Massimalismo territoriale e protesta nella storia del conflitto israelo-palestinese

The paper discusses the political significance and historical accuracy of maps that visualize competing historical claims about the land of Palestine, with specific emphasis on maps that have recently been the object of debate or criticism. After an initial overview of the role played by cartographic representations of ancient Israel and of the land of Palestine in the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the paper presents the recent debates on the “Disappearing Palestine” map series and on the resurgence of visual representations of “greater Israel” promoted even by official Israeli social media account. By discussing the historical accuracy of these representations and the political agendas that they (and their critics) intend to promote, it confutes some of the criticism levelled against the visual representation of the Palestinian loss of land since the Mandate, and provides a critical outlook into the role of scientific objectivity in the cartographic representation of intractable conflicts.