In our last episode of The Verso Podcast before the winter break, our host Eleanor Penny is joined by Israeli historian, and activist Ilan Pappé, to discuss the false histories upon which the modern state of Israel is founded. We are of course still working on bringing you more of these in depth discussions with our wonderful Verso authors in our upcoming fourth series, but in the meantime we hope you enjoy this vitally relevant discussion with such an outspoken and incisive Israeli political dissident.

At the start of Israel’s current assault on Gaza, the media was rife with misinformation about the nature of Hamas’ incursion, the events immediately leading up to it, the supposed justifications of Israel’s bombardments, and the histories that set the stage for the devastation we are witnessing now. In the 14 months since, Israel has quietly rolled back on some of these claims, whilst continuing to stand by other convenient mythologies. 

This pattern is nothing new. As Ilan has been highlighting for decades myth and misinformation was always foundational to the modern state of Israel, and its false histories have been used to whitewash, distract from, or justify not just land grabs - but apartheid and an active genocide. Together with Eleanor Penny, Ilan spoke about settler colonialism, liberal zionism, and the role of historians cutting through the media noise - as well as Lord Balfour’s anti-semitism and the pitfalls of the Two State Solution.

Ilan Pappé is an Israeli historian, writer and socialist activist. He is a professor with the College of Social Sciences and International Studies at the University of Exeter, director of the university's European Centre for Palestine Studies, and co-director of the Exeter Centre for Ethno-Political Studies. His books include The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, The Idea of Israel: A History of Power and Knowledge, and lastly Ten Myths About Israel, which has recently been reissued and updated by Verso Books (https://www.versobooks.com/en-gb/products/370-ten-myths-about-israel). 

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Myths about Israel | Ilan Pappé

Today we're posting a trailer for OVERSHOOT, an exciting new series forthcoming from our friends over at Planet B Productions. OVERSHOOT is hosted by Laurie Laybourn, author of Planet on Fire: A Manifesto for the Age of Environmental Breakdown, published by Verso Books. 
 
In 2015, the world agreed to limit global heating to 1.5°C. Ten years later, temperatures are spiralling beyond this and climate chaos is wreaking havoc across the globe. 

In this major four-part series, host Laurie explores how the world ended up here and uncovers the huge misconceptions and the high-tech fantasies that hold us back. And we meet people with the ideas to navigate what comes next, from protesting pensioners to climate negotiators, Pacific islanders to pre-eminent scientists.

Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. For essays and bonus content, sign up at overshootpod.com or follow @overshootpod on social media.

Writer and presenter: Laurie Laybourn
Researcher: Ben Shread-Hewitt
Production coordination: Daniel Norman
Script consulting: Daniel Trilling
Sound design and mix: Ben Heyderman and James Fox
Original music by Haniell
With special thanks to Aaron Thierry, Mirte Boot, James Dyke, Henry Throp, Stephen Backhouse

Overshoot: Navigating a world beyond 1.5°C (trailer)

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Contact: Stacey-jo@insideouttalent.com   


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