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stargazerave's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.5
A read I'd call damn near essential in our current global sociopolitical climate, The Hundred Years' War on Palestine is a book that does not view the Palestinian-Israeli conflict as a matter that can be defined in black and white.
Khalidi does an exquisite job of not only elaborating and revealing the true extent of the sufferings of the Palestinian people but also acknowledging their failings and the ways they have partially contributed to their own continued colonization. The novel does not try to convince you of Palestine's innocence, nor try to demonize Israel, but instead details (from first-hand familial accounts from the author) the entire span of the conflict from the first beginnings of the Zionist movement up to the ongoing war as recent as 2014 in relative honesty. There is an inherent level of bias, as the author is Palestinian, though this doesn't stop him whatsoever from pointing out specific actions and figures in Palestinian government and negotiations and criticizing them not in a way designed to garner pity, but in a way where it feels as though he's saying, "Yeah, this is where they should've done this differently."
The best way I can summarize this novel is by quoting a portion of the rear cover of the book.
Khalidi does an exquisite job of not only elaborating and revealing the true extent of the sufferings of the Palestinian people but also acknowledging their failings and the ways they have partially contributed to their own continued colonization. The novel does not try to convince you of Palestine's innocence, nor try to demonize Israel, but instead details (from first-hand familial accounts from the author) the entire span of the conflict from the first beginnings of the Zionist movement up to the ongoing war as recent as 2014 in relative honesty. There is an inherent level of bias, as the author is Palestinian, though this doesn't stop him whatsoever from pointing out specific actions and figures in Palestinian government and negotiations and criticizing them not in a way designed to garner pity, but in a way where it feels as though he's saying, "Yeah, this is where they should've done this differently."
The best way I can summarize this novel is by quoting a portion of the rear cover of the book.
Neither a chronicle of victimization nor a whitewash of mistakes made by Palestinian leaders, The Hundred Years' War on Palestine offers both a compelling family history and an original, illuminating view of the Middle East's most intractable conflict.
All this to be said of its excellence, there is a reason it falls just short of 5 stars for me. I found myself incredibly drawn in by the beginning of this book, in fact I found it hard to stop reading it. This feeling started to dwindle however as I got to the middle/end of its pages, and the more recent descriptions of the conflict in recent years, I found my attention slipping from the subject matter more and more. There's an element of impersonality that grew for me over the course of the chapters, leaving me feeling more and more disconnected as I read more and more.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide, Colonisation, and War
neptyun's review against another edition
informative
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Sexual violence, Violence, Police brutality, and Genocide
mari1532's review
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
I listened to this book through my library via Libby.
Brief Summary: A personal family story and a historical retrospective of the colonial establishment of Israel and its impact on Palestine.
Thoughts: This is a beautifully moving and important book to read. I learned a great deal about Palestine's history. Khalidi's writing is informative and emotional.
I would highly recommend it.
Brief Summary: A personal family story and a historical retrospective of the colonial establishment of Israel and its impact on Palestine.
Thoughts: This is a beautifully moving and important book to read. I learned a great deal about Palestine's history. Khalidi's writing is informative and emotional.
I would highly recommend it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Grief, Murder, War, Colonisation, and Violence
aqtbenz's review
challenging
informative
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Violence, Death, and Suicide
zabsmad's review against another edition
challenging
informative
slow-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Racism, and Islamophobia
tashtasher's review
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Police brutality, Genocide, Gun violence, Islamophobia, Murder, War, Colonisation, Death, Grief, Racism, Religious bigotry, and Violence
smilagros's review against another edition
dark
informative
sad
tense
fast-paced
I listened to this on audio and I highly recommend reading it that way. I am very angry and very frustrated about how little I knew about what Israel and the United States did and is still doing to the Palestinian people. The United States has let Israel do whatever the fuck they want, no wonder they will never call for a ceasefire now. I wish that the Western media would stop trying to change the narrative about Israel and actually tell us the fucking truth instead of sugar coating everything.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting, Confinement, War, Murder, Violence, Colonisation, Death, Grief, and Genocide
bookdragonkatie's review
challenging
emotional
informative
slow-paced
4.5
Definitely think this is one I’ll need a physical copy of to reread and take notes. The narrator was fantastic, but it was very dense and without the ability to easily flip back and forth, I know I missed a lot of information. Still, highly recommend and believe this is an informative and necessary history for all to read and learn about.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, War, and Violence
Moderate: Racism, Religious bigotry, Islamophobia, Death, and Genocide
jengoertz's review against another edition
challenging
informative
tense
slow-paced
4.0
An in depth analysis of the events and politics that have plagued the Palestinian people over the last 100 years.
A bit dense to get through if you don't frequently read historical non-fiction, but worth the read.
A bit dense to get through if you don't frequently read historical non-fiction, but worth the read.
Content Warnings
Minor: Murder, Religious bigotry, Deportation, Xenophobia, Colonisation, and War
kbeucler's review against another edition
3.0
If you’re trying to educate yourself on the Israel/Palestine conflict, this is a good one. Khalidi begins his history in 1917 after the break up of the Ottoman empire and traces the impacts of various outside forces on the region. Khaldi breaks his survey int 6 declarations of war, or resolutions or accords that resulted in the continued colonization and oppression of the Palestinian people. This book has so much information in it. I think my main problem in reading it was that I didn’t have much background knowledge of the region. This wouldn’t be the book I would start with, if you’re trying to learn about Palestine, but it does have tons of good information.
Content Warnings
Moderate: War