The Historical Context of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Israel claims that there is no need for explanations as to why Hamas attacked on October 7, 2023. Historian Ilan Pappé challenges that point of view. He says that without historical contextualization, the issues are not only incomprehensible but also make people vulnerable to half-truths and propaganda. For decades, corporate media coverage of the conflict has been lopsided in Israel’s favor. Israelis are humanized. Palestinians are demonized. Pappé points out that the Israel–Palestine conflict didn’t start on October 7th. Nor did it start with the 1917 Balfour Declaration or with 1967, when Israel occupied the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights, or in 1948, when the state of Israel was declared. The roots of the conflict began in 1882, when the first Zionist settlers arrived in Palestine.

Speaker: Ilan Pappé

Ilan Pappé has been called “Israel’s bravest historian.” He taught at the University of Haifa and was chair of the Touma Institute for Palestinian and Israeli Studies in Haifa. Currently, he is a professor of history at the University of Exeter in England. He is the author of many books, including The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, Gaza in Crisis, On Palestine with Noam Chomsky, Lobbying for Zionism, Ten Myths About Israel, Israel On the Brink, and A Very Short History of the Israel-Palestine Conflict.

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