A History of Modern Palestine: One Land, Two Peoples

A History of Modern Palestine is a thoroughly enlightening, in-depth, unbiased analysis of the land that is known now as Israel and the Occupied Territories. It's important to note, before getting into the review, that in mainstream US and Israeli discourse, "unbiased" means falsely equivocating the behavior of two parties as if they share equal power and equal responsibility for the course of events in the region, which is simply not true. Pappe analyzes significant developments in the region in context, emphasizing the great chain of cause and effect that is often left out of discussions of the issue. Pappe is an Israeli professor of history who offers a captivating attempt to unite both the Zionist and Palestinian nationalist narratives and reconcile them with what has actually happened. The writing is dense and academic, but highly readable. He occasionally goes off on tangents discussing various theories and models that professional historians use, applying them to the subject matter or examining how other historians have applied or misapplied them, but other than that, I found it highly accessible. The book begins around 1850 in Ottoman Palestine, discussing the social structures of the people who lived there and setting the stage for the conflict that developed during the 20th century. The rise of Zionism in Europe is chronicled, and its ensuring slow migration of Jews to Palestine from the 1880s onward. Pappe examines how Palestinian social structure was initially affected by this immigration, as well as by integration with the European economy. Significant time is devoted to the interwar period of the British Mandate, and how Zionism developed, centralized its civil and military institutions, and established goals for the future Jewish State during that time. Following the second world war, Pappe examines the UN establishent of Israel, including the ethnic cleansing, expulsion, and murder carried out by the Zionists against Palestinians in the months prior to the official birth of Israel in May of 1948. The remainder of the book discusses the rise of Palestinian resistance and the increasingly brutal Israeli suppression, the 1967 war and subsequent occupation of the rest of ex-Mandate Palestine by the Israelis, the 1973 war, beginnings of the peace process in the 1970s, the Israeli invasions of Lebanon, the first Intifada, the rise of post Zionism in Israel, the Oslo accords, the rise of suicide terrorism, and the degeneration back into violence that has engulfed the region in the early 2000s. Throughout the history, Pappe often pauses to discuss what the Zionist or Palestinian mythology has to say about a given issue, comparing it to how the other side perceived events and to what actually happened. If you are a die hard Zionist, you probably won't like this book. I was raised Jewish and attended Hebrew night school for many years, and the Zionist narrative I was provided is starkly at odds with historical realities. I felt Pappe treated both sides fairly, pointing out shortcomings and never moralizing or judging. However, as I suggested at the beginning, there is no false equivocation. Israeli bloodshed and violence vastly exceeds Palestinian, and much of the Palestinian violence is a direct result of their economic, political, and military oppression and exploitation by a vastly more powerful Israeli society. He also documents the radicalization of Palestinian resistance, culminating in the rise of extremist movements like Hezbollah and Hamas, resulting from increasing Israeli oppression and failure to address the fundamental issues of the conflict. Throughout his treatment of the peace process, Pappe, documents how Israelis continued to undermine peace efforts with military intervention and illegal settlement expansion, slowly eroding the chances that a peaceful solution could occur. Pappe also does not generalize each side. Much time is spent examining the various factions within Israeli and Palestinian society, investigating their origins, ideologies, and motivations. I was particularly struck with his dissection of the class structure of Israeli society and explanation of how poorly Arab jews and even Holocaust survivors were treated. I noticed that some critical reviewers accuse Pappe of making up the Tantura massacre. He notes in the book that evidence for the massacre was recently uncovered by a student at his university who published a dissertation on the subject. Upon pressure from Israeli authorities, the student retracted his dissertation, and then later retracted the retraction. Pappe notes that a variety of Israeli professors and himself reviewed the work and the evidence and found it satisfactory. Final thoughts: excellent read for anyone who wants an open minded, comprehensive, and systemic analysis of the events that brought Israel and Palestine to their present impasse, and the obstacles that their societies must come to terms with if the conflict is to be resolved. Note: it seems most positive reviewers of books that are critical of Zionism or the state of Israel are attacked as anti semites. I just wanted to say that I come from a Jewish family and I have nothing for or against Jews or Arabs. Questioning the policies of the abstract state of Israel, or of my own country, do not mean I hate or wish ill upon it's people. I am in favor of all people on all sides of the conflict finding solutions that address fundamental causes, and living dignified, un-oppressed, unexploited lives.

Time to expose the reality of Palestine. Amazing how we're all silent about it. This book is a must read!

This is the best book on Israel Palestine I have ever read. It begins from the birth of Zionism in Europe and conveys the evolving situation in Palestine as it affected both peoples contending for the land -- the Zionist immigrants and the Arab natives. The story continues through and after Oslo, giving readers a clear understanding of how we arrived where we are today. The book also illuminates and explains the morally questionable British role in the partitioning of Palestine and the later U.S. role in Israel. A must read for anyone who wants to understand the Middle East today.

Ilan Pappe is often referred to as a "revisionist" historian from Israel. His work published in 2004, "A History of Modern Palestine," shows him instead to be "an historian." As nearly every likely reader of the book appreciates, at the point of its publication there were at best only one or two other histories of modern Palestine deserving of the name, all but lost among a torrent of mythology and polemic. Pappe's work is supported by background sources in Arabic, Hebrew, English and at least two other languages. That said, "A History of Modern Palestine" is best understood as a work in progress. Its 268 pages of main text in the paperback edition are far too few for such a ambitious topic. Its research apparatus includes endnotes, bibliography, glossary and chronology, but their lack of coordination makes them difficult to use in a paper format. Endnotes and glossary should have been running footnotes. The content of "A History of Modern Palestine" relating to periods before 1940 is based largely on tertiary sources; it is cool and disappointing. Pappe apparently knows more than he says, but what he says often leaves out people and culture. No person becomes any more than a cardboard character or a point in time. Periods after 1940 become warmer in detail, but they too are usually reduced to summaries lacking context and associations. A reader who does not already know most of what Pappe knows will find it difficult to learn what Pappe knows.

Unique look into the history of the real people of Palestine. Must read for anyone who knows something about the history or the people of that area. I can imagine it being a bit too factual for someone who doesn't recognize some peronalities in the book though. Nevertheless great insight into the pre-1948 demographics and events. Great book!

Well written

A 'New history' in the best tradition of this work of knowledge. Most of the information here is pretty well known and their isn't much revelation. One small issue is the title. The actual title should be 'Two lands, one people' since that is the actual reality today. Their were never actually two peoples in the same land, even in the much maligned and reviled 'Mandate' period. Of course, typically, this book frames the conflict as one between 'Jews and Arabs' when their are many more layers to the fabric of the diverse mosaic that is the holy land. Their were inter-Jewish struggles of Revisionists against Zionists against the Orthodox. And within the Palestinian camp their are equal divisions between the Bedouin, the fundamentalists, the socialists and the effendis. Not to mention the Druze. Seth J. Frantzman

Excellent overview of a complex situation. This book gave me a clear understanding of underlying issues in preparation for visiting Palestine. Now need to continue with the next ten years.