"In this groundbreaking book, published on the fiftieth anniversary of the Occupation, the outspoken and radical Israeli historian Ilan Pappe examines the most contested ideas concerning the origins and identity of the contemporary state of Israel. The "ten myths" that Pappe explores—repeated endlessly in the media, enforced by the military, accepted without question by the world's governments—reinforce the regional status quo. He explores the claim that Palestine was an empty land at the time of the Balfour Declaration, as well as the formation of Zionism and its role in the early decades of nation building. He asks whether the Palestinians voluntarily left their homeland in 1948, and whether June 1967 was a war of "no choice." Turning to the myths surrounding the failures of the Camp David Accords and the official reasons for the attacks on Gaza, Pappe explains why the two-state solution is no longer viable."--Publisher's description.

"On the eve of the Crimean War, about half a million people lived in the land of Palestine. They were Arabic-speaking. Most were Muslims, but about 60,000 were Christians of various denominations, and around 20,000 were Jews. In addition, they had to tolerate the presence of 50,000 Ottoman soldiers and officials as well as 10,000 Europeans. Their administrative life revolved around the sanjaq, the Ottoman sub-province, of which Ottoman Palestine had three: Nablus, Acre and Jerusalem. To some extent these administrative divisions corresponded to the topography. Palestine had four hilly regions: the Jerusalem mountains, the Nablus mountains, and two other areas: Hebron in the Jerusalem district, and Galilee in the Acre sub-province. Each geographical and administrative area had a major town as its capital, so that some of Palestine's most famous cities were foci of social and cultural life. Acre, Jerusalem, Hebron and Nablus were among these important towns, as were the smaller coastal towns of Haifa, Jaffa and Gaza"--

"Since its foundation in 1948, Israel has drawn on Zionism, the movement behind its creation, to provide a sense of self and political direction. In this groundbreaking new work, Ilan Pappe looks at the continued role of Zionist ideology. The Idea of Israel considers the way Zionism operates outside of the government and military in areas such as the country’s education system, media, and cinema, and the uses that are made of the Holocaust in supporting the state’s ideological structure.

Examines how Israeli Palestinians have fared under Jewish rule, revealing both Israel's attitude toward minorities and Palestinian's attitudes toward the Jewish state and analyzes the Israeli state's policy towards its Palestinian citizens

The untold history of how pro-Israel lobbying groups influence US and British policy[Bokinfo]

"This seminal text by renowned Israeli historian, Ilan Pappe, discusses one of the most significant periods in the Arab-Israeli conflict. Based on archival material, it presents the reader with a comprehensive and general history of the origins and consequences of the 1948 war. While among Arabs, and especially Palestinians, the events of that year are known as the nakba - the catastrophe, the trauma, the disaster - for Jews, and in particular for Israelis, their victory in the war of 1948 is a veritable miracle. For them, against tremendous odds and through heroic military effort, the Jewish community succeeded in thwarting attempts by the Arab states to destroy it. Pappe shows here that in sharp contrast to the recollections and myths of both sides, the military events of 1948 were not decisive. The victory of the Zionist organization and the fate of the Palestinians was determined by politicians on both sides - in the discussions and decisions of the United Nations in 1947-8 and in the Arab League - long before a shot had been fired. He argues that Israel's failure to take advantage of the genuine opportunity for peace with the Arabs at the UN-sponsored Lausanne Conference in 1949 resulted in the prolonged and tragic conflict between Israel and the Arab states still very much alive today. Complete with a new foreword by the author, the book remains the authority on the subject for a new generation of readers."--

This study assimilates diverse interpretations of the origins of the Middle East conflict with emphasis on the fight for Palestine and its religious and political roots. It draws largely on the historical revisionism of the last two decades.

In this political biography, Ilan Pappe traces the rise of the Husayni family of Jerusalem, who dominated Palestinian history from the early 1700s until the second half of the twentieth century.