Discovering Israel — Part 1
What I learned from the Book: Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine by Ilan Pappe
Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine by Ilan Pappe is the first book my book club with Merton PSC chose to read. The book is very well researched. I would highly recommend it.
Let me start by introducing you to something I’ve called ‘Slav-wonna-bes’. This has helped me understand the issue that is Israel. In Bosnia (Eastern Europe, one of the ‘Slav’ countries) I’ve heard lots of stories about two groups considered ‘unwise’: Lukavi Latini — guileful Latins, and Slinavi Slaveni — snotty or slimy Slavs. Both of these have existed for centuries, back to Roman times, before Jesus, i.e. no one really knows when they came to be. Both groups are recognised by their behaviour. So nothing else, not religion, or social standing, or wealth, or anything else plays a role in putting a person into one of these groups. Generally speaking, Slavs are smart and good people, but among them there are these two categories of individuals that are not so smart, and they have no morals. Legend has it that people used to avoid being labelled as one of these. Now, it seems like people (those in power at least) are competing who will be more deserving to belong to one or both of these groups.
While there are numerous behavioural characteristics that could be mentioned, I will mention only the main one for…