigration into Allied Western European territories after the Second World War.

Pappé then goes on to show how the Zionist focus on creating a Jewish State in historical Palestine turned to a settler colonialist project with the first ethnic cleansing projects in the 1920s (Palestine was never a 'land without people'), and takes us through key early events preceding the Nakba; through the Suez Crisis and early wars which defused Palestinian leadership, destabilised the neighbouring states of Lebanon and Syria, and established conditions for (chiefly) Jordinian collaboration (first with the British, then with Israel and the United States); through the expansion towards Greater Israel and two Intifadas bridged by the rise and fall of the PLO and the Palestinian Authority and biased and unyielding diplomatic accords; the global refusal to recognise a democratically-elected Hamas government, the ensuing 21-year seige on Gaza and Judaisation of the West Bank; all the way to the the full-fledged genocide now in its second year, where the events of 7 October 2023 also serve as pretext for the US reasserting its interests in the Middle East and European countries limiting democratic freedoms in the name of a new 'war on terror'.

As far as 'very short histories' go, this one is radically comprehensive and compassionate, refuting dominant western ideas about the 'conflict, revealing it as the brutal occupation and apartheid that it is and demonstrating the dismal failure of the so-called 'two-state solution' that informs the 'peace process'. This is an essential primer – most of the analysis within its pages is a natural offering of such a factual account. Those looking for further reading should seek out Pankaj Mishra's The World After Gaza, which offers more in-depth analysis, particularly of how the memory of the Holocaust has been twisted and weaponised to work the injustices of yet another genocidal machine. Those already familiar with the causes and seeking to understand both cause and effect should flock to the many Palestinian voices writing today: Mohammad El-Kurd, Omar El-Akkad, Noura Erakat, Ghada Karmi, Rashid Khalidi, Raja Shehadeh, Isabella Hammad, Susan Abulhawa, Nasser Abu Srour...

[Martinis]

Se qualcuno avesse altro a riguardo da consigliarmi gliene sarei molto grata.

If anyone would recommend more books about this topic, I would be grateful.

[EmG ReadsDaily · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short and incredibly informative read.

There are no excuses for ignorance.

[Hesam Mousavi · Rating 4 out of 5]

روایتی از تاریخچه یک نزاع
نزاعی بر سر زندگی یا مرگ

حقیقتا یک هفته ای میشه که کتاب رو تموم کردم، اما دستم به نوشتن نمیره و همین الان هم از شروع خودم راضی نیستم...

این کتاب بطور مختصر اما مفید میاد به این موضوع می‌پردازه که چطور کشوری به اسم اسرائیل در سال ۱۹۴۸ اعلام استقلال کرد. اعلام استقلالی که منجر شد به سالها درگیری بی تنها بین این کشور و اعراب که حتی با تغییرات سیاسی ایران منجر شد به اضافه شدن ایران به این نزاع.

برای فهمیدن تاریخچه این نزاع بطور اصولی قطعا خوندن این کتاب کمکی نمی‌کنه، اما حداقل یک اطلاعات کلی از نحوه شکل‌گیری موضوع به خواننده میده.

بنظرم میشه گفت اثر خوبی بود و قابلیت تأمل کردن هم داره. اطلاعاتی که شاید خیلی از ما ندونیم و شاید با خوندن اونا بتونیم شناخت بیشتری از این داستان بدست بیاریم.

در آخر پیشنهاد میکنم خوندن این کتاب رو از دست ندید.

[وَادْفَل عَبدُ النَّاصِر · Rating 4 out of 5]

ليس هذا الكتاب تاريخًا، بل هو صرخة ضمير في وجه تاريخٍ من الإنكار. إن عمل إيلان بابِه الأخير، "تاريخ موجز جدًا للصراع الإسرائيلي – الفلسطيني"، ليس مجرد سردٍ كرونولوجي لأحداثٍ امتدت لأكثر من قرن، بل هو أداة فكرية وأخلاقية حادة، مصممة لاختراق جدار الصمت والتضليل الذي يحيط بصراع لم يكن يومًا "موجزًا" في ألمه أو في تداعياته. يأتي هذا العمل كأحدث حلقة في المشروع الفكري الذي كرّس له بابِه حياته الأكاديمية، بصفته أحد أبرز "المؤرخين الجدد" الذين حطّموا الرواية الصهيونية الرسمية من داخلها، مستخدمين أرشيفها نفسه لكشف حقيقة التطهير العرقي والاستعمار الإحلالي الذي تأسست عليه دولة إسرائيل.

إن تقديم تاريخ "موجز" هو في حد ذاته فعل سياسي واعٍ. فبابِه لا يسعى هنا إلى الإحاطة بكل التفاصيل، بل يهدف إلى إيصال الحقيقة الجوهرية إلى القارئ العام الذي أرهقته الروايات المتضاربة: أن هذا الصراع لم يبدأ كرد فعل على عنفٍ فلسطيني، بل انطلق كمشروع استعماري أوروبي في أواخر القرن التاسع عشر، استهدف أرضًا لم تكن يومًا فارغة. من هنا، تكمن الأطروحة المركزية لهذه المراجعة في أن قيمة كتاب بابِه لا تنبع من ادعاء حيادٍ أكاديمي زائف، بل من شجاعته الأخلاقية على تسمية الأشياء بأسمائها: استعمارًا، تطهيرًا عرقيًا، وجريمة مستمرة. وعليه، فإن تقييمنا لهذا الكتاب لن ينطلق من معايير التوازن الشكلي، بل من منظور العدالة التاريخية والحق الفلسطيني المطلق في أرضه وتاريخه ومستقبله. هذا الموقف النقدي هو وحده ما يسمح لنا بالغوص في جوهر الأفكار التي يطرحها الكتاب، وتحليل كيفية تفكيك بابِه للأيديولوجية الصهيونية كبنية استعمارية، وكيف يعيد تعريف التاريخ كأداة للمساءلة الأخلاقية، لا للمصالحة السطحية.

يكمن جوهر هذا الكتاب في تفكيك الأسطورة المؤسسة للصهيونية وتقديم سردية بديلة، متجذرة في مفهوم "الاستعمار الإحلالي" (settler colonialism). يرى بابِه أن هذه الأطروحة ليست مجرد مصطلح أكاديمي، بل هي المفتاح الوحيد لفهم الأحداث من لحظة وصول أول مستوطن صهيوني وحتى الإبادة المستمرة في غزة اليوم. يستعرض بابِه المحطات التاريخية الرئيسية ليس كسلسلة من الأحداث المنفصلة، بل كأدلة متراكمة يربط بينها ببراعة لإثبات هذه الأطروحة المركزية. فهو يوضح كيف أن رفض العثمانيين للمشروع لم يوقفه، بل دفعه للبحث عن راعٍ إمبريالي جديد، وكيف أن التواطؤ البريطاني لم يكن مجرد مناورة سياسية، بل كان اللحظة التي اكتسب فيها المشروع الصهيوني الآلة البيروقراطية والقانونية الإمبريالية اللازمة لبدء عملية نزع الملكية، وذلك عبر إعادة تصنيف الفلاحين الفلسطينيين كـ "مزارعين مستأجرين" وتغيير القوانين العثمانية لتسهيل طردهم. وصولًا إلى التطهير العرقي الممنهج والمنظم في نكبة عام 1948، والذي يقدّمه بابِه كنتيجة منطقية وحتمية لهذا المسار.

يعرّف بابِه الاستعمار الإحلالي بوضوح قاطع، موضحًا أن هدفه لم يكن استغلال السكان الأصليين أو السيطرة عليهم كما في الاستعمار الكلاسيكي، بل كان استبدالهم بالكامل ومحو وجودهم المادي والثقافي من الأرض. إنه منطق الإبادة الذي لا يرى في الآخر سوى عقبة يجب إزالتها. ويجسّد الاقتباس التالي هذه الفكرة المحورية بكل قسوتها:

"In settler colonialism, the coloniser aims to wholly replace native society with the society of the coloniser... The land is not empty. And so the settlers empty it." (في الاستعمار الإحلالي، يهدف المستعمِر إلى استبدال المجتمع الأصلي بالكامل بمجتمع المستعمِر... الأرض ليست فارغة. ولذلك، يقوم المستوطنون بإفراغها.)

هنا، تتحول الكلمات من مجرد تحليل نظري إلى شهادة موجزة ومؤلمة على واقع مأساوي. فعبارة "يقوم المستوطنون بإفراغها" ليست استعارة، بل هي توصيف دقيق لما حدث لأكثر من 500 قرية فلسطينية دُمرت عام 1948، وللمزارعين في مرج ابن عامر ووادي الحوارث في عشرينيات القرن الماضي، الذين كانوا، كما يوثق بابِه، من أوائل ضحايا منطق الإزالة هذا عندما تم تسليح القانون البريطاني لطردهم من الأراضي التي زرعوها لأجيال. إن حسم بابِه في إدانة هذا المشروع لا يترك مجالًا للشك؛ فهو لا يكتفي بالتحليل الأكاديمي البارد، بل يصفه بوضوح كجريمة مستمرة، تتجدد فصولها مع كل عملية هدم وكل تهجير وكل مجزرة. هذا الموقف الأخلاقي الواضح ليس انحيازًا عاطفيًا، بل هو النتيجة المنطقية لمنهج فلسفي يرى التاريخ كأداة للعدالة.

لا يتعامل إيلان بابِه مع التاريخ كعلم محايد يسعى لتجميع الحقائق ورصّها، بل يستخدمه كأداة لكشف البنية الأخلاقية للصراع، وفضح آليات الظلم التي سمحت باستمرار الجريمة لأكثر من قرن. منهجه في الكتابة التاريخية ينطلق من منظور إنساني عالمي يرفض القهر والظلم في أي مكان، وهو ما يميزه عن بعض المؤرخين الإسرائيليين الذين قد يراجعون بعض الأخطاء التاريخية، لكنهم يبقون ضمن إطار "تصحيح" المنظومة الإسرائيلية لا تقويضها من أساسها.

هنا ينجح بابِه في تفكيك الرواية الصهيونية بالكامل، وكشف زيف ادعاءاتها حول "أرض بلا شعب". لكن السؤال الذي يطرحه منظورنا النقدي هو: هل بقي بابِه أسيرًا لمحدودية "الضمير الإسرائيلي التائب" الذي يعترف بالنكبة كـ"مأساة" وقعت، أم أنه تجاوز ذلك نحو الاعتراف الكامل وغير المشروط بالحقوق الفلسطينية المترتبة على هذه الجريمة؟ في هذه النقطة، يتجاوز بابِه بشكل حاسم الحدود الاعتذارية لـ "الضمير الإسرائيلي التائب". إن دعوته لحل الدولة الديمقراطية الواحدة ليست مجرد تصحيح لأخطاء الماضي، بل هي تفكيك جذري للبنية الاستعمارية الإحلالية نفسها، وهي نتيجةٌ تحاشى الوصول إليها العديد من معاصريه من "المؤرخين الجدد".

ومع ذلك، من واجبنا كناقدين ملتزمين بالعدالة التاريخية أن نؤكد على أن أي قراءة تاريخية أو أخلاقية للوضع لا تكتمل إلا بالاعتراف الصريح، وغير القابل للتفاوض، بحق الفلسطينيين المطلق في أرضهم كاملة من النهر إلى البحر، وحق العودة كحق فردي وجماعي غير قابل للتصرف، والسيادة التامة. إن الخطوة التي قام بها بابِه ضرورية، لكنها تظل خطوة على طريق العدالة الكاملة، وليست نهايته. وهذا الموقف الأخلاقي الثابت متجذر في اختيار تاريخي منهجي محدد: رفض الموضوعية الزائفة التي تخدم الأقوياء في نهاية المطاف.

يطرح كتاب بابِه سؤالًا جوهريًا: هل تعني الموضوعية حقًا الوقوف على مسافة متساوية بين الجلاد والضحية؟ إن هذا الكتاب هو رفضٌ مدوٍّ لهذا المفهوم الساذج والخطير، وتبنٍّ صريح لما يمكن تسميته "العدالة الأخلاقية" التي تنصف المظلوم وتدين الظالم. إن صدق بابِه العلمي لا يُقاس من منظور التوازن الشكلي بين "روايتين متساويتين"، بل من خلال التزامه الصارم بالحقائق التاريخية الموثقة التي تدين المشروع الصهيوني. ويتجلى ذلك بوضوح في تحليله لخطة دالت (Plan D) لعام 1948؛ حيث تكمن قوة بابِه في تفكيكها ليس كرد فعل دفاعي، بل كمخطط مُعد سلفًا ومفصل للمحو المنهجي للوجود الفلسطيني. وكما يوضح النص، كانت منهجيتها واضحة: "تطويق كل ق��ية وحي من ثلاث جهات، وترك الجهة الرابعة مفتوحة ليغادر السكان... ثم تحويل القرية إلى ركام... حتى لا يتمكن أحد من العودة".

بهذا المستوى من التفصيل، يتجاوز بابِه التوصيف التاريخي البارد ليصل إلى إدانة أخلاقية صريحة لا تخطئها عين. فهو لا يتحدث عن النكبة كحدث انتهى في عام 1948، بل يتبنى المفهوم الفلسطيني العميق "النكبة المستمرة" (al-Nakba al-Mustamirra)، ويرى في تحويل غزة إلى "أكبر سجن في العالم" امتدادًا منطقيًا لمنطق الإبادة الذي بدأ مع الصهيونية الأولى. إن انحياز بابِه هنا ليس للرواية الفلسطينية بحد ذاتها، بل للضمير الإنساني الذي يرفض بطبيعته الاستعمار والتطهير العرقي أينما كانا. فالموضوعية الحقيقية ليست في إعطاء صوت متساوٍ لمن يبرر الجريمة ولمن يشهد عليها، بل في كشف الحقيقة بكل ثقلها الأخلاقي، وهو ثقلٌ يتطلب أسلوبًا قادرًا على حمل رسالته.

يوازن إيلان بابِه في هذا الكتاب ببراعة بين اللغة الأكاديمية المباشرة واللمحات الأدبية المؤثرة التي تخدم قضيته الإنسانية. لغة الكتاب تحليلية وموجزة، تهدف إلى تبسيط صراع معقد للقارئ العام دون أن تسطّح الأحداث أو تفرّغها من عمقها التاريخي والأخلاقي. ينجح بابِه في تقديم سردية حية ومترابطة، تجعل القارئ يرى بوضوح الخيط الناظم الذي يربط بين أفكار ثيودور هرتزل عن "نقل" السكان وبين ج��افات الجيش الإسرائيلي وهي تهدم المنازل اليوم.

بمقارنة موجزة مع أسلوبه الأكثر تفصيلًا وتوثيقًا في كتبه الأكاديمية الضخمة مثل "التطهير العرقي في فلسطين"، يمكن اعتبار هذا الكتاب تكثيفًا مركزًا لرسالته الأساسية، موجهًا لجمهور أوسع. لكن هذا التكثيف لا يجعله جافًا. فعندما يتحدث عن النكبة أو عن حصار غزة، يتحول السرد في بعض المقاطع إلى ما يشبه "شعرية الذاكرة" التي لا تكتفي بسرد الألم، بل تخلّده كشهادة إنسانية. إن هذا الأسلوب ليس مجرد خيار جمالي، بل هو أداة ضرورية لإيصال حجم الكارثة الإنسانية، وهو ما يقودنا إلى التساؤل عن الأهداف النهائية التي يسعى الكتاب لتحقيقها.

هل يهدف هذا الكتاب إلى أن يكون مجرد شهادة تاريخية تُضاف إلى رفوف المكتبات، أم هو دعوة صريحة للفعل وتغيير الوعي العالمي؟ يبدو واضحًا أن بابِه يسعى إلى تحقيق الهدف الثاني. إن الكتاب ينجح بشكل فعال في تزويد الناشطين والمناصرين للحق الفلسطيني حول العالم بالأساس التاريخي والأخلاقي اللازم لمواجهة الدعاية الصهيونية. إنه يمهد الطريق لاعتراف عالمي أوسع بأن ما حدث في فلسطين ليس "صراعًا معقدًا" بين طرفين متكافئين، بل هو جريمة استعمارية واضحة المعالم.

لا يكتفي الكتاب بكسر السردية الصهيونية، بل يطرح بوضوح بديلاً واضحًا في خاتمته. فبعد أن يفنّد فشل "حل الدولتين" كونه غير عملي ومبني على فرضية أخلاقية معيبة، يستنتج بابِه أن الحل الوحيد الممكن والعادل هو "حل الدولة الديمقراطية الواحدة" التي يتمتع فيها الجميع، فلسطينيون وإسرائيليون، بحقوق متساوية. من هنا، يجب أن نختتم بتذكير صارخ: إن المقياس النهائي لعمل كهذا ليس استقباله الأكاديمي، بل فائدته على الأرض. إن إنهاء الاستعمار الذي يدعو إليه بابِه عن حق لن يتحقق في قاعات الندوات، بل من خلال الاستعادة الملموسة للأرض والسيادة وحق العودة للفلسطينيين. فالعمل الفكري، مهما بلغت شجاعته، يبقى ناقصًا إن لم يؤدِّ إلى فعل حقيقي على الأرض يعيد الحق لأصحابه.

يترك كتاب إيلان بابِه أثرًا فكريًا وأخلاقيًا عميقًا في وعي القارئ. إنه شهادة نادرة وقوية من قلب المشروع الاستعماري نفسه، صوت إسرائيلي يرفض الصمت ويصرخ بالحقيقة التي يعرفها الجميع وينكرها الكثيرون. إن شجاعة بابِه في مواجهة مجتمعه وتسمية الجريمة باسمها تستحق كل التقدير. لكن هذا التقدير لا يعفينا من مسؤولية المطالبة بما هو أبعد من الاعتراف. إن "التسمية الكاملة للشر" تتطلب الانتقال من مرحلة الشهادة إلى مرحلة المطالبة بالمحاسبة والعدالة الناجزة.

في عصرٍ، كما يشير بابِه في مقدمته، يُدان فيه الأمين العام للأمم المتحدة لمجرد ذكره حقيقة الاحتلال، يصبح هذا الكتاب أكثر من مجرد تاريخ؛ إنه فعل تحدٍ فكري.

يبقى كتاب إيلان بابِه شهادة ضرورية ومؤلمة من قلب المشروع الاستعماري على جرح فلسطين الذي لم يندمل. لكن العدالة الحقيقية لن تتحقق حين يُنصَف الفلسطيني بالتعاطف الأكاديمي، بل حين يستعيد حقه الكامل وغير المنقوص في أرضه وتاريخه ومستقبله.

[Noelle Arcuri · Rating 1 out of 5]

I tried to keep an open mind while I read this book, telling myself I needed to hear all sides of the story and understand the history between the ongoing conflict. Unfortunately the historical references were not complete and favored the Palestinians. He described the holocaust as just a historical event and throughout the book demonizes the Israeli people and Jews- even going so far as to not condemning Hamas for the October 8 attacks, but almost justifying it because of the oppression of their people over the last eight decades.

War sucks. Watching men, women and children suffer is awful and I hate how broken this world is. If Israel had the option of protecting the innocent while taking down the terrorist, I have to believe they would. I don’t have the answers to ending this war, however, Israel has the right to protect themselves and it seems that many of its neighboring countries continue to poke the bear.

[Finn Eaglestone-Blundell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Before I bought this book, I realised my knowledge on the Israel-Palestine conflict as well as Hamas and Hezbollah etc was quite limited, so I decided to improve on this.

I wanted a book that provided facts and nothing more, I wanted to come to the conclusions myself, and if that is what you're looking for, do not read this book.

Ilan Pappe, the author, unbeknownst to me prior to purchasing this book is known as 'one of the world's sloppiest historians' according to some. He and a few others are known as Israel's New Historians, who have had access to recently declassified documents from the Israeli government.

However, despite being an Israeli, he clearly demonstrates Palestinian favouritism. Throughout the book, he is almost always trying to convince you that the Zionists are in the wrong at every stage since they first started Immigrating to what would be known as Israel.

Now, it is hard for me to say whether this is an incorrect point of view, as I'm not knowledgeable enough on the topic (especially after reading this one sided book). But, I will say that reading this book, despite being fairly well written, will not give you the breadth of viewpoints you may be looking for, mostly just the pro-palestinian view.

[Brandon Power · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm sure it's near impossible to find an unbiased account on the Israel-Palestine conflict. But, there isn't even a shred of sympathy for Israel in this book. Was great to get an account on some of the events from a different point of view. But in virtually every chapter it is 'Palestine are the innocent victims and Israel are the evil colonisers'.

[Stella Corradino · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un testo imprescindibile per chi vuol fare chiarezza sulla storia e non sulle opinioni

[Thomas Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Very Short History of the Israel-Palestine Conflict, Ilan Pappe, 2024, 146 pages, Dewey 956.94, ISBN 9780861549719

The State of Israel keeps proving it has no right to exist.

SUMMARY pp. 139-144

1. That Palestine was empty before the Zionists came is a lie.

Bible stories don't confer rights to commit genocide and theft of land.

2. A Jewish state was built on historical Palestine because it served British imperial interests during and after WWI. So doing, the Brits violated their promise to the Palestinians of self-determination and independence. Britain is complicit in the ethnic cleansing of Palestine.

3. Zionism is settler-colonial, to build a new Europe elsewhere, removing the natives to do so.

4. No one in the West ever helped Palestinians' anticolonial struggle.

Pro-Israel lobbying portrays Palestinians' anticolonial struggle as senseless terrorism.

5. "Peace" efforts were a sham by the U.S., letting Israel continue colonizing.

6. The only solution is one state, in which everyone has equal rights.

7. Stop talking about "peace," as if both sides were equally at fault: we're talking about decolonization, liberation, reconciliation.

TIMELINE

[Items in brackets are not mentioned by Pappe.]

[c. 1800 BC God gives Canaan to Abraham and his descendants in perpetuity, so long as they keep His commandments. (Read the Books of the prophets, and this book, to see how /that/ part went.) Genesis 17:8.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/... ]

[c. 29 AD Jewish leaders in Jerusalem demand that Jesus be killed. Matthew 27, Mark 15, Luke 23, John 19.]

70 AD Romans destroyed Jewish temple in Jerusalem. p. 19.

1516 Ottoman Empire controls Palestine. p. 3.

16th Century to present Zionism began as an evangelical Christian project in Europe: the Jews' return to "Zion" would herald the Second Coming of Christ. European and U.S. evangelicals (including some holders of high office, see 1839 and 1891) were the first to see Jews as members of a nation or a race, rather than as practitioners of a religion. These evangelicals also wanted Jews out of the USA and out of Europe. And, they wanted the Ottoman Empire to instead be part of European empires. These Christian fundamentalists are still the most important pro-Israel lobby in the USA. pp. 5-6, 141.

1831 Muhammad Ali of Egypt conquered Syria. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antho...

1839.01 Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury, proposed resettling Jews in the Holy Land. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antho...

1876 Ottoman Constitution, a victory for the Young Ottomans (distinct from the later Young Turks), declared Turkish the only official language. p. 4.

1881 Particularly vicious pogroms in southwestern Russian Empire. p. 8.

1882 Some young European Jews buy land in Palestine, mostly from absentee landlords, using donations from Rothschilds and others. They begin taking Palestine from the Palestinians. pp. 8-10.

1891.03 William Eugene Blackstone https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willi... presented the Blackstone Memorial to President William Henry Harrison, urging the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine. p. 6.

1900 500,000 people lived in Palestine, within the Nablus, Acre, and Jerusalem districts of the Ottoman Empire (roughly what in 2024 is Israel and the occupied territories). About 70% were Muslims, and spoke Arabic. p. 3.

1905 Aliens Act to keep Jews out of Britain. p. 14.

1908 Young Turks (distinct from the earlier Young Ottomans) took power. p. 4.

1911 Orthodox Christians launched a newspaper, /Falastin/, championing an Arab Palestine and raising the alarm about Zionist ambitions. p. 17.

1914-1918 WWI. p. 5.

1917 Zionists persuade British government that a friendly Jewish state in Israel would help Britain keep control of the Suez Canal. p. 13.

1917.11.02 Balfour Declaration promises to make a Jewish state in Palestine. pp. 13-14.

1918 Ottoman rule was over. Zionists were by then 5-6% of Palestine's population, organized for takeover. p. 10.

1918-1948 British rule Palestine. Zionist settlers demand that the British let them evict Palestinians. p. 9. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manda...

1919 Palestine Arab Congress united Christians and Muslims against takeover by the Jewish minority, called for renunciation of Balfour Declaration. pp. 17-18.

1920 British reclassified Palestinians, who had had usufruct rights to the land for generations, as tenants, so whoever bought the land their village or farm was on, could evict them at will. Much of the land was owned by wealthy absentee landlords, who had never before had the right to evict the people who came with the land. Some of the villages had existed for thousands of years. pp. 25, 28.

1921-1929 Zionists bought 87,500 acres of land (= 137 sq. mi. = 354 sq. km. = 35,400 ha) and evicted the Palestinians from villages and farms. With British complicity. This began the ethnic cleansing of Palestine that continues today. Zionism became settler colonialism, dependent on eliminating Palestinians. pp. 25-30.

1922 Jews were 11% of the population. p. 16.

1922-1926 British let Jews build their own educational system, industries and even military capacities, and all other state services. Brits enabled Jews to maintain their one university and build a second. British treated Palestinians as colonial subjects, imposing an educational system and patchy healthcare, no higher education. Brits denied Palestinians any self-government. British tolerated and cooperated with the Zionist paramilitary force, the Haganah. Brits prevented Palastinians from arming or organizing themselves. Arab workers were excluded from the Zionist trade union. pp. 21-23.

1924 Saudis take over western Arabia, including Mecca and Medina. pp. 47-48.

1928 Muslim Brotherhood founded in Egypt. p. 109.

1932 Iraq gained independence. p. 15.

1936-1939 Arab revolt against ethnic cleansing. Brutally put down by British, indiscriminately killing thousands of Palestinians, and nearly all leaders--so the Palestinians would have no one to counter Zionist lobbying of the British and U.S. governments. pp. 36-42, 141.

1939.05 Over 450,000 Jews are in Palestine. p. 39.

1939-1945 WWII, including extermination of 6 million Jews. Jewish survivors were universally unwelcome. Jewish Zionism became popular. pp. 7, 40-42.

1943 Lebanon gained independence. p. 15.

1945 Arab League founded. p. 47.

1946 Syria gained independence. p. 15.

1946.07 Zionists blew up British headquarters at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem. p. 45.

1947 Britain had had enough of Palestine. p. 44

1947.02-1948.02 David Ben-Gurion's Zionist military prepares to conquer Palestine. p. 59.

1947 Zionists promise the king of Jordan some Palestinian land, in exchange for his recognition of the State of Israel. Jordan had the most effective army in the Middle East, commanded by British officers. Removing Jordan's opposition made the Jewish conquest of Palestine easier. pp. 50, 56-57.

1947-1948 Zionist leaders correctly calculated that the international community would not help Palestine recover what Israel takes by force. p. 51.

1947.11.29 After the Zionist lobby in the U.S. strong-armed President Truman (1948 being an election year), the U.S. bribed and threatened United Nations member states to approve partition of Palestine to create a Jewish state. Stalin agreed, to weaken UK influence and to offload Soviet Jews. The catastrophe, Nakba, for Palestinians began, and is still going in 2025. The (better) 56% of Palestine awarded to Jews was about half Arab. (The 43% supposedly allotted to Arabs was overwhelmingly Arab.) pp. 52-61, 141.

1947-present Zionist paramilitary attacks Arab villages to force Arabs to leave. The Jews had 10 times the paramilitary soldiers as the Palestinians--nearly all of the latter had been killed or imprisoned in the late 1930s. The Jews had far more and better weapons. Jews use Palestinian outrage at theft of their country as an excuse for ethnic cleansing. pp. 57-60.

1948.03-1948.05 Ben-Gurion's military begins forcing Palestinians out of their villages, then reducing those villages to rubble, planted with explosives so no one could return. All Palestinian men were killed or arrested. And in West Jerusalem and its 39 neighboring villages, the women and children too were killed. All Palestinian cities were destroyed by 1948.05. pp. 61-64.

1948.05.14 State of Israel founded. pp. 2, 64.

1948.05-1948.08 Arab League fails to prevent Israeli takeover of most of Palestine, and mass expulsion of Palestinians. Thanks in part to Jordan's treachery, having made a deal with Israel, reneged on promises to Arab neighbors to aid the war effort. pp. 64-66.

1948.12 By now, half of Palestine's Arab population has been expelled, more than 500 villages destroyed, and most towns and cities demolished. p. 66. As many as 1,000,000 people have been expelled. p. 85.

1948-present Israel created the Gaza Strip, 2% of Palestine, as the world's biggest refugee camp. A place to dump displaced Palestinians. pp. 66-67, 136-137.

1948-1954 Israelis coerce 650,000 Arab Jews to relocate to Israel. The Israeli secret police, Mossad, planted bombs in Iraqi synagogues, and persuaded the Iraqi government to pass anti-Jew laws and seize their property and capital. Israelis recruited young Jews to terrorist-attack Egyptian libraries and cinemas, to sow hatred of Jews, so Jews would leave. These Asian and African Jews are nevertheless treated as a permanent underclass in Israel, where the elite are European Jews. pp. 78-81.

1948-1967 Palestinians constituted 17% of the people in the Jewish state (not including the many Palestinian refugee camps). Palestinians were under Jewish military rule. p. 72-73.

1956 Egyptian president Nasser nationalizes the Suez Canal. p. 82.

1956.10.29 Israelis massacre the Palestinian residents of the village of Kafr Qasim. p. 74.

1956.10 Israel, France, and Britain go to war against Egypt, fail to topple Nasser. [President Eisenhower demands that it stop.] p. 73.

1958-1961 Egypt unites politically with Syria as the United Arab Republic. To discourage further Israeli attacks such as the one on Egypt in 1956. p. 83.

1963 AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, was incorporated. It built an extensive political machine that made sure the huge majority of U.S. politicians would support Israel unconditionally. p. 94, 141.

1963-1964 Shaham plan finalized for military rule of West Bank and Gaza Strip, for when Israel absorbs these Palestinian areas. pp. 85-86.

1964. Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) founded as an umbrella organization of Palestinian resistance groups. p. 96.

1967.06.05-1967.06.10 Israel won 6-day war. First, preemptively destroyed the air forces of Egypt, Syria, and Jordan. Then occupied the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Sinai Peninsula, and Golan Heights. Then ethnically cleansed 100 Golan Heights villages. Then removed 300,000 Palestinians, mainly from refugee camps near Jericho. The remaining millions of occupied Palestinians were denied citizenship, were policed and controlled, denied civil and human rights. Then Jews established settlements in the occupied territories: illegal by international law, approved by the Israeli government. pp. 1, 86-.

1970. PLO establishes its base in southern Lebanon. p. 97.

1972 Israeli prime minister Golda Meir said, "There is no such thing as the Palestinian people." Too many Israelis still echo that sentiment today. p. 18.

1972 Palestinian militants kill 11 Israelis at the Olympic Games in Munich. Israelis go on a 20-year killing spree, targeting Palestinian leaders. p. 97.

1973.10. Yom Kippur War. Egypt and Syria failed to win back the Golan Heights. The U.S. aided Israel. p. 95.

1975-1991 A United Nations resolution states, Zionism is a form of racism and racial discrimination. Rescinded by U.S. in 1991. p. 96.

1976 Judaization of Galilee. Half the Palestinians in Israel lived in Galilee, where they were half the population. Jews confiscated Palestinian land, built military bases and Jewish settlements. Jews killed Palestinians when Palestinians went on a labor strike in protest, in 1975.03. pp. 92-93.

1978 Palestinian militants kill 37 Israelis on a bus. Israel invades and occupies south Lebanon. p. 97-99.

1981. Ariel Sharon imposes an Israeli civil administration on the Palestinians of the West Bank and Gaza, as a first step to absorbing the territories into Israel. A Palestinian could not move about, have a job, go to university, or attend a hospital without an Israeli-government permit. Permits would be examined at checkpoints. Soldiers bullied, abused, and persecuted Palestinians as a matter of course. Palestinians who refused to be informers were denied permits. Palestinian leaders were arrested by the army and attacked by Jewish settlers. pp. 99-100, 114.

1981. Palestinian Islamic Jihad founded, inspired by Iran's Islamic Revolution. p. 111.

1982.06.04 Palestinian militants unaffiliated with the PLO tried to assassinate the Israeli ambassador in London. Sharon used this as a pretext to launch the First Lebanon War. Israelis occupied Lebanon. Thousands of Palestinians were massacred in Lebanese refugee camps, 1982.09. Israelis bombed Beirut. The PLO surrendered, and agreed to move its headquarters to Tunis, leaving Lebanon 1982.09. This enfeebled the PLO. Now a new Shia group, Hezbollah, resisted the continued Israeli occupation of south Lebanon. After 18 years of guerrilla war, Hezbollah forced the Israeli army out of Lebanon in 2000. p. 101-102.

1987.12-1993 First Intifada (uprising): mainly a nonviolent protest, Palestinians briefly self-governed neighborhoods and villages. Israeli army killed over 1,000 people, destroyed homes, closed schools, imprisoned people without trial. p. 103.

1987.12 Muslim Brotherhood sets up Hamas, its armed wing. pp. 110-111.

1991. By now, Israel has removed millions of Palestinians from their homes. p. 105.

1996. Israelis encircle Gaza Strip with barbed-wire fence. Jewish settlers continue dispossessing Palestinians. p. 114.

2000. After 18 years of guerrilla war, Hezbollah forced the Israeli army out of Lebanon. p. 101-102.

2000. Second Intifada (uprising). Hamas suicide bombings. Israel reoccupied West Bank and Gaza. Israeli air force bombed cities. Massacred people in refugee camps. Israel maintained such viciousness until after Yasser Arafat's death, 2004.11. pp. 119-121.

2000-present. Israel intensified Judaization of West Bank and Jerusalem. Further disenfranchised Palestinian citizens of Israel. Funded by U.S. Jews and Christians. p. 122, 130-131.

2004.06-2005.09 Israeli government removes all 8,000 Jews from Gaza strip, disavows any responsibility to Palestinians there. Gaza could be a prison, and Israel could attack it, without risking any Jews. (The Jewish settlers fought back viciously, unwilling to quit their homes. They had to be dragged out kicking and screaming.) Most residents of the Gaza strip are descendants of refugees of the 1948 ethnic cleansing. There was no Gaza Strip before 1948. pp. 66-67, 126-127, 136-137.

2006. Hamas won elections to govern Gaza. Israel, the US, USSR, and Europe refused to recognize the government. So Hamas decided to rule by force, meaning winning a war against its rival Palestinian faction Fatah. pp. 127-128.

2006-present. Israel besieges all of Gaza, often depriving its residents of water and electricity. And destroys tens of thousands of people, and places, with bombs, sold to Israel by our governments. p. 128, 138, 140.

2006. Israel invades Lebanon, bombs Beirut to rubble. p. 128.

2022.11 to present The Israeli government includes two political parties that seek to destroy the third-holiest site in Islam in order to rebuild the Jewish temple the Romans destroyed in 70 AD. pp. 19-20, 137.

2023 President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen repeats the lie that Palestine was empty until the Zionists came. p. 28.

2023.10.07 to present Hamas stormed into Israel in Operation Al-aqsa Flood. 1,200 Israelis died; 240 taken hostage. Israel's retribution, Swords of Iron, has killed over 30,000 Palestinians (including about 10,000 children) as of 2024. Israel tries to censor any attempts to tell the truth, weaponizing the allegation of antisemitism to do so, defining any criticism of the Israeli state as antisemitic. pp. 1, 133-135.

2024. Israel has 8 million Jews (including 700,000 in the West Bank) and one of the world's most powerful militaries. Israel sees itself as a Western outpost in a hostile Arab world, that must oppress Palestinians to survive. pp. 142-144.


SEE ALSO

Gaza Faces History, Enzo Traverso, 2024: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The Hundred Years' War on Palestine, Rashid Khalidi, 2020: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Global Discontents, Noam Chomsky, 2017: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The Oxford Handbook of Global Religions, Mark Juergensmeyer, ed., 2006, chapter 19: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

What Uncle Sam Really Wants, Noam Chomsky, 1992, pp. 65, 88-89, 100: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Asimov's Guide to the Bible, 1969: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Muhammad Ahmad · Rating 5 out of 5]

A marvel of clarity, economy, and precision. I cannot think of a better book to immerse yourself in this subject with.

[Luciana · Rating 5 out of 5]

O esquecimento da história é sempre útil para aquele que deseja impor sua visão de mundo ou para justificar a violência que pretende praticar. O esquecimento da história é útil pra Israel, mas nem por isso deixará de haver tentativas de combatê-la.

Com um título autoexplicativo, o historiador israelense Ilan Pappe se propõe não a esgotar o tema do conflito existente na Palestina, mas sim, explicar de forma concisa e elucidativa que ele não iniciou em 07 de outubro de 2023, durante o ataque do Hamas à população israelense.

Remontando desde a época do império Otomano e sua divisão, aos acordos durante as guerras mundiais, à grande revolta árabe, a Declaração Balfour, a Nakba em 1948, à fuga dos judeus contra o antissemitismo europeu, às antifadas, são elementos fundamentais para explicar o genocídio praticado por Israel contra a população árabe palestina, bem como para desmitificar os mitos que Israel gosta de propagar, dentre eles, que não havia nenhuma população na Palestina quando os primeiros colonos sionistas chegaram.

Informa, ainda, sob base histórica que o desejo dos sionistas sempre foi o de alocar ou expulsar os palestinos de sua terra, praticando, assim, uma colonização de assentamento permanente.
Portanto, é uma excelente obra ao que se propõe, que se aliada a leitura de Diário da tristeza comum, escancara o porquê e método do genocídio praticado por Israel.

[Yusra ❥ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Filled in gaps in my knowledge. If you need something quick to educate you on the genocide taking place you should give this a go.

[Gabriela Bourke · Rating 4 out of 5]

A relatively short book and the first I’ve read of the MP Summer Reading List. This took a long time because reading a systematic, detailed account of the historical and ongoing attempt to annihilate an entire population turned out to be not such a good bedtime reading option.

I think it’s important that, when engaging in discussions about occupied Palestine, one should be fully apprised of the facts from a source other than social media, and in this respect I’d strongly recommend Pappe’s book. The sections dealing with Britain’s early involvement in the creation of a Jewish state followed by the increasing interest and protection from the US were certainly worth review, as were the latter sections considering the second intifada, about which I had very little knowledge.

Personally I was hoping for a more detailed and analytical account due to being fairly up-to-date on the historical context of the Israel-Palestine conflict, but that I will seek out next. This is an excellent primer for further reading.

[Haidong · Rating 1 out of 5]

The author often stressed about historic context, but took wide liberty of defining which context he would take and talk about: for example, his historical context for the topic starts only 2-300 years ago, not 2-3000 years ago as what bible and other historic book had recorded; discussion of the armed conflicts included many details of 1947/1948, 1950s, but very little about the 6-day war, and what little words used on 6-day war made it looks like that Israel was the aggressor and started the war, which is the opposite of truth.
How could such a person even qualify to be a historian / scholar? more like a revistionist, interpreting history at will, failed in the name of scholarly work.

[Margarida Dengucho · Rating 5 out of 5]

Essential reading.

[Penny · Rating 5 out of 5]

PALESTINE WILL BE FREE 🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸

[Joanne Wadsworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Informative, to the point, tremendously important and under 150 pages.