Anti-Zionist Israeli historian Ilan Pappe said that the Zionist project essentially sought to achieve European goals at the expense of the land of Palestine, accusing Zionism of falsifying history to create a Jewish state on false foundations.
During an episode of the program “L’Interview”, Pappé revealed the roots of this project and its role in promoting myths to convince the international community and people to accept the Israeli project.
Pappe explained that his book “10 Myths” seeks to refute Zionist lies about the origin of Israel, and references myths such as “Palestine is a land without a people” and “The Jews are a people without a land “, and how Zionism transformed these lies into almost recognized truths, even in some Arab societies, which gave Israel popular support in the West.
Pappe spoke about his background as an Israeli who grew up in the Zionist narrative, as he was born in the city of Haifa to a family of German immigrants in 1954 and lived an ordinary life in Israeli society with no real knowledge of the Palestinian reality.
Pappe pointed out that the major turning point in his life occurred during the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, while he was studying for his doctorate at the University of Oxford in Britain.
Pappe confirms that his conviction grew out of the need to reveal the truth about what happened in Palestine, as he emphasized that the Zionist narrative seeks to hide the truth about the existence of a Palestinian people on this land for thousands of years.
Distorted image
In Israeli and European schools, the history of Palestine is taught through maps that give a distorted and inaccurate picture. The maps show Palestine in biblical times, then Roman times, to the time of the Crusaders, and finally to the time of Zionist immigration in the late 19th century.
Pappe said Western support for Zionism has roots dating back to the Middle Ages, when Europe sought to rid itself of the Jews there.
Pappe pointed out that his book, “Ethnic Cleansing in Palestine,” discusses Britain’s role in helping Israel achieve its goals, as it provided political and military support to establish the state on the land of Palestine, which led to the mass exodus of Palestinians and Palestinians. their displacement by force.
Pappe added that the Israeli narrative presents the Palestinians as eternal enemies who threaten the “democratic state,” noting that this false claim justifies Israel’s repressive policies toward the Palestinians.
critical point
Pappe addressed the critical point represented by the consequences of anti-Semitism in Europe and the growing influence of Nazism, emphasizing that Europe found only support for the Zionist project as a solution to getting rid of the “Jewish problem.” by colonizing Palestine. describing this as “the great market of the 20th century”.
Pappe added that the main challenge facing the Zionist project was the presence of the Palestinian people, because their presence posed an obstacle to the establishment of a new “Jewish homeland”, which the Zionist movement saw as a necessary plan to build a “new Europe”. » instead of a Europe that didn’t want it.
Regarding the British documents, Pappe said they tell the story with great accuracy and describe how Zionist gangs stormed Palestinian cities such as Haifa, Jaffa and Tiberias and displaced their residents in violent ways.
Pappe highlighted the continuation of ethnic cleansing policies since 1948 until today, noting the displacement of more than half a million Palestinians after the 1967 war. He said these policies are still practiced daily in places like Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan. , south of Jerusalem, believing that the Western world still ignores these crimes.
Pappe believes that his role as an Israeli scholar in adopting the Palestinian narrative has had an important impact, noting that the recognition of the crime by historians of Israeli society lends credibility to this narrative in Western academic circles.
He explained that his academic journey towards adopting the Palestinian narrative was the result of a long experience, and emphasized that this experience helped him to reconsider the facts with which he had grown up, to arrive at the conviction that this that had been told to him previously was false and distorted. version of reality.