Introduction. Myth One: Zionists Accepted the UN partition and Launched War Myth Two: Arabs Rejected the Partition and Launched War Myth Three: Palestinians Fled Voluntarily, Intending Reconquest Myth Four: All the Arab States United to Expel the Jews from Palestine Myth Five: The Arab Invasion Made War Inevitable Myth Six: Defenceless Israel Faced Destruction by the Arab Goliath Myth Seven: Israel Has Always Sought Peace, but No Arab Leader Has Responded. Conclusion.
Biography
Simha Flapan (1911–1987) was an Israeli historian and politician and had a long and distinguished career as a writer, publisher, peace activist and educator. From 1954 to 1981 he was National Secretary of Israel's Mapam party and Director of its Arab Affairs department. He was founder and editor-in-chief of the Middle East monthly New Outlook, and founder and director of the Jewish-Arab Institute and the Israeli Peace Research Institute. He was aFellow at he Harvard University Center for International Affiars, a visiting scholar at the Harvard Center for Middle East Sutdies, and a Foreign Associate of the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London.
Original Reviews of The Birth of Israel:
‘A work of extraordinary integrity, and of great significance for all those who favour a humane peace in the Middle East. By writing critically, but from within the Zionist experience of Israel, Flapan provides us al with an understanding of why the Palestinian national imperative is indispensable for the recovery of Israeli moral and political health.’ Richard Falk
‘A cogent, controversial analysis of Israel’s propaganda structures and the policies of the crucial formative years between 1948 and 1952…This disturbing work bears witness to the futility, and unconscionability, of addressing political problems by military means.’ Publishers’ Weekly
‘[Flapan’s] thoughtful and incisive commentary make this a contribution of great value, with far-ranging implications concerning history and current policy.’ Noam Chomsky
‘[A] highly readable and well-researched book…’ M. Machover, Race and Class, Vol 30, Issue 4 (1989).
