Fortress Israel 
Ilan Pappe
The right of the Palestinian refugees expelled in the 1948 war to return home was acknowledged by the UN General Assembly in December 1948. It is a right anchored in international law and in accordance with notions of universal justice. More surprisingly perhaps, it also makes sense in terms of realpolitik: unless Israel agrees to repatriate the refugees, all attempts to solve the Israel-Palestine conflict are bound to fail, as became clear in 2000 when the Oslo initiative broke down over this issue. Yet only a handful of Jews in Israel are willing to support it, in part because most Israeli Jews deny that ethnic cleansing was carried out in 1948 by Israel.
Subscribers to the print edition can log in to view the entire article. For information about subscribing to the London Review of Books click here. This article is available for purchase online. Buy this article.
Ilan Pappe teaches in the political science department at Haifa University and is the chair of the Emil Touma Institute for Palestinian Studies in Israel.
Other articles by this contributor:
The Disappointing Trajectory of Amir Peretz · Will Peretz make a difference?
As long as the plan contains the magic term ‘withdrawal’, it is seen as a good thing · Israel heads for disaster
Ingathering · the Israeli election and the ‘demographic problem’
The Geneva Bubble · the prehistory of the latest proposals
print layout
tell a friend