Ilan Pappé is a Jewish professor of history at the University of Exeter (UK), specialising in Middle Eastern studies.
Born in Haifa, Israel, he served in the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) before pursuing an academic career. He completed his PhD at the University of Oxford, with a focus on the history of Israel and the Israel-Palestine conflict.
His conversation with me was largely centred around his book, Ten Myths About Israel (2017).
Ten Myths About Israel
Israel’s continued control and colonization of Palestinian land have been the primary obstacles to a comprehensive peace agreement in the Holy Land.
Jimmy Carter
His book challenges widely accepted narratives surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, looking at ten major myths used to defend Israel’s creation and ongoing policies.
Ilan highlights the deliberate distortions of history that have been used to justify the displacement of Palestinians and the continued occupation of their land.
One of the foundational myths he tackles is the claim that Palestine was an empty land waiting for Zionist settlers.
It certainly was not empty.
Palestine had an established population, culture, and history long before Israel’s creation. The idea of a ‘land without a people’ is nonsense and was deliberately created to legitimise the takeover of Palestinian territory.
Another big myth is the 1948 war as a defensive struggle for Israel’s survival.
The book argues that Israel was not under existential threat but, instead, carried out an aggressive campaign of ethnic cleansing. Over 700,000 Palestinians were forcibly removed from their homes (almost overnight, literally), and the claim that they left willingly is propaganda.
The occupation, stifling and oppressive, must end. So must violence against civilians. We must never accept the status quo of continued occupation and conflict.
Ban Ki-moon, former UN Secretary-General
Oh, and what about peace?
llan dismantles the idea that peace can only be achieved if Palestinians recognise Israel’s right to exist. He sees this as a distraction from the real issue: Israel’s occupation.
Does Israel have a right to exist?
I strongly recommend listening to my conversation with Stephen Sizer.
The 10 myths
- Israel was founded as a safe haven for all Jews
- Jews are the original inhabitants of the land
- The 1948 war was solely a defensive conflict
- Palestinians left their homes willingly in 1948
- Israel completely withdrew from Gaza in 2005
- Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East
- The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is primarily religious
- The ‘Holocaust‘ was the main reason for Israel’s creation
- Israel has always sought peace with its neighbours
- Palestinians have no legitimate national aspirations
Podcast
Israel is not the only state in the world that has dispossessed another people and occupied their land, but it is the only one that has done so in the late 20th century with the full support of the international community.
Ilan Pappé
