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FEATURING ILAN PAPPE - Two years into Israel’s worst chapter of genocide in Gaza, the question arises, can the state of Israel simply continue acting in impunity unchallenged? Under the extremist leadership of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, what can Israel’s future be, and, by extension, the future of the Palestinian people? 

In a powerful new book, historian Ilan Pappe imagines a more hopeful future, one that he hopes will come about via 8 “mini revolutions” that includes “Relocating the Right of Return of the Palestinian refugees to the center of the future vision.”

Ilan Pappe is a professor of history at the College of Social Sciences and International Studies at the University of Exeter in the UK and the director of the university’s European Centre for Palestine Studies. His books include The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, Ten Myths About Israel, and A History of Modern Palestine. He writes for the Guardian, the London Review of Books, and elsewhere. He spoke with Sonali Kolhatkar from Italy to discuss his latest book, Israel on the Brink, And the Eight Revolutions that Could Lead to Decolonization and Coexistence.

ROUGH TRANSCRIPT:

Sonali Kolhatkar: Two years into this genocide, and there seems no end in sight. Is this the breaking point for Israelis and Palestinians? 

Ilan Pappe: I hope it is. I think unfortunately, we are not yet there at the breaking point. I think we should be talking about two different stages. 

One that maybe is in the making, which is the establishment of a longer ceasefire that will bring some sort of end to the bombing, maybe to exchange of prisoners. That could happen within a few months, I hope, sooner rather than later, of course, especially for the sake of the people of Gaza, and which will distinguish this from a more significant change in the reality, which I'm afraid is not due very, very soon. 

And, definitely the current efforts of the so-called peace mediation, including the, the Trump 21-point program are not really getting us there. 

So, there is a difference between a wish for a tactical rest, if you want, in the genocide or break, and a more fundamental change that would prevent a different kind of genocide, an incremental one, ethnic cleansing in the West Bank and the continued aggressive Israeli policies, not only towards the Palestinians, but also towards its neighboring Arab countries.

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