A Very Short History of the Israel–Palestine Conflict

A short primer unravelling the Israel–Palestine conflict from the nineteenth century to today

The devastation of 7 October 2023 and the horrors that followed astounded the world. But the Israel–Palestine conflict didn’t start on 7 October. It didn’t start in 1967 either, when Israel occupied the West Bank, or in 1948 when the state of Israel was declared. It started in 1882, when the first Zionist settlers arrived in what was then Ottoman Palestine. Ilan Pappe untangles the history of two peoples, now sharing one land. Going back to the founding fathers of Zionism, Pappe expertly takes us through the twists and turns of international policy towards Israel–Palestine, Palestinian resistance to occupation, and the changes taking place in Israel itself. This is an indispensable guide to understanding the present conflict, and how we might yet still find a way out of it.