Prominent Israeli academic and author Ilan Pape is openly critical of Israel. In his latest article, he called Israel's policies in the West Bank "ethnic cleansing" and felt safe to call their actions in Gaza "measured genocide".
Let us not forget that Ilan Pape is an Israeli and for him to accuse his own homeland of these things must be very hard indeed, and without a strong basis, I'm sure he would reduce the terms to something much weaker. Secondly, Ilan Pape has extensive experience of the conflict. He is a senior lecturer at the University of Haifa Department of political Science and Chair of the Emil Touma Institute for Palestinian Studies in Haifa.
He has also written books on the subject, including, among others: The Making of the Arab-Israeli Conflict (London and New York 1992), The Israel/Palestine Question (London and New York 1999), A History of Modern Palestine (Cambridge 2003), The Modern Middle East (London and New York 2005) and his latest, Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine (2006).
An Israeli with so much knowledge criticizing his homeland makes him a powerful voice. Ilan agreed to answer a few questions of mine on the above matters by e-mail.
Liam Bailey: Do you believe Israel will ever commit to peace?
Ilan Pape: Not in the near future and maybe not in the longer run. There is a need for a revolutionary change in global and regional balances of power before a genuine process of change takes place in Israel itself. If ever this happens, and it is likely to happen at one point, these are time consuming processes. Israel has to be de-Zionised to a point before any genuine reconciliation can be attempted.
LB: Do you think Israel would be more committed to peace if the U.S allowed resolutions against Israel, and threatened to withdraw U.S aid unless they make more concessions to achieve sustainable peace with the Palestinians?
IP: Yes by all means this is one of the revolutionary changes in the global balances I was taking about, above. It will be a crucial factor in forcing a new thinking within Israel and it would be a very positive message to the Arab world to believe once more in the possibility of peace.
LB: Do you share the opinion that the recent Gaza ceasefire was nothing more than appearing as committed to peace to guarantee continued U.S support from a Democrat Congress?
IP: I think the ceasefire was less to do with US policy as with two other factors: one, Israelis want to see how a civil war inside Gaza serves them and secondly, foolishly, Hamas and Fatah are willing to divert their energies and attention from fighting the occupation into trying to struggle one against the other.
LB: When this article is published, going by my past articles, I will be inundated with e-mails and comments saying that genocide in Gaza is a ludicrous suggestion, that Israel is only attacking Gaza in self defence, and that if the Palestinians would stop launching rockets and committing other acts of terrorism Israel would stop retaliating. What would you say to those people?
IP: The Israeli actions, as the Israeli army admits, increase the motivation for more rockets and missiles. The Israeli army itself admits the punitive actions have very little to do with the missile attacks and are meant to achieve 'deterrence'. Moreover, ever since 1993, whenever any Palestinian group was willing to ceasefire and give a chance for a peace dialogue, the Israeli army immediately launched a provocative action so that the lull would not continue for too long. After the recent ceasefire was agreed upon, the Israeli army arrested a large number of leaders and killed activists and civilians in the West Bank; knowing perfectly well that this was a cassis belle in the eyes of the Palestinian groups.
Article comments
1 - Bliffle
"Apartheid"
"Evil"
"ethnic cleansing"
"measured genocide".
etc.
Inflammatory words, none of them to solicit negotiation and peace. All to incite partisans. To recruit allies. To bludgeon the uncommitted. Don't give an inch! Conquest is the only solution! Kill the infidels!
They guarantee that the war will continue. Inspired by righteousness more bombers will make bombs. More soldiers will kill families. More death. More arms, legs and bodies torn apart and flying thru the air. More of the same. No letup. Children spitting at each other.
And it will all be SO righteous. Everyone screaming for Justice while avenging themselves.
The leaders will be SO smug that they have characterized the hated enemy with such lurid words. A veritable Holocaust of hate-filled verbiage.
We need an end to righteousness, morality, Justice, and all other frauds that are exploited to promote murder and kill peace and negotiation.
2 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Remember this lovely fellow Liam? You'll be able to have tea and crumpet with him now, if you want. So far as I am concerned, good riddance to bad garbage!
Ynetnews Reports
Jewish students attacked in UK press
Israeli academic lashes out at 'Jewish student lobby,' students reject allegations
Quoted from the article:
The rest of the article can be read at the link above.
3 - David Tabacof
How can Mr Pape imagine that jews and arabs can live peacefully together in one state in Palestine? Look what`s heppening between Hamas and Fatah in Gaza or between Sunni and Shia in Iraq. Does mr. Pape really lives in Israel? How can he ignore realties only do adust them to his thesis. I saw him yesterday on BBC - Have your say-. With jews like mr Pape, who needs antisemites?
David Tavacof - Tel Aviv
4 - A South African
We in South Africa are living in peace! No one thought this would ever happen, but by the Grace of God, it has! I believe the same can happen in the Middle East, we just need to start somewhere! Equal rights and justice for all people seems a good place to start. PLEASE read THE KEY TO PEACE: DISMANTLING THE MATRIX OF CONTROL By Jeff Halper, the Executive Director of the Coordinator of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions
5 - ELISHA AVSHALOM
Reaction: The shleimazel jenociders.
I just recall, as an israeli, that in all fourty years of occupation the sub total of killed palestinians is about six thousand, at least half armed peaple. I would call it a very uneffectiv jenocide, and this is by the state with the strongest army in the midle east! We should have take an example from Sudan, whereas arabs kiled, so far, about quarter of milion of black peaple during two years only. (or maybe from the british, who killed in one night in Dresden double of namber of innocent peaple than we killed in all fourty years in west bank and Gaza.)And to think that we realy call ouerselves nazies! Shame on us!