 |
 A History of the Palestinian People | |
| Author | Assaf Voll |
|---|---|
| Original title | A History of the Palestinian People: From Ancient Times to the Modern Era |
| Translator | Alan Slater (English) |
| Language | English, Hebrew |
| Subject | empty book |
| Publisher | CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform |
Publication date | June 12, 2017 |
| Publication place | United States / Israel |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | 132 (English), 120 (Hebrew) |
| ISBN | 978-1546831242 |
| Website | palhistory |
A History of the Palestinian People: From Ancient Times to the Modern Era is an empty book by Assaf Voll that uses blank pages to suggest that Palestinians have no history.[1] It has continued to circulate on social media among the Israeli right-wing.[2]
It was published in paperback and digital formats in 2017, and most of its contents are blank pages.[3] The book rose in Amazon.com's best-selling titles in the category of "Israel and Palestine History", reaching second place[a] before it was pulled from sale by Amazon. Its publication has been described as a "cruel joke".[4] The incident has been said to signify "the continued vitality of a more enduring political, social and cultural impulse to abrogate Palestinian history and identity – on the part of Israel, and by extension, among its Western allies."[2]
- ^ "Empty book on Palestinian history becomes instant best-seller on Amazon". Haaretz.com. 2017-06-22. Archived from the original on 2021-02-05. Retrieved 2021-11-21.
The argument used by the Israeli right seems to imply that a group may only call itself "a people" if it has always existed, which is false because all peoples have at one point or another come into being.
- ^ a b Holman, Zoe (2020). "A National Museum for a People without a Land". Art of Minorities: Cultural Representation in Museums of the Middle East and North Africa. Alternative Histories. Edinburgh University Press. pp. 151–152. ISBN 978-1-4744-4379-1. Archived from the original on 2023-04-10. Retrieved 2021-11-21.
The book was removed from Amazon's site soon afterwards, but continued to circulate to abundant glee in the chambers of social media, with the applause in the chambers of social media, with the applause emanating predominantly from the right of the Israeli political spectrum. Though a short-lived source of public titillation, the incident signified the continued vitality of a more enduring political, social and cultural impulse to abrogate Palestinian history and identity – on the part of Israel, and by extension, among its Western allies. Such a tradition was aptly articulated more than thirty years ago in Edward Said's observation that 'the Palestinian narrative has never been officially admitted to Israeli history, except as that of "non-Jews", whose inert presence in Palestine was a nuisance to be ignored or expelled.'
- ^ Peled, Daniella (6 October 2017). "How a new museum tells Palestine's story". Prospect. Archived from the original on 3 July 2021. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
- ^ Kovalik, Dan (2021). Cancel This Book: The Progressive Case Against Cancel Culture. Hot Books. p. 200. ISBN 978-1-5107-6499-6. Archived from the original on 2023-04-10. Retrieved 2021-11-21.
Not content to merely wipe out the Palestinian people, Israel is also bent on destroying their cultural heritage, even going so far as to claim that the Palestinians have no heritage or history of their own to begin with. Indeed, a book last year which quickly shot to number one in Amazon's "Middle East History" category, before being pulled from the website, was A History of the Palestinian People: From Ancient Times to the Modern Era by Israel author Assaf Voll. This book, which purposes to be "the comprehensive and extensive review of some 3,000 years of Palestinian history," consisted of 120 blank pages – a cruel joke attempting to show that the Palestinians have no history.
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