As the son of a general who participated in the Nakba in 1948 and the Naksa in 1967, Miko Peled thought he knew Israeli history. But when he finally met Palestinians and heard their stories of Zionist atrocities he was shocked to learn the truth.
Phil Weiss speaks to Tony Greenstein about his new book, “Zionism During the Holocaust: The Weaponization of Memory in the Service of State and Nation”.
Shay Hazkani’s “Dear Palestine” is an incredibly valuable contribution that uses meticulous archival research to upend our understanding of the 1948 war.
From April 1st to May 14, 1948 — before Israel was declared, before the British left, and before any Arab soldier entered Palestine to save it — Zionist militias essentially conquered Palestine. Salman Abu Sitta says this critical period leading to Al Nakba has rarely been looked upon in this light, and shows how massacres that took place during this period were pivotal in the ethnic cleansing of Palestine.
Tikva Honig-Parnass discovers a letter she wrote to her family in October 1948, inked on letterhead she found in a gas station that had belonged to a Palestinians who was likely expelled by her unit. Looking back Honig-Parnass reflects how it came to be that she never considered who owned the gas station, and what happened to him, a skill she developed as a youngster in Israel’s 48 Generation: “This complete ignoring of the personhood of the “enemy,” the serenity lacking in all feeling-without gloating or hatred were characteristic of the remote stance, the apparent lack of affect, of the 48 Generation towards the Palestinian Arabs. This stance was congruent with the perception of the latter as an “environmental nuisance” which should be dealt with in a rational manner, and without hatred, and when necessary-as in the case of the stationary–to make use of the spoils left behind after their removal. By then I was already experienced in the mental acrobatics involved in ignoring the ‘nuisance.'”