Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine » (Reprint)

In this controversial new book, a prominent Israeli historian at Haifa University revisits the formative period of the State of Israel. Decisively debunking the myth that the Palestinian population left of their own accord during the War of Independence, he offers archival evidence to demonstrate that a central plank in Israel's founding ideology was the forcible removal of the indigenous population. This book is a passionate plea to acknowledge the ethnic cleansing of Palestine in 1948 as the root cause of the ongoing Palestine-Israel conflict.

Publishers Weekly

In his latest work, renowned Israeli author and academic Pappe (A History of Modern Palestine) does not mince words, doing Jimmy Carter one better (or worse, depending on one's point of view) by accusing Israel of ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity, beginning in the 1948 war for independence and continuing through the present. Focusing primarily on Plan D (Dalet, in Hebrew), conceived on March 10, 1948, Pappe demonstrates how ethnic cleansing was not a circumstance of war, but rather a deliberate goal of combat for early Israeli military units organized by David Ben-Gurion, whom Pappe labels the "architect of ethnic cleansing." The forced expulsion of 800,000 Palestinians between 1948 and 1949, Pappe argues, was part of a long-standing Zionist plan to manufacture an ethnically pure Jewish state. Framing his argument with accepted international and U.N. definitions of ethnic cleansing, Pappe follows with an excruciatingly detailed account of Israeli military involvement in the demolition and depopulation of hundreds of villages, and the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Arab inhabitants. An accessible, learned resource, this volume provides important insights into the historical antecedents of today's conflict, but its conclusions will not be easy for everyone to stomach: Pappe argues that the ethnic cleansing of Palestine continues today, and calls for the unconditional return of all Palestinian refugees and an end to the Israeli occupation. Without question, Pappe's account will provoke ire from many readers; importantly, it will spark discussion as well. (Jan.)

Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information

List of Illustrations, Maps and Tables     viii
Acknowledgements     ix
Preface     xi
An 'Alleged' Ethnic Cleansing?     1
Definitions of Ethnic Cleansing     1
Ethnic Cleansing as a Crime     5
Reconstructing an Ethnic Cleansing     7
The Drive for an Exclusively Jewish State     10
Zionism's Ideological Motivation     10
Military Preparations     15
The Village Files     17
Facing the British: 1945-1947     22
David Ben-Gurion: The Architect     23
Partition and Destruction: UN Resolution 181 and its Impact     29
Palestine's Population     29
The UN's Partition Plan     31
The Arab and Palestinian Positions     33
The Jewish Reaction     35
The Consultancy Begins its Work     37
Finalising A Master Plan     39
The Methodology of Cleansing     39
The Changing Mood in the Consultancy: From Retaliation to Intimidation     52
December 1947: Early Actions     55
January 1948: Farewell to Retaliation     60
The Long Seminar: 31 December-2 January     61
February 1948: Shock and Awe     72
March: Putting the Finishing Touches to the Blueprint     80
The Blueprint for Ethnic Cleansing: Plan Dalet     86
Operation Nachshon: The First Plan Dalet Operation     87
The Urbicide of Palestine     91
The Cleansing Continues     103
Succumbing to a Superior Power     114
Arab Reactions     115
Towards the 'Real War'     123
The Phony War and the Real War over Palestine: May 1948     127
Days of Tihur     131
The Massacre at Tantura     133
The Brigades 'Trail of Blood     138
Campaigns of Revenge     141
The Escalation of the Cleansing Operations: June-September 1948     146
The First Truce     148
Operation Palm Tree     154
In Between Truces     156
The Truce that Wasn't     173
Completing the Job: October 1948-January 1949     179
Operation Hiram     180
Israel's Anti-Repatriation Policy     187
A Mini Empire in the Making     191
Final Cleansing of the South and the East     193
The Massacre in Dawaymeh     195
Occupation and its Ugly Faces     199
Inhuman Imprisonment      200
Abuses Under Occupation     204
Dividing the Spoils     211
Desecration of Holy Sites     216
Entrenching the Occupation     219
The Memoricide of the Nakba     225
The Reinvention of Palestine     225
Virtual Colonialism and the JNF     227
The JNF Resort Parks in Israel     229
Nakba Denial and the 'Peace Process'     235
First Attempts at Peace     237
The Exclusion of 1948 from the Peace Process     239
The Right of Return     241
Fortress Israel     248
The 'Demographic Problem'     249
Epilogue     257
Endnotes     262
Chronology     282
Maps and Tables     288
Bibliography     296
Index     301