A review by mitzee
On Palestine by Ilan Pappé, Noam Chomsky

informative sad fast-paced

4.0

Very informative and in easy to understand language. Given this is my first book on the subject of Palestine and the ongoing siege on Gaza, I felt I learned a lot. There’s so little I know, as a citizen of the U.S. about what has happened in this region and most of it has been shaped by what’s been reported within the country. 

It’s good to hear from someone outside of the US (Pappe) however I must do need to read more about it and from different perspectives. 

One quote really stood out to me, and not specifically on the topic of Palestine: 

As a teacher, wouldn’t it be more useful teaching in Israel than abroad? Could you be the teacher you are in the UK in Israel?

Ilan Pappé:
I don’t think I want to be a teacher in a university anyway. Universities are not the best place to teach people about the realities of life or can change their point of view. Universities are sites for careers now, not for knowledge and education. 

I’m teaching in Israel as well, in my own way, through my articles, through the tiny amount of public speaking I am allowed to do. I would like to continue this. I feel like what I am doing in Britain is working on the pressure from the outside, less than education. You cannot sustain a BDS (boycott, divest, sanction) campaign without explaining to people why it is necessary. To give them the tools and the background the understand it, to legitimize it. 

I found what he said about universities to be so profound, as if at one point in time universities were a place to learn and share ideas - not just to get a degree so you could get a well paying job. 

What he’s saying about sustaining the BDS movement is really true also. It takes continuous messaging and sometimes, patience which is hard to come by when you see people suffering every day.