Ilan Pappé, founder and director of the European Centre for Palestine Studies at Exeter University and author of The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, is a leading member of the generation of so-called "new historians", who have profoundly revolutionised our knowledge about the history of Palestine, Zionism and the State of Israel. In view of his academic career and commitment to understanding the dramas and conflicts tearing the Middle East apart, this meeting is of undeniable importance. The US President's recent recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital makes this topic even more poignant.