When, early on, Shavit links the replacement of one people (Palestinians) with another (Jews) closely to the phrase "change becomes inevitable", there is a frightening historical determinism in the link. Shavit, former peace activist and head of the Israeli Association of Civil Rights and current contributor to the Haaretz newspaper, is an eloquent representative of liberal Zionism and he reveals some of its inner contradictions. He recounts the expulsion of 70,000 Arab residents from Lydda and the massacre of civilians in a mosque there in 1948, describing it as part of the darker side of Zionism. But he says it is "an inevitable phase of the Zionist revolution that laid the foundation of the Zionist state". This smacks of ends justifying means, the logic being: we acknowledge that it happened, now "get over it" (which he tells the Palestinians). This is a national and a personal story and is beautifully written but, if this is how an educated Israeli liberal thinks, what hope is there of a meaningful peace?
