March 22, 2008
2 – 4 p.m.
Escape Java Joint
916 Williamson St.
Paul Beckett, Madison-Rafah Sister City Project, 21 March 08
This is addressed to people interested in the Israel-Palestine situation and its history. I am reading Ilan Pappe’s The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine (2006). It is a concise, easy to read history that is of really dazzling quality. I think it is the most important work done on the history of Israel and the Palestinians in many, many years. Pappe is a distinguished Israeli historian and, among other things, this is an amazingly courageous book for him to write. I should think that Israeli historiography can never be the same.
The book is now in paperback and I heartily recommend it.
There will begin a reading-and-discussion series centered around the book. This first meeting will be this Saturday, March 22, from 2 till 4 p.m. at Escape Java Joint (916 Williamson St.). Discussion will cover the first four chapters of the book (co-led by David Williams and Steve Wolvin).