The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine

Ilan Pappé's historical account examines the formation of the State of Israel between 1947 and 1949. During this period, over 400 Palestinian villages were deliberately destroyed, civilians were massacred, and approximately one million men, women, and children were expelled from their homes at gunpoint. Pappé challenges the widely accepted narrative that the Palestinian population voluntarily left during the war. Using archival evidence, he argues that the forcible removal of the indigenous population was a central element of Israel's founding ideology from its inception. The book presents this displacement as what would be termed ethnic cleansing if it occurred in the present day. The work addresses the Palestinian refugee question and is intended for readers seeking to understand the historical roots of the ongoing Middle East conflict.