---
product_id: 48295971
title: "The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine"
price: "R510"
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reviews_count: 13
url: https://www.desertcart.co.za/products/48295971-the-ethnic-cleansing-of-palestine
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region: South Africa
---

# Essential for understanding Middle East conflict Meticulously researched historical text Extensive archival evidence & Village Files The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine

**Price:** R510
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## Summary

> 📖 Dive deep into history’s untold truths — don’t miss the story everyone’s talking about!

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine
- **How much does it cost?** R510 with free shipping
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## Why This Product

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## Key Features

- • **Essential Context:** Crucial for grasping the roots of the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
- • **Unmasking History:** Groundbreaking research debunks long-held myths about 1948 Palestine.
- • **Archival Authority:** Backed by detailed Zionist Village Files and primary sources.
- • **Powerful Narrative:** Eloquent storytelling that humanizes a forgotten tragedy.
- • **Thought-Provoking Insight:** Challenges mainstream narratives and sparks critical dialogue.

## Overview

Ilan Pappe’s 'The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine' is a rigorously researched and compelling historical account revealing the forced displacement of over 700,000 Palestinians during Israel’s founding in 1948. Utilizing extensive archival evidence, including the Zionist Village Files, Pappe dismantles prevailing myths and exposes the premeditated nature of ethnic cleansing. This book is indispensable for professionals seeking a nuanced understanding of the Middle East conflict and the enduring legacy of 1948.

## Description

Renowned Israeli historian, Ilan Pappe's groundbreaking work on the formation of the State of Israel. 'Along with the late Edward Said, Ilan Pappe is the most eloquent writer of Palestinian history.' NEW STATESMAN Between 1947 and 1949, over 400 Palestinian villages were deliberately destroyed, civilians were massacred and around a million men, women, and children were expelled from their homes at gunpoint. Denied for almost six decades, had it happened today it could only have been called 'ethnic cleansing'. Decisively debunking the myth that the Palestinian population left of their own accord in the course of this war, Ilan Pappe offers impressive archival evidence to demonstrate that, from its very inception, a central plank in Israel’s founding ideology was the forcible removal of the indigenous population. Indispensable for anyone interested in the current crisis in the Middle East. *** 'Ilan Pappe is Israel's bravest, most principled, most incisive historian .' JOHN PILGER 'Pappe has opened up an important new line of inquiry into the vast and fateful subject of the Palestinian refugees . His book is rewarding in other ways. It has at times an elegiac, even sentimental, character, recalling the lost, obliterated life of the Palestinian Arabs and imagining or regretting what Pappe believes could have been a better land of Palestine.' TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT ' A major intervention in an argument that will, and must, continue . There's no hope of lasting Middle East peace while the ghosts of 1948 still walk.' INDEPENDENT

Review: The REAL history of the Israeli state - An excellent and meticulously researched historical text. The level of cold, calculated brutality and unprovoked savagery used against a largely peaceful peasant population usually offering little or no resistance, a population quite unprepared for a war, who were usually just 'going about their business', is absolutely shocking. As is the clinical pre-planning and ruthless, cold efficiency with which the plan was then carried out. It is no exaggeration to compare what happened with the Nazi push into the Baltic states and Russia in the early 1940's. The reality of what actually happened during the years 1948-49, compared with the 'official' Israeli version, is astonishing. This is a subject I have had an interest in for some considerable time now, but despite my interest and knowledge of the subject, I was not prepared for the detail. The unnecessary nastiness and inhumanity of the jewish forces, is really hard to come to terms with. It is also interesting to compare the present day horror and outrage that is expressed at the actions of a 'suicide bomber' with events in early 1948 [when there was no war]. The Stern Gang and Hagana routinely threw bombs into CIVILIAN Palestinian gatherings and blew up houses with all the occupants asleep inside, often killing scores of people, simply to terrorise the population into fleeing Palestine. I am also deeply ashamed of the role [or non-role] played by the British forces, with one or two notable exceptions, [and the Bevin Government] who, until May 1948, were still officially charged with upholding law and order in Palestine. Anyone who still buys the notion that the events at Quana, the murder of the UN workers [despite hours of telephone conversations], the very high civilian casualty rates during the 2006 push into Lebanon, the deaths on the beach in Gaza and so on, were all REALLY accidental, should read this book. This particular brand of terror is long established practice by the Israelis. In fact, it is hard to understand how most of our media and politicians, people who have chosen to make a career informing the rest of us about what goes on, in and around the world, seem remarkably oblivious to this information. Well, there are no excuses now are there ? I am not sure how anyone could [intelligently] argue that this is 'a piece of anti-zionist fiction' as one of your reviewers suggests, it is far too factually based and closely referenced. It IS a testament to the power of the Israeli lobby and their campaign of distortion and misinformation that we are still presented by most of the media for most of the time the image of Israel as the victim in the Middle East. Now THAT is a piece of PRO-zionist fiction. Excellent, though disturbing book.
Review: Setting the record straight - Ilan Pappe has written a moving account of the dispossession of the Palestinians in 1948. The founding of the State of Israel at the expense of the indigenous inhabitants of Palestine has for a long time been surrounded by Zionist inspired myths, designed to delegitimize the claims of the Palestinians and reduce them to a non-entity. The destruction of their villages and covering their ruins with forests and claims that Palestinians never existed, as were made by the late Israeli PM Golda Meir, are all part of this. Accounts of how more thant 700.000 Palestinians lost everything they had in the Nakba of 1948, in what is known as the War for Independence in Israel, have been around for decades. The eminent Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi wrote a seminal account in From Haven To Conquest (1971) and numerous other Western authors have written about the plight of the Palestinians. In the middle of the 1980s a number of Israeli historians (Simha Flapan, Benny Morris, Tom Segev, Avi Shlaim and Ilan Pappe) began to question the Zionist founding myths as more and more historic documents came available, shining light on the events of 1948. That in 1948 more than 700.000 Palestinians were expelled by force of arms or fled Palestine and were never allowed to return is beyond doubt. The only question remains the degree of premeditation on the part of the Zionist leadership. Palestinian historian Nur Masalha has showed convincingly that the concept of transfer of the indigenous Palestinian population was widely discussed among the Zionist leadership in the days of the Mandate. And founding father Theodor Herzl himself spoke in terms of "spiriting the penniless population across the border". The aim of the Zionist movement was to create a homogenous ethnic Jewish state in the whole of Palestine. But the presence of a significant majority of Palestinian arabs (Moslems and Christians), owning more than 93% of the cultivated land in Palestine stood in the way. The only way therefore to create an exclusive Jewish state was through force of arms and by ethnic cleansing, which is exactly what happened in 1948. This is the subject of Ilan Pappe's book and it is a tour de force. He describes the meetings of the Consultancy, a small group of decision makers led by Ben-Gurion, the finalising of Plan Dalet, which served as the masterplan for ethnic cleansing. He offers new evidence, like the Village Files, a detailed record of all the Palestinian arab villages, their composition, strength and weaknesses which was compiled by Zionist volunteers over decades. The Village Files gave vital information for the military forces, who attacked the villages during their cleansing operations. The extent of the massacres of Palestinian villagers, that took place, the systematic destruction of hundreds of ancient villages and buildings of great architectural and historic value is heart breaking. This is a truly moving account of the tragedy that befell the Palestinian people in 1948, a tragedy that continues to this day. In spite of all the pretenses that the State of Israel seeks peace it's objective is unchanged and that is to get as much Palestinian land as possible with the smallest number of Palestinians. What happens in the Occupied Territories is none other than ethnic cleansing in disguise. Ilan Pappe's book is essential reading for all who want to understand the reasons why Palestinians are in conflict with the State of Israel. True peace between Palestinians and Israelis is not possible without addressing the crucial events of 1948. Israelis must end their state of denial in this respect. With this book Pappe has made an invaluable contribution to the cause of peace.

## Features

- The Ethnic Cleansing Of Palestine
- Product Type: Abis Book
- Gl Type: Book

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | 50,305 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) 95 in Cultural & Ethnic Studies 147 in Multicultural Studies 325 in Religious Studies (Books) |
| Customer Reviews | 4.7 out of 5 stars 2,241 Reviews |

## Images

![The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/810yW7YkKIL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The REAL history of the Israeli state
*by C***E on 2 November 2007*

An excellent and meticulously researched historical text. The level of cold, calculated brutality and unprovoked savagery used against a largely peaceful peasant population usually offering little or no resistance, a population quite unprepared for a war, who were usually just 'going about their business', is absolutely shocking. As is the clinical pre-planning and ruthless, cold efficiency with which the plan was then carried out. It is no exaggeration to compare what happened with the Nazi push into the Baltic states and Russia in the early 1940's. The reality of what actually happened during the years 1948-49, compared with the 'official' Israeli version, is astonishing. This is a subject I have had an interest in for some considerable time now, but despite my interest and knowledge of the subject, I was not prepared for the detail. The unnecessary nastiness and inhumanity of the jewish forces, is really hard to come to terms with. It is also interesting to compare the present day horror and outrage that is expressed at the actions of a 'suicide bomber' with events in early 1948 [when there was no war]. The Stern Gang and Hagana routinely threw bombs into CIVILIAN Palestinian gatherings and blew up houses with all the occupants asleep inside, often killing scores of people, simply to terrorise the population into fleeing Palestine. I am also deeply ashamed of the role [or non-role] played by the British forces, with one or two notable exceptions, [and the Bevin Government] who, until May 1948, were still officially charged with upholding law and order in Palestine. Anyone who still buys the notion that the events at Quana, the murder of the UN workers [despite hours of telephone conversations], the very high civilian casualty rates during the 2006 push into Lebanon, the deaths on the beach in Gaza and so on, were all REALLY accidental, should read this book. This particular brand of terror is long established practice by the Israelis. In fact, it is hard to understand how most of our media and politicians, people who have chosen to make a career informing the rest of us about what goes on, in and around the world, seem remarkably oblivious to this information. Well, there are no excuses now are there ? I am not sure how anyone could [intelligently] argue that this is 'a piece of anti-zionist fiction' as one of your reviewers suggests, it is far too factually based and closely referenced. It IS a testament to the power of the Israeli lobby and their campaign of distortion and misinformation that we are still presented by most of the media for most of the time the image of Israel as the victim in the Middle East. Now THAT is a piece of PRO-zionist fiction. Excellent, though disturbing book.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Setting the record straight
*by B***S on 6 February 2007*

Ilan Pappe has written a moving account of the dispossession of the Palestinians in 1948. The founding of the State of Israel at the expense of the indigenous inhabitants of Palestine has for a long time been surrounded by Zionist inspired myths, designed to delegitimize the claims of the Palestinians and reduce them to a non-entity. The destruction of their villages and covering their ruins with forests and claims that Palestinians never existed, as were made by the late Israeli PM Golda Meir, are all part of this. Accounts of how more thant 700.000 Palestinians lost everything they had in the Nakba of 1948, in what is known as the War for Independence in Israel, have been around for decades. The eminent Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi wrote a seminal account in From Haven To Conquest (1971) and numerous other Western authors have written about the plight of the Palestinians. In the middle of the 1980s a number of Israeli historians (Simha Flapan, Benny Morris, Tom Segev, Avi Shlaim and Ilan Pappe) began to question the Zionist founding myths as more and more historic documents came available, shining light on the events of 1948. That in 1948 more than 700.000 Palestinians were expelled by force of arms or fled Palestine and were never allowed to return is beyond doubt. The only question remains the degree of premeditation on the part of the Zionist leadership. Palestinian historian Nur Masalha has showed convincingly that the concept of transfer of the indigenous Palestinian population was widely discussed among the Zionist leadership in the days of the Mandate. And founding father Theodor Herzl himself spoke in terms of "spiriting the penniless population across the border". The aim of the Zionist movement was to create a homogenous ethnic Jewish state in the whole of Palestine. But the presence of a significant majority of Palestinian arabs (Moslems and Christians), owning more than 93% of the cultivated land in Palestine stood in the way. The only way therefore to create an exclusive Jewish state was through force of arms and by ethnic cleansing, which is exactly what happened in 1948. This is the subject of Ilan Pappe's book and it is a tour de force. He describes the meetings of the Consultancy, a small group of decision makers led by Ben-Gurion, the finalising of Plan Dalet, which served as the masterplan for ethnic cleansing. He offers new evidence, like the Village Files, a detailed record of all the Palestinian arab villages, their composition, strength and weaknesses which was compiled by Zionist volunteers over decades. The Village Files gave vital information for the military forces, who attacked the villages during their cleansing operations. The extent of the massacres of Palestinian villagers, that took place, the systematic destruction of hundreds of ancient villages and buildings of great architectural and historic value is heart breaking. This is a truly moving account of the tragedy that befell the Palestinian people in 1948, a tragedy that continues to this day. In spite of all the pretenses that the State of Israel seeks peace it's objective is unchanged and that is to get as much Palestinian land as possible with the smallest number of Palestinians. What happens in the Occupied Territories is none other than ethnic cleansing in disguise. Ilan Pappe's book is essential reading for all who want to understand the reasons why Palestinians are in conflict with the State of Israel. True peace between Palestinians and Israelis is not possible without addressing the crucial events of 1948. Israelis must end their state of denial in this respect. With this book Pappe has made an invaluable contribution to the cause of peace.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Unmentionables
*by M***I on 20 October 2011*

Professor Pappe refers to Israel in this book as "our beloved country". He is, indeed, a true patriot, since he wants the best for his home country, a country which, sadly, has adopted am ostrich-like stance in regard to its past, and is actively encouraging its young to despise and/or hate its Arab people and its Arab neighbours.It would seem that the "eternal" war on "terror" suits the Israeli ruling classes down to the ground, providing as it does wonderful cover for the ethnic cleansing of Palestine which goes on, relentlessly, day by day as I write (good source for this is the OCHAoPT website/ bulletin). It was once more or less acceptable for educated Israelis to agree that their country's foundation was the result of a brutal invasion by largely European Jews (one can easily check the origins of Ben Gurion and practically all of the leading soldiers and politicians for the first 30-40 years of Israel) For an example of the finer type of Israeli who admitted the "original sin" of the Jewish state, one can read S Yitzhar's story of one Hagana unit's activities in the 1948 invasion of Arab lands.Pappe establishes his account around much archive material and the memoirs of participants in the "mainstream" army and in the terrorist groups such as Irgun and the Stern gang. His account is chilling, and ,perhaps even more so , is our realisation that the current Netanyahus and Liebermans exploit the "wish to deny" that is the overwhelming response of Israelis today in regard to their ancestors' remorseless expulsion of Arabs , from something like 500 villages and from parts of the larger towns.With the odd massacre along the way. We know that Benny Morris, one of the original researchers of this episode, does not deny the thrust of Pappe's argument viz. that the incoming Jews forced Arabs from their homes and massacred quite a few but regrets Ben Gurion's failure to complete the job, so that Israel still includes Palestinians as c. 16% of its population.In short, the Anglo-Israeli Morris feels that Israel would be better of as a 100% Jewish state , and could never contemplate the return of Arab refugees and their descendants to the lands and properties which were stolen from them in 1947-8. Given the general will to deny the "original sin", it is not surprising that Zionists vilify Pappe, and are less inclined to trumpet Morris's attitude, which would end in more open ethnic cleansing than is permissible in today's world (I think) We in this country are, of course, loth to admit the crimes of our past and present , and our US friends actually revel in their aggressive brutalities which they also dress up as "humanitarian interventions" . One element which Pappe could explore and expose more is, I think, the (pseudo-?) religious overlay on the project. Zionism is a sort of hybrid, of the "religious" (Israel is eternally Jewish , the Promised Land of the Bible) and of the "conquistador" mentality, of, for example, a man such as Moshe Dayan and of the pure (!!)fanaticism of the Sternists etc. However, the book is far more a factual account than a theoretical discourse, and rightly so, since, as European Jews must have known better than most at the time, forced expulsions are everyday cruelties - they do not actually need an ideological driving force, although at the extreme, such would help. In particular, it is essential not to allow individual soldiers doing the dirty work to think too much about their vicious treatment of , in this case, Palestinians. I refer again to S Yitzhar's poignant story, in the forlorn hope that any Zionist reading this review may ponder it, and repent. To sum up: the book is a brave and convincing attempt to confront Israelis with the reality of their history in the hope that one day they will eschew hatred and aggression (the settlements) and embrace decent standards of behaviour towards the people they have wronged for so long. Any visitor to the Holy Land can easily observe that the occupying forces treat the Palestinians like dirt, and this "status quo suits the Israeli Right mightily . It would seem superfluous to mention Gaza 2009 and other recent murderous attacks by the hugely superior-armed Israeli forces. The surreptitious taking over and carving up of Palestine which goes on , I repeat, daily,is scarcely reported , and one suspects that most Israelis never give the matter mature and humane thought.In 1947-8, there was, as Pappe notes, some international concern over key incidents such as the Deir Yassin massacre, but the world was probably too war-weary to be over-alarmed. Of course,UN resolution 194 stated the right of return for the displaced Palestinians , which Count Bernadotte had already stressed. For his courage, he was murdered by terrorist Jews from a group which the Israeli PM Shamir belonged to (similar background to Begin's ) We now have the Israelis confident that their "Defence Forces" are the most moral in the world. A good dose of Pappe could suggest to the brainwashed conscripts of the IDF that their tradition is questionable.Here's hoping !!!

## Frequently Bought Together

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*Last updated: 2026-07-25*