The Biggest Prison on Earth: A History of the Occupied Territories

By Ilan Pappe

From the author of the bestselling study of the 1948 War of Independence comes an incisive look at the Occupied Territories, picking up the story where The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine left off.


Publishing on the fiftieth anniversary of the Six-Day War that culminated in the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Pappe offers a comprehensive exploration of one of the world’s most prolonged and tragic conflicts. Using recently declassified archival material, Pappe analyses the motivations and strategies of the generals and politicians – and the decision-making process itself – that laid the foundation of the occupation. From a survey of the legal and bureaucratic infrastructures that were put in place to control the population of over one million Palestinians, to the security mechanisms that vigorously enforced that control, Pappe paints a picture of what is to all intents and purposes the world’s largest “open prison”.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Oneworld Publications
• Release date: Jun 22, 2017
• ISBN: 9781780744339

Ilan Pappe

Illan Pappe is Professor of History and Director of the European Centre for Palestine Studies at the University of Exeter. He is the author of numerous books, including Ten Myths About Israel (Verso, 2017), The Forgotten Palestinians (Yale University Press, 2013) and The Idea of Israel (Verso, 2012).

Reviews for The Biggest Prison on Earth

[1randal-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I have to admit, I could not finish this book. It became tedious, with so many details that the flow of the book just stopped. I'm sure that someone with a more academic "bent" will enjoy this, but it just wasn't for me. Sorry!

[barlow304 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

First, I must confess that I didn't quite finish the book. I quit on p. 204 out of 229. The book is a tedious read, full of administrative details and minutia no one really needs.That is not to say that it's not an important book. Controversial revisionist historian Ilan Pappe more than adequately proves his thesis: that the Israeli government never intended to trade land for peace after the 6 Day War. Instead, the government began a careful program of carving up the occupied territories in order to make Palestinian life difficult--perhaps difficult enough to induce the inhabitants to "self-deport". In this way, Israel could reclaim "Greater Israel" without openly using ethnic cleansing to get rid of the Palestinians. The Israelis could have their cake (the territories) and eat it, too (by permanently excluding the inhabitants from Israeli society). Thus the Israelis have not needed to absorb the cantonized Palestinians into their society.Although I don't recommend reading the book because of its tedious details, I think all Americans should be aware of the issues Pappe has raised when we consider our support for the Israelis.

[lriley_43 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An interesting look into the history of the occupied territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Pappé's documentary research into the papers of Israeli policy makers going all the way back to the foundation of the Israeli state makes it pretty clear that those policy makers have always intended to marginalize the Palestinian population into a second/third class citizenship. That this apartheidesque fait accompli continues with the support of the United States (among other nations) is a crime and to our shame. How anyone would expect a peaceful solution to the problem of the territories when the most powerful actor for a possible solution (the Israeli government) refuses to bend on anything--I don't know. It's a sad situation.

[dougb56586 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book is about the Israeli governments treatment of the Palestinians living in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip – territories which were seized by Israel in the 1967 Six-day War. Although I do not think the book is very well written, it covers an important subject and presents information the author extracted from Israeli government archives, so I think it is worth reading.As a result of the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel gained control of two territories: the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The author writes that these occupied territories posed a dilemma for the Israeli government: expelling the Palestinians from the territories would generate highly unfavorable international response and violate international law; however, giving them Israeli citizenship would result in a Palestinian political majority within the state of Israel. The government's solution, according to the author, was to effectively turn these occupied territories into large prisons for the Palestinian residents. And the occupation has continued from 1967 to the present with no end in sight. The author uses archival records of high level government meetings held shortly after the war. The most damaging evidence in support of the author's thesis is government's own words. The story is tragic. A drawback of the book is that the writing is the lack of objectivity and completeness. The authors makes good use of original sources to support his premise, yet frequently goes beyond objective evidence and tries to infer the thoughts or intentions government officials. The book also does not seem to provide a complete picture. The author may disagree with many decisions that the government made, but it would have been better if he had tried to include describe more of what the political conditions were and what choices were available. The writing quality is about average, but could be better. A minor but annoying habit of his is to use variations of the phrase “... on the ground” (“facts on the ground”, “policy on the ground” , “forces on the ground”, “correspondents on the ground”, etc, etc). This phrase indicates a discrepancy between reality and perception, but after being used more than two dozen times, it loses its impact. Also, although the author has a strong case to make, he overwhelms the reader to details. At the start of chapter three, he writes, “When examining it closely as we do here, colonization can become very tedious. … Let me also urge the reader to study it closely.” The tragic events that are about to be described are anything but “tedious”. If the book fails to convey that, it is the fault of the book, and not the nature of the events. I am reviewing a pre-publication copy of the book which does not include maps, figures, or tables, and perhaps the published version may. Hopefully there will be visual aides to clearly communicate this important story.

[elliot1822 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The Biggest Prison on Earth A History of the Occupied Territories by Israel’s historian Ilan Pappe presents the reader with a harsh, in your face look at the nuts and bolts of Israeli occupation. For 50 years later, the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip shows no end in sight. Pappe shows the reader that in his opinion the Oslo accords were never meant to result in Palestinian statehood but were merely to make legal the creation of small communities for the indiginous Palestinians with the the costs and responsibilities of the occupation being for the most part transferred to major international donors and organizations – notably the European Union – and the Palestinian Authority(PA). Ilan Pappe shows us how annexation of lands won in battle presents us the details of dividing the territories into areas of “Palestinian” and “Jewish” and where needed finding the legal reasons expelling the Palestinians—or making their daily lifes too horrific for them to stay—while encouraging Jewish settlement. The author focuses on many of the regional players in these early goings and on how for one the ruling Labour Party and its decade of occupation, 1968-1977, helped solidify its rule over the people of the Occupied Territories as inmates for life despite its public reputation as enlightened and peace-making. Pappe’s prison metaphor for some readers becomes most insightful for as the PA carries out its security responsibilities and Palethrusts itself on the stage again then however, Israel imposes the controls of a maximum-security prison.Thus, in the ensuing years, the West Bank became the minimum-security prison and Gaza – with Hamas leading the resistance – became the maximum-security prison. Palestinians, Pappe writes, “could either be inmates in the open prison of the West Bank or incarcerated in the maximum security one of the Gaza Strip.”Everything that followed the 1967 War, notes Pappe, follows the “logic of settler colonialism” and that logic in turn foresees the eventual elimination of the indigenous Palestinians. That outcome, however, is not inevitable. An alternative is possible, Pappe maintains, if Israel decolonizes and makes “way for the logic of human and civil rights.” If you are like me and try to no matter what your emotional opinion look at both sssides of any issues then please read this book.