Dymocks praises ‘Nakba’ book
Pappe’s book received mixed reviews at the time of its release 19 years ago.
Bookstores are known as marketplaces of diverse ideas, but Dymocks Richmond might not have received the memo – the Melbourne retail outlet wasn’t shy about editorialising in glowing terms over a stridently anti-Israel book on sale in the store.
The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, authored by Ilan Pappe, an avowed anti-Zionist, has been given a staff thumbs-up in an anonymous note of recommendation displayed beneath the book.
Described as “recommended by our well-read staff”, it stated, “This is an excellent book that perfectly encapsulates the criminal history of the Zionist State and their unwillingness to admit it – I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is trying to learn more about what is going on in Palestine, especially the first Nakba.”
Pappe’s book received mixed reviews at the time of its release 19 years ago. Historian Benny Morris wrote, “At best, Ilan Pappe must be one of the world’s sloppiest historians; at worst, one of the most dishonest. In truth, he probably merits a place somewhere between the two.”
And Ian Black, The Guardian’s then Middle East correspondent, said Pappé “does historical understanding a disservice by all but ignoring the mood and motives of the Jews, so soon after the end of a war in which six million had been exterminated by the Nazis”.
But at Dymocks Richmond, the esteem in which Pappe and fellow anti-Israel author Noam Chomksy are held was also demonstrated in December last year when their co-written 2015 book, On Palestine, was critiqued in a sign that praised that book for “debunking Zionist talking points” and “drawing on similarities between apartheid South Africa and the ongoing Apartheid Israel”.
Contacted about Dymocks staff’s praise for The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, Zionism Victoria’s executive director Zeddy Lawrence quipped, “I assume this book is in the fiction section of Dymocks. As for the member of the ‘well-read team’ who wrote the review, they clearly have a future as an author of fantasy novels, as their grasp on reality is sorely lacking.”
The AJN approached Dymocks for a comment.
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