Ilan Pappé

Ilan Pappé
Born	1954 (1954)
Residence	UK
Nationality	Israeli
Ethnicity	Jewish
Education	BA (1978), PhD (1984)
Alma mater	Hebrew University of Jerusalem University of Oxford
Occupation	Historian, political activist
Employer	University of Exeter
Known for	One of Israel's "New Historians"
Website
Staff page at the University of Exeter

Ilan Pappé (Hebrew: אילן פפה‎; born 7 November 1954^[1] in Haifa, Israel) is a professor with the College of Social Sciences and International Studies at the University of Exeter in the UK, director of the university's European Centre for Palestine Studies, co-director of the Exeter Centre for Ethno-Political Studies, and political activist. He was formerly a senior lecturer in political science at the University of Haifa (1984–2007) and chair of the Emil Touma Institute for Palestinian and Israeli Studies in Haifa (2000–2008).^[2] He is the author of The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine (2006), The Modern Middle East (2005), A History of Modern Palestine: One Land, Two Peoples (2003), and Britain and the Arab-Israeli Conflict (1988).^[3] He was formerly a leading member of Hadash,^[4] and was a candidate on the party list in the 1996 and 1999 Knesset elections.^[5]

Pappé is one of Israel's "New Historians" who, since the release of pertinent British and Israeli government documents in the early 1980s, have been rewriting the history of Israel's creation in 1948, and the corresponding expulsion or flight of 700,000 Palestinians in the same year. He has written that the expulsions were not decided on an ad hoc basis, as other historians have argued, but constituted the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, in accordance with Plan Dalet, drawn up in 1947 by Israel's future leaders.^[6] He blames the creation of Israel for the lack of peace in the Middle East, arguing that Zionism is more dangerous than Islamic militancy, and has called for an international boycott of Israeli academics.^[7][8]

He is a prominent supporter of the One State Solution envisaging one state for Palestinians and Israelis.^[9]

His work has been both supported and criticized by other historians. Before he left Israel in 2008, he had been condemned in the Knesset, Israel's parliament; a minister of education had called for him to be sacked; his photograph had appeared in a newspaper at the centre of a target; and he had received several death threats.^[10]

Early life and education

Pappé was born in Haifa to German-Jewish parents who fled Nazi persecution in the 1930s.^[10] At the age of 18, he was drafted into the Israel Defense Forces, serving in the Golan Heights during the 1973 Yom Kippur War.^[11] He graduated from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1978, and in 1984 obtained his PhD in history from the University of Oxford, under the guidance of Arab historian Albert Hourani and Roger Owen.^[11] His doctoral thesis became his first book, Britain and the Arab-Israeli Conflict.^[7]

Academic career

1948 Palestinian exodus Main articles 1948 Palestinian exodus 1947–48 civil war 1948 Arab-Israeli War 1948 Palestine War Causes of the exodus Nakba Day Palestine refugee camps Palestinian refugee Palestinian right of return Present absentee Transfer Committee Resolution 194 Background British Mandate for Palestine Israel's declaration of independence Israeli-Palestinian conflict history New Historians Palestine · Plan Dalet 1947 partition plan · UNRWA Key incidents Battle of Haifa Deir Yassin massacre Exodus from Lydda Notable writers Aref al-Aref · Yoav Gelber Efraim Karsh · Walid Khalidi Nur Masalha · Benny Morris Ilan Pappe · Tom Segev Avraham Sela · Avi Shlaim Related categories/lists List of depopulated villages Related templates Palestinians This box: view · talk · edit

Pappé in a lecture in the Manchester Metropolitan University in 2008

Pappé was the Academic Director of the Research Institute for Peace at Givat Haviva from 1993 to 2000, and chair of the Emil Touma Institute for Palestinian Studies.

Katz controversy

For more details on the Katz controversy, see Al-Tantura.

Pappé publicly supported an M.A. thesis by Haifa University student Teddy Katz, which was approved with highest honors, that claimed Israel had committed a massacre in the Palestinian village of Al-Tantura during the war in 1948, based upon interviews Arab residents of the village and Israeli veteran of the operation.^[12] Neither Israeli nor Palestinian historians had previously recorded any such incident. Meyrav Wurmser describes it as a "made-up massacre,"^[13] but according to Pappé "In fact the story of Tantura had already been told before, as early as 1950 . . . It appears in the memoirs of a Haifa notable, Muhammad Nimr al-Khatib, who, a few days after the battle, recorded the testimony of a Palestinian."^[14] In December 2000, Katz was sued for libel by veterans of the Alexandroni Brigade and after the testimony was heard, he retracted his allegations about the massacre. Twelve hours later, he retracted his retraction.

Following the trial the university appointed a committee to reexamine the thesis, which decided to overturn the original decision and fail it.^[15][16] Pappé continues to defend both Katz and his thesis.^[17][18] Tom Segev and others^[17] argued that there is merit or some truth in what Katz described.^[16] According to the Israeli new historian Benny Morris, although war crimes were committed, there's "no unequivocal proof of a large-scale massacre."^[19]

He left the University of Haifa in 2007, to take up his appointment in Exeter, after his endorsement of the boycott of Israeli universities led the president of the university to call for his resignation.^[20] Pappé said that he found it "increasingly difficult to live in Israel" with his "unwelcome views and convictions." In a Qatar newspaper interview explaining his decision, he said: "I was boycotted in my university and there had been attempts to expel me from my job. I am getting threatening calls from people every day. I am not being viewed as a threat to the Israeli society but my people think that I am either insane or my views are irrelevant. Many Israelis also believe that I am working as a mercenary for the Arabs.^[21]

Pappé currently works on 20th century ethno-politics in the history department of the University of Exeter, Cornwall Campus.^[22] As of the 2009/2010 academic year, he will join the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies on the main Streatham Campus in Exeter.

Political activism

In 1999, Pappé ran in the Knesset elections as seventh on the Communist Party-led Hadash list.^[5] After years of political activism, Pappé supports economic and political boycotts of Israel, including an academic boycott. He believes boycotts are justified because "the Israeli occupation is a dynamic process and it becomes worse with each passing day. The AUT can choose to stand by and do nothing, or to be part of a historical movement similar to the anti-apartheid campaign against the white supremacist regime in South Africa. By choosing the latter, it can move us forward along the only remaining viable and non-violent road to saving both Palestinians and Israelis from an impending catastrophe."^[23][24]

If it is possible Israel’s conduct in 1948 would be brought onto the stage of international tribunals; this may deliver a message even to the peace camp in Israel that reconciliation entails recognition of war crimes and collective atrocities. This cannot be done from within, as any reference in the Israeli press to expulsion, massacre or destruction in 1948 is usually denied and attributed to self hate and service to the enemy in times of war. This reaction encompasses academia, the media and educational system, as well as political circles."^[25]

As a result, University of Haifa President Aharon Ben-Ze'ev called on Pappé to resign, saying: "it is fitting for someone who calls for a boycott of his university to apply the boycott himself." He said that Pappé would not be ostracized, since that would undermine academic freedom, but he should leave voluntarily.^[26] In the same year, Pappé initiated the annual Israeli Right of return conferences, which called for the unconditional right of return of the Palestinian refugees who were expelled in 1948.

Critical assessment

Ilan Pappé's books have been praised by Walid Khalidi, Richard Falk, Ella Shohat, Nur Masalha and John Pilger among others. Pilger describes Pappé as "Israel’s bravest, most principled, most incisive historian."

Those critical of his work include Benny Morris, Efraim Karsh, Herbert London, Steven Plaut and Daniel Gutwein, Professor of Jewish history at Haifa University.

Another of the "new" Israeli historians, Benny Morris, writing about Pappé's book, A History of Modern Palestine: One Land, Two Peoples,^[27] in The New Republic magazine, calls Pappé's book "truly appalling." He says it subjugates history to political ideology, and "contains errors of a quantity and a quality that are not found in serious historiography." ^[28] Morris has said that there is "a correct, 'true' narrative and a distorted, mendacious narrative."^[29]

Pappé has responded that publications by both himself and Morris all contain mistakes regarding dates, names, and numbers:

We should all try and minimize them to note, I agree. Very few of us succeed and one can only hope to become perfect in the next work—which has not as yet been written. ... They should not however be pointed out as part of an ideology or a basis for ad hominem attack. Worse, a reviewer is not allowed to lie openly about them as Morris does.^[30][31]

Efraim Karsh, one of the most vocal critics of the New Historians, also accuses Pappé of factual misrepresentations:

Readers are told of events that never happened, such as the nonexistent May 1948 Tantura "massacre" or the expulsion of Arabs within twelve days of the partition resolution. They learn of political decisions that were never made, such as the Anglo-French 1912 plan for the occupation of Palestine or the contriving of 'a master plan to rid the future Jewish state of as many Palestinians as possible. And they are misinformed about military and political developments, such as the rationale for the Balfour declaration...^[32]

He also singles Pappé out as "the odd man out among the so-called New Historians", for relying on secondary sources and admitting his own bias in his introduction. Karsh critically quotes Pappé saying "My bias is apparent despite the desire of my peers that I stick to facts and the "truth" when reconstructing past realities. I view any such construction as vain and presumptuous. This book is written by one who admits compassion for the colonized not the colonizer; who sympathizes with the occupied not the occupiers."^[32] Pappé's response was that Karsh 'has taken upon himself the mantle of spokesperson for the Zionist narrative, and anyone thus committed to a national narrative cannot begin to accept the claims made by the counter-narrative, in this case, the Palestinian one.'^[33]

Published work

Books

• A History of Modern Palestine: One Land, Two Peoples. Cambridge University Press, 2004. 333 pp.
• The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, London and New York: Oneworld, 2006. ISBN 1-85168-467-0
• The Modern Middle East, London and New York: Routledge, 2005. ISBN 0-415-21409-2
• The Modern History Palestine, One Land, Two Peoples, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, (2003; 2006) ISBN 0-521-55632-5 (The book is available in French, German, Spanish and Italian).
• (With Jamil Hilal). Parlare Con il Nemico, Narrazioni palestinesi e israeliane a confronto Milano: Bollati Boringhieri, 2004.^[34]
• The Aristocracy: The Husaynis; A Political Biography, Jerusalem: Mossad Byalik, (Hebrew), 2003.
• The Israel-Palestine Question, London and New York: Routledge, (1999, 2006). ISBN 0-415-16948-8
• (with M. Maoz). History From Within: Politics and Ideas in Middle East, London and New York: Tauris, 1997. ISBN 1-86064-012-5
• (with J. Nevo). Jordan in the Middle East: The Making of a Pivotal State, London: Frank Cass, 1994. ISBN 0-7146-3454-9
• The Making of the Arab-Israeli Conflict, 1947–1951, London and New York: I.B. Tauris, (1992, 1994). ISBN 1-85043-819-6
• Britain and the Arab-Israeli Conflict, 1948–1951, London: St. Antony's College Series, Macmillan Press; New York: St. Martin's Press, 1988. ISBN 0-312-01573-9
• (with Noam Chomsky) Gaza in Crisis: Reflections on Israel's War Against the Palestinians, Hamish Hamilton, 2010. ISBN 978-0241145067

Articles

• The Rise and Fall of the Husainis (Part 1), Autumn 2000, Issue 10, Jerusalem Quarterly,
• The Husayni Family Faces New Challenges: Tanzimat, Young Turks, the Europeans and Zionism 1840–1922, Part II Winter-Spring 2001, Issue 11–12, Jerusalem Quarterly,
• "The '48 Nakba & The Zionist Quest for its Completion", Between The Lines, October 2002
• Haj Amin and the Buraq Revolt, June 2003, Issue 18, Jerusalem Quarterly
• Back the boycott May 24, 2005 The Guardian
• "Calling a Spade a Spade: The 1948 Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine", article in al-Majdal Magazine, Spring 2006 [retrieved May 17, 2007]
• Towards a Geography of Peace: Whither Gaza?, June 18, 2007, The Electronic Intifada,
• Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 30, No. 3, (Spring, 2001), pp. 19–39: The Tantura Case in Israel: The Katz Research and Trial by Ilan Pappe.
• Institute for Palestinian Studies Pappé, Ilan "Review Essay, Israeli Television's Fiftieth Anniversary Series: A Post-Zionist View?" Journal of Palestine Studies Vol 27, no. 4 (Sum. 98): pp 99–105.
• What drives Israel?, June 2010, Essay of the week, Herald Scotland.

References

1. ^ [1], Highbeam Encyclopedia, accessed April 12, 2011
2. ^ [2], University of Exeter, accessed May 6, 2009; Pappe, Ilan. Biography, ilanpappe.com, accessed May 6, 2009.
3. ^ Pappe, Ilan. Biography, ilanpappe.com, accessed May 6, 2009.
4. ^ A new candidate for the Hadash coalition: Attorney Dov Hanin of Tel AvivHa'aretz, Yair Ettinger
5. ^ ^{a b} 1996 election results page
6. ^ Pappé, Ilan. The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, 2006.
7. ^ ^{a b} Wilson, Scott. A Shared History, a Different Conclusion, The Washington Post, March 7, 2007.
8. ^ Lynfield, Ben. British Boycott Riles Israeli Academics, The Christian Science Monitor, May 12, 2005.
9. ^ The Official Website of Ilan Pappé
10. ^ ^{a b} Arnot, Chris. I felt it was my duty to protest, The Guardian, January 20, 2009.
11. ^ ^{a b} Logos Journal
12. ^ "Tantura Massacre exposed" September 8, 2001, Palestine Remembered,
13. ^ Preview: Made-Up Massacre
14. ^ Pappé, The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine (2006) p. 137.
15. ^ "His colleagues call him a traitor" Tom Segev for Haaretz (retrieved February 4, 2007)
16. ^ ^{a b} Amit, Zalman (May 11, 2005). "The Collapse of Academic Freedom in Israel; Tantura, Teddy Katz and Haifa University". CounterPunch. http://www.counterpunch.org/amit05112005.html. Retrieved May 7, 2009. 
17. ^ ^{a b} Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 30, No. 3, (Spring, 2001), pp. 19–39: The Tantura Case in Israel: The Katz Research and Trial by Ilan Pappe; With eye witness accounts from: Dan Vitkon, Yosef Graf, Salih 'Abn al-Rahman, Tuvia Lishansky Mordechai Sokoler, Ali 'Abd al-Rahman Dekansh, Najiah Abu Amr, Fawsi Mahmoud Tanj, Mustafa Masri
18. ^ Ilan Pappé, (2006); pp 113, 127,133, 155, 165, 183, 197, 203, 210, 211.
19. ^ Shavit, Ari. "Survival of the fittest". Haaretz, January 8, 2004. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=380986&contrassID=2. Retrieved May 15, 2009. "There is no unequivocal proof of a large-scale massacre at Tantura, but war crimes were perpetrated there"
20. ^ Archived April 26, 2005 at the Wayback MachineHaifa University president calls on dissident academic to resign, Tamara Traubman, Haaretz April 26, 2005
21. ^ Academic slams Israel for land grab, Mohammed Iqbal, The Peninsula On-line: Qatar's leading English Daily, March 29, 2007
22. ^ Exeter University
23. ^ From Ilan Pappé, to the Association of University Teachers in Britain by Ilan Pappé, May 2005
24. ^ Guardian: Ilan Pappé to AUT; "Back the boycott"
25. ^ Google Books Arab-Jewish Relations: From Conflict to Resolution? : Essays in Honour of ...By Elie Podeh, Asher, Post Conflictual Possibilities by Ilan Pappé p 244
26. ^ Haifa U. academic remains steadfast in support of boycott By Tamara Traubman
27. ^ Pappe, Ilan. A History of Modern Palestine: One Land, Two Peoples Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2004. ISBN 978-0521556323
28. ^ Morris, Benny. Politics by Other Means, The New Republic, March 22, 2004
29. ^ (Daniel Gutwein), Anita Shapira, Ed (2003). Israeli historical revisionism: from left to right. London: Frank Cass, Publisher. pp. 15–18. ISBN 0714653799.  Gutwein quoting Morris from an interview in Yediot Aharonot, December 16, 1194 and Maariv, 21 January 1996
30. ^ Shehori, Dalia. (2004, May 5). One man's history is another man's lie. Ha'aretz.
31. ^ Pappé, Ilan. (2004, March 30). Response to Benny Morris' "Politics by other means" in the New Republic. The Electronic Intifada.
32. ^ ^{a b} ME Forum A History of Modern Palestine: One Land, Two Peoples by Ilan Pappé Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004. 333 pp. Reviewed by Efraim Karsh
33. ^ The Official Website of Ilan Pappé
34. ^ Bibliografia

External links

• [3] [4] [5] [6] Talk by Ilan Pappe at Oxford University, February 2007
• Pappé speaking in Amsterdam on "The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine", January 28, 2007 (broadcast on Flashpoints / KPFA-FM, Berkeley, May 28, 2007)
• "Power and History in the Middle East: A Conversation with Ilan Pappe", Logos, Winter 2004
• Interview with Ilan Pappé by LabourNet UK
• The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine The borders of fact and myth By Stephen Howe November 24, 2006 The Independent
• SkyNews1 or Sky News2 — brief debate between Ilan Pappé and Ephraim Karsh on Sky News, October 18, 2006.
• "Post-Zionism Only Rings Once" — Neri Livneh
• Pappé refutes Chomsky on Israel's lobby
• Frank Barat, 'An Interview with Ilan Pappé and Noam Chomsky', Counterpunch 6/6/2008
• Alone on the Barricades, Meron Rappaport interviews Ilan Pappé about Teddy Katz and the AUT boycott, Haaretz, 2005
• An Interview with Ilan Pappe by Baudouin Loos, Brussels, November 29, 1999
• Nadim Mahjoub interviews Ilan Pappe on Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, Resonance FM Radio, London, UK, October 27, 2006
• The Liar as a Hero, by Benny Morris, march 2011.

Persondata
Name	Pappé, Ilan
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Date of birth	November 7, 1954
Place of birth
Date of death
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