The Forgotten Palestinians: A History of the Palestinians in Israel by Ilan Pappé – review

Israel's "New Historians" are not so new any more (they emerged in the 1980s), but remain controversial. Ilan Pappé, author of The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine (2006), is no exception. Here he reminds us that Israel is not an exclusively Jewish state: at least 20% of its citizens are Palestinian. However, some Israeli citizens are more equal than others. Israeli Palestinians exist in a precarious middle ground between Israeli Jews and the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, their dialect a Palestinian-Israeli Arabic that incorporates Hebrew words. Opinion polls suggest a majority of Jewish Israelis see Palestinian Israelis as a threat to be removed. Israeli Palestinians may have equal voting rights, but Pappé shows how they are treated as second-class citizens in education, housing and employment, and prevented from owning land and property in Israel. In this reasoned, readable history of Israeli Palestinians, Pappé even draws an analogy with Native Americans in the US, while outlining the many ways in which Palestinian Israelis have stood up for their rights.