ISRAEL NEVER WANTS PEACE Ilan Pappé RIPS Into Israel’s History at Oxford Union Debate

Historian Ilan Pappé argues against the motion that Israel has ever genuinely sought peace with the Palestinians during an Oxford Union debate. Pappé presents Zionism as a colonial project, arguing that its establishment and continuation involved violence, coercion and British imperial support. He also describes modern Israel as an apartheid state, citing assessments by human rights organisations, and argues that Palestinian demands for democracy and self-determination were systematically suppressed, culminating in what he describes as the ethnic cleansing of 1948. Pappé concludes by urging the audience to reject the idea that Israel has sought peace and frames the issue as a moral choice over whether to remain complicit or stand on what he calls the “right side of history”. The claims and characterisations in this video reflect Pappé’s arguments during the debate.