“A powerful and groundbreaking history of the Occupied Palestinian Territories from one of the world’s greatest historians”

The Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign is honoured to launch the paperback of Ilan Pappe’s new book, The Biggest Prison on Earth: A History of the Occupied Territories (Oneworld, 2019). On Saturday 12th October 2019 at 2pm in Wynn’s Hotel Ballroom, Abbey Street Lower, Dublin 1 join is for an afternoon of with the acclaimed Israeli historian where he will discuss a book which has been called “critical for understanding the present situation and looking forward to possible solutions”.

Copies of the book will be available for purchase and signing.

About the Book

Shortlisted for the Palestine Book Awards 2017

From the author of the bestselling The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine – the seminal study of the 1948 Nakba and the violent creation of the State of Israel – comes an incisive look at the Occupied Palestinian Territories, picking up the story where that book left off.

In this comprehensive exploration of one of the world’s most prolonged and tragic conflicts, Pappe uses recently declassified archival material to analyse the motivations and strategies of the generals and politicians – and the decision-making process itself – that laid the foundation of Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. From a survey of the legal and bureaucratic infrastructures that were put in place to control the population of over one million Palestinians, to the security mechanisms that vigorously enforced that control, Pappe paints a picture of what is to all intents and purposes the world’s largest ‘open prison’.

About the Author

Ilan Pappe is Professor of History at the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies at the College of Social Sciences and International Studies and Director of the European Centre for Palestine Studies at the University of Exeter, and the author of over a dozen books including the bestselling The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, A History of Modern Palestine, The Idea of Israel, Ten Myths About Israel and The Forgotten Palestinians: A History of the Palestinians in Israel. In 2017, Pappe was awarded the Middle East Monitor’s Lifetime Achievement Award at the Palestine Book Awards.

Reviews

‘Ilan Pappe is Israel’s bravest, most principled, most incisive historian.’
– John Pilger

‘[Pappe] boldly and persuasively argues for understanding the occupied territories as the world’s “largest ever mega-prison”… Pappe’s conclusions won’t be welcome in all quarters but this detailed history is rigorously supported by primary sources.’
– Publishers Weekly

‘A diagnostic survey of Israel’s long-planned occupation of the Palestinian’s land… A grim, hard-hitting look at the nuts and bolts of Israeli occupation.’
– Kirkus

‘Will undoubtedly raise a lot of hackles in his home state.’
– Irish Times

‘What is new in The Biggest Prison on Earth is Pappe’s detailed accounting of exactly what the Israeli planners were contemplating in 1963; namely, “the largest ever mega-prison for a million and a half people.”‘
– Electronic Intifada

‘Pappe’s book is critical for understanding the present situation and looking forward to possible solutions.’
– CHOICE reviews