Imperial Israel and the Palestinians: The Politics of Expansion

by Nur Masalha

In Imperial Israel and the Palestinians , Nur Masalha provides a history of Israel's expansionist policies, focusing on the period from the June War of 1967 to the present day. He demonstrates that imperialist tendencies in Israel run the political gamut, from Left to Right. Masalha argues that the heart of the conflict between Zionist immigrants/settlers and the native Palestinians has always been about land, territory, demography and water. He documents how Israeli policy has made it a priority to expel the Palestinians, either by war or peaceful measures. But these imperialist tendencies are not restricted to extremist zealots. The author uncovers the expansionist policies found in Labour Zionism and Kookist ideology. Chapters cover the Whole Land of Israel Movement, Zionist Revisionism and the Likud Party, Gush Emunim and the religious fundamentalists, parties and movements of the far right and the evolution of Israeli Jewish public attitudes since 1967.

Genres: History, Politics, Middle East, Israel

272 pages, Paperback

First published July 20, 2000

About the author

Professor Nur Masalha is a Palestinian historian and formerly Director of the Centre for Religion and History at St. Mary's University, Twickenham. He is Editor of “Journal of Holy Land and Palestine Studies”: http://www.euppublishing.com/journal/hls, published by Edinburgh University Press. He is the author of many books on Palestine-Israel. His current work focuses on religion and politics in the Middle East, oral history and social memory theory, subaltern studies, new Palestinian and Israeli historiography, the Bible and Zionism, Holy Land toponymy, Jerusalem archaeology, theologies of liberation in Palestine and Life-Long Learning in Palestine.

Reviews

[Rhuff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Somewhat dated, but newer developments - like the Wall - have not been for the better. Nur Masalha, of the Center for Palestine Studies and the University of London, explored the rise of the Israeli settler movement of the West Bank and Gaza and the parallel rise of the "transfer solution" - the administratively bland term for ethnic cleansing, with or without consent, without or with bloodshed. At some length he reviewed the leadershp of Gush Emunim, Meier Kahane and the Kach, and military politicians like Sharon, united by the theme of continued occupation and "Lebensraum" for Israel.

Although the settlers and their racist rhetoric have poisoned the very soul of Israel, they were not some anomaly sprung from the deserts of 1967. As the settlers themselves insist, their movement is an extension of the 1948 war and the mass expulsion of nearly a million Arab Palestinians; and, before this, of the step-by-step expansionism of the Mandate settlements under the British. To the radicals of Gush and its allies, the Israeli state's "protection" of Arabs on Jewish-claimed land parallels the British role before Israel. They stand ready to make war on the Israeli state just as their hero Begin did on previous occupiers. But they needn't worry: the Israeli establishment has always met them more than half way, coddling the first West Bank settlements in 1967 and allowing their mushroom growth, while keeping the US and the UN at bay with the endless shadow-boxing of the "peace process."

The Israeli occupation has destroyed what hopes Israel may have had of evolving past the trauma of '48 into a regional democracy at peace with its neighbors. Mashalha depressingly revealed a gloating, gutter racism as normal for a wide swath of its citizens that has only grown. But Americans really can't look at this issue as an intractable problem of "those people" sunk into their "ancient hatreds": for the images of Gush, Kahane, and Netanyahu are also ours in the era of trump.

Yet - short of an all-out war, which some in Israel actually call for - mass transfer isn't likely. The Wall can effectively do the same, without the messiness which would force the US/UN hand. For now.

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a quarter century old, and yet nothing has changed except to get worse. Masalha chronicles, in his usual masterly way, the various ways in which different segments of Israeli society have been in favour of ongoing territorial expansion and the expulsion of Palestinians, or at least the severe curtailment of their civil rights.

The last chapter about the evolution of public opinion is particularly jarring, especially given recent polls showing that overwhelming majorities of Israeli Jews would support the expulsion of all Palestinians from both the occupied territories and Israel itself. And that half of them believe that the Israeli military should do as the ancient Israelites did: when conquering a city, kill its entire population.

The worst part is that this book was written shortly after the election of Ehud Barak, at a time of extreme optimism about the resolution of the conflict. It was generally believed at the time that the end of the Palestinian nightmare - on terms extremely favourable to Israel, but still the end - was just around the corner. How wrong we all were.

A very important book, albeit an extremely depressing one.

[Water Cat · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is, I'm sure, useful to others, but it was a bit difficult to follow without having an understanding of the Israeli political system, leaving me with doubt as to the validity of some of the claims made by the author.