The Idea of Israel

The Idea of Israel: A History of Power and Knowledge is a non-fiction book written by professor and historian Ilan Pappé about the Zionist ideology's role in Israeli education, media, and film. It was published in 2014 by Verso Books. The book discusses three periods in the effort to define Zionism: the classic Zionist account of the history of Israel; the emergence of the post-Zionism movement in the 1990s; and the rise of neo-Zionism, which Pappé argues is a highly nationalistic and racist ideology. The Guardian praised Pappé's expertise in the subject matter of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, observing the author as "one of the few Israeli students of the conflict who write about the Palestinian side with real knowledge and empathy". A review in The Independent said The Idea of Israel is an academic book at its core which offers a thought-provoking experience for its readers. In the academic journal, Journal of Palestine Studies, the work, while providing a coherent narrative, is noted for diverging from the writing style of the author's earlier books. Summary The book examines mainstream Zionism's representation—the academic and cinematic historiography—‌of the 1948 Palestine war and founding of the State of Israel. Pappé asserts that the Zionist narrative was necessary to market the newly formed Israel as the only democracy in the Middle East, to explain the expulsion of Palestinian Arabs, and condemn their resistance to the establishment of a Jewish state. He notes that this narrative attributes resistance to Israel to Islamist fanaticism and a culture of violence in the Arab world.