The Making of the Arab-Israeli Conflict, 1947-1951

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Summary: An Honest Accounting of the Palestinian's Impoverishment
Review: Ilan Pappe is one of the "new historians", a group of Israeli historians who are determined to accurately account for how Israel came to be. It must take courage if you are a Jewish historian and a professor at the University of Haifa, Israel, to give an unvarnished account of how the Jews took the land that comprises Israel. In 1900, the Palestinians owned all 10,000 sq. miles that made up Palestine (now known as Israel, West Bank, and Gaza) - the Palestinians had a well-developed society with villages, civil administration, olive groves, literature, etc... it had been a Muslim society for 1,300 years. But by 2000, the Israelis owned 8,000 sq. miles and occupied the rest. How did this happen? Did the Israelis purchase the land or did they simply take it, driving the Palestinians off their land into refugee camps, poverty, and desperation? Ilan Pappe tells us. It is interesting to me how determined the Israelis are to change the history of Israel and how so few know the real story. It is doubly interesting to see how furious they get when one of their own departs the party line and tells how it really happened. This book is calm and careful with its facts; it is well researched and thoroughly referenced. It will surprise you... the story of Israel is different to what you probably now think. Israelis do not want you to read this book.

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Summary: Revisionism at its Apogee
Review: Israeli Historian Ilan Pappe is part of a new movement in Israel, known as the "Revisionists", whose goal is to portray what Pappe refers to as a "dezionised" view of history. This means that by taking out the ideological element of Zionism from our approach to history, we can gain a more accurate view of what really happened. But how does this new method hold up? In this particular case, it does not do well. For example, Pappe claims that Israel had planned to drive out the Palestinians from Israel under Plan D and the fact that they did not get to do so, since most fled beforehand, does not change the fact that Israel still planned to do so. But Plan D was carried out under orders for "the coexistence on the basis of mutual freedom and dignity." (Karsh p, 89), and few Arabs were actuall driven out. Pappe also claims that Israel won the war since it was a fight between a well-organized modern society and a traditional one lacking cohesion. The Arabs were better equipped and organized than Pappe claims, however, as well larger in numbers. The Palestinians had help from the surrounding states, and he does not mention the importance of willpower. The Jews stood their ground, while the Arabs did not. Perhaps the only part that convinces is his handling of the UNSCOP commission. Overall, however, this book reads as little more than diatribe against the Jewish state than an objective history.