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rachelfayreads's review
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Islamophobia, Violence, Antisemitism, War, Colonisation, and Xenophobia
bergha1998's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
sad
slow-paced
4.0
This is a heavy and important book. It was hard to see how many lies I’d been told as an American and just fully believed until October of 2023. I really liked the personal stories mixed in by the author; they did an excellent job of framing it in humanity better than if the whole book was just focused on the history.
History, Warfare and Colonialism
“The surest way to eradicate a people’s right to their land is to deny their historical connection to it.”
History, Warfare and Colonialism
“The surest way to eradicate a people’s right to their land is to deny their historical connection to it.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Xenophobia, Colonisation, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Racism, Police brutality, Genocide, Religious bigotry, Child death, Death, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Gore, Grief, and War
amandakitz's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
Rashid Khalidi's history of the occupation in Palestine demonstrates his skills as a scholar as well as the importance of proximity to the conflict to bypass propaganda. Israel and the U.S. had strengths not only in sheer military force in the region but in their PR and propaganda campaigns, turning the world against the Palestinian cause. Khalidi's work counters that narrative skillfully through personal experience, interviews, scholarship, and proximity to the conflict.
Through the eyes of Khalidi, whose family, friends, and homeland in the Occupied Territories and in the diaspora were impacted severely by the Israeli occupation, we see an accounting of history from someone who has lived it. In his accounts of his father's and his own work in the UN and the contacts he had with the Fatah and the PLO, we see that he is not merely writing through personal experience as a Palestinian nor through pure scholarship as a leading historian in Palestinian Studies, but also as an advisor and envoy in peace talks with key leaders and politicians throughout the latter decades of the conflict. The personal, professional, and scholarly influences on his perspective form a well-rounded, clear picture of the situation and the factors at play.
Khalidi's writing style is far from dry and makes the complicated history of various Palestinian resistance groups and organizations easy to follow. The book was extremely well-organized, well-researched, and well-written, a masterclass in providing depth of scholarship without compromising accessibility. For those beginning the work of seeking the truth behind the propaganda, this is an excellent book I can easily recommend.
Through the eyes of Khalidi, whose family, friends, and homeland in the Occupied Territories and in the diaspora were impacted severely by the Israeli occupation, we see an accounting of history from someone who has lived it. In his accounts of his father's and his own work in the UN and the contacts he had with the Fatah and the PLO, we see that he is not merely writing through personal experience as a Palestinian nor through pure scholarship as a leading historian in Palestinian Studies, but also as an advisor and envoy in peace talks with key leaders and politicians throughout the latter decades of the conflict. The personal, professional, and scholarly influences on his perspective form a well-rounded, clear picture of the situation and the factors at play.
Khalidi's writing style is far from dry and makes the complicated history of various Palestinian resistance groups and organizations easy to follow. The book was extremely well-organized, well-researched, and well-written, a masterclass in providing depth of scholarship without compromising accessibility. For those beginning the work of seeking the truth behind the propaganda, this is an excellent book I can easily recommend.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia, Genocide, Colonisation, Religious bigotry, Violence, War, and Islamophobia
Crucial history of war necessarily contains descriptions of war, and crucial history of violent oppression and colonization necessarily contains descriptions of colonial violence, oppression, intentionally targeting civilians, and genocidal rhetoric, policies, and military campaigns. Engage with the understanding that, depending on your background, additional self-care and pacing may be required.kaiyakaiyo's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
5.0
Extremely informative, disheartening at times, but ultimately an essential read. I knew the US govt was a dirty greedy world-eating snake willing to sell itself for oil and control, but this book taught me just how far presidents, secretaries of state, etc. were willing to go, and how much they are willing to lie to everyone involved to get what they wanted. It’s been evident that “President of the United States” essentially translates to “untried war criminal” in many ways but… Jesus fucking Christ.
Not a single one of those bastards deserves the pot they piss in. Dead or alive, every president since 1917 has either actively assisted in or callously funded from afar Israel’s assault on Palestinians and their land. Full stop, there is no way to extricate US presidents and their cabinets from the blood on their hands and their responsibility for the ongoing conflict. Joe Biden is just another bloodsoaked ninny in a long tradition of them. What a spineless freak
The outright acknowledgement in direct quotes and memoirs of how Britain, the US, and Israel worked together to try & erase Palestinians from the face of the earth made me sick to my stomach. Liars, frauds, cheats, and murderers; a veritable fucking buffet of the worst people on earth
The explanation of Palestinian movements and the battle between ego/leadership politics & the needs of the people was really interesting. as with any liberation story, the big name figures are a mixed bag of failures and successes; their best effort wasn’t always enough to help Palestinians, and sometimes directly harmed them. The author is very frank, but largely unbiased in his indictment of the PLO/PA.
Khalidi was present for many of the events in this book, and does his best to give a full account, without being clinical. He feels, he laments, he indicts, but he gives all the facts he has access to while doing so. I prefer that to commentary devoid of emotion in the pursuit of “logic”, because why should a Palestinian man forced to sit through meetings stripping his kin of their peoplehood, having lived through expulsions, sieges, and bombardments just to be met with willful ignorance from the US and taunting from Israeli officials, be limited to cold, clinical retelling? the man is rightfully fucking frustrated & emotion doesn’t negate the sense of his arguments. his bristling frustration, disappointment, and fear of what is to come for his people teems underneath his words, and paints an even more telling picture of the state of Palestinians throughout the history he lays out. His hope shines through the conclusion of this book; as he lays out what he considers the most logical path towards resolution, you can feel him yearn for the day Palestine is free of Israel’s yoke. You cannot read this book without being moved by the emotions alongside the meticulous historical record.
I am angry but also hungry for more information but also at a loss as to how to help from the inside of a country so deeply committed to sucking Israel off for access to the Middle East. more reading to come as I try to process this in a productive way & stop figuring out how to hit Joe with a bigger shoe
Not a single one of those bastards deserves the pot they piss in. Dead or alive, every president since 1917 has either actively assisted in or callously funded from afar Israel’s assault on Palestinians and their land. Full stop, there is no way to extricate US presidents and their cabinets from the blood on their hands and their responsibility for the ongoing conflict. Joe Biden is just another bloodsoaked ninny in a long tradition of them. What a spineless freak
The outright acknowledgement in direct quotes and memoirs of how Britain, the US, and Israel worked together to try & erase Palestinians from the face of the earth made me sick to my stomach. Liars, frauds, cheats, and murderers; a veritable fucking buffet of the worst people on earth
The explanation of Palestinian movements and the battle between ego/leadership politics & the needs of the people was really interesting. as with any liberation story, the big name figures are a mixed bag of failures and successes; their best effort wasn’t always enough to help Palestinians, and sometimes directly harmed them. The author is very frank, but largely unbiased in his indictment of the PLO/PA.
Khalidi was present for many of the events in this book, and does his best to give a full account, without being clinical. He feels, he laments, he indicts, but he gives all the facts he has access to while doing so. I prefer that to commentary devoid of emotion in the pursuit of “logic”, because why should a Palestinian man forced to sit through meetings stripping his kin of their peoplehood, having lived through expulsions, sieges, and bombardments just to be met with willful ignorance from the US and taunting from Israeli officials, be limited to cold, clinical retelling? the man is rightfully fucking frustrated & emotion doesn’t negate the sense of his arguments. his bristling frustration, disappointment, and fear of what is to come for his people teems underneath his words, and paints an even more telling picture of the state of Palestinians throughout the history he lays out. His hope shines through the conclusion of this book; as he lays out what he considers the most logical path towards resolution, you can feel him yearn for the day Palestine is free of Israel’s yoke. You cannot read this book without being moved by the emotions alongside the meticulous historical record.
I am angry but also hungry for more information but also at a loss as to how to help from the inside of a country so deeply committed to sucking Israel off for access to the Middle East. more reading to come as I try to process this in a productive way & stop figuring out how to hit Joe with a bigger shoe
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Murder, Violence, and Colonisation
Moderate: Gun violence and Xenophobia
sydapel's review
challenging
informative
slow-paced
So glad I could make this my final book of 2023. I'm not saying that you need context or history to feel strongly about what's happening in Gaza right now, but the framework of how we've arrived at this deeply tragic moment is shown in excellent detail in this book. I admit that I was lost in many chapters (there's a lot of names and places that I couldn't keep straight), but I came away from it with more of a background on Palestine, it's people and their resistance to the Israeli occupation. I also want to briefly state that the author has done a very good job of noting the missteps that Palestinian leadership has taken since 1948, both as a result of their own ignorance and of their oppression.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Colonisation, and Violence
Moderate: Gun violence, Deportation, Genocide, War, and Religious bigotry
crybabybea's review against another edition
challenging
informative
slow-paced
5.0
Well researched and detailed. Rashid Khalidi offers a unique perspective as somebody whose family has been involved in Palestinian political activism for decades, and whose uncle was an active member of the United Nations and the Reform Party's representative on the Arab Higher Committee. Khalidi presents archives of his uncle's work and research, his own experience in negotiations and activism, and other anecdotal evidence from his peers and colleagues. The combination of sources used makes for a very thorough and persuasive analysis of Palestinian history.
In The Hundred Years' War on Palestine, Khalidi makes the argument that Palestine has been under siege from different opposing forces (but all connected to Zionism) since the Balfour Declaration in 1917. He explains how Zionism, with help from not only the Western powers, but further powered from the failure of the USSR and other Arab nations, resulted in an ongoing, hundred-year-long war against Palestine and its people.
I appreciated Khalidi's expansive analysis, and the fact that he attempted to check his own biases by explaining how Palestinian leaders and leaders of other Arab nations failed to take the necessary moves to help Palestine and its people. He also thoroughly explored just how severely the Palestinian people were set up to fail by powers around the world, and were never given a fighting chance or any authority over their future. I also thought it was interesting how Khalidi touched on how class differences affected the future of Palestine, as those of a higher class in Palestine and other Arab nations somewhat abandoned the Palestinian cause in favor of their own safety and privilege.
The actual text is quite dry and academic, made worse by my severely lacking knowledge of West Asia, its history, and its leading figures (I was googling something every 2 sentences), which made for very slow reading, but I believe the knowledge I gained thanks to the incredible research done by Rashid Khalidi makes up for the struggle I had.
In The Hundred Years' War on Palestine, Khalidi makes the argument that Palestine has been under siege from different opposing forces (but all connected to Zionism) since the Balfour Declaration in 1917. He explains how Zionism, with help from not only the Western powers, but further powered from the failure of the USSR and other Arab nations, resulted in an ongoing, hundred-year-long war against Palestine and its people.
I appreciated Khalidi's expansive analysis, and the fact that he attempted to check his own biases by explaining how Palestinian leaders and leaders of other Arab nations failed to take the necessary moves to help Palestine and its people. He also thoroughly explored just how severely the Palestinian people were set up to fail by powers around the world, and were never given a fighting chance or any authority over their future. I also thought it was interesting how Khalidi touched on how class differences affected the future of Palestine, as those of a higher class in Palestine and other Arab nations somewhat abandoned the Palestinian cause in favor of their own safety and privilege.
The actual text is quite dry and academic, made worse by my severely lacking knowledge of West Asia, its history, and its leading figures (I was googling something every 2 sentences), which made for very slow reading, but I believe the knowledge I gained thanks to the incredible research done by Rashid Khalidi makes up for the struggle I had.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Islamophobia, Death, War, and Genocide
Minor: Confinement and Torture
christinesmith205's review against another edition
challenging
informative
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, War, and Violence
deenmachine's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.75
Thoroughly researched, fair, and nuanced history of modern Palestine. The inclusion of Khalidi's family history was really engaging. The book is critical of all parties, when warranted -- the US and Israel obviously, but also the PLO and other Palestinian leadership, other Arab countries, and Palestinians themselves -- so it felt like a really fair assessment. The book was published a couple years ago but it's chilling how accurately he predicted the events going on today. I feel like this book gave me a great foundational understanding. Took me a while to get through because I was annotating and absorbing so much but it's worth it.
If you are new to this history the book is accessible but dense, and sometimes makes assumptions about your prior knowledge. I did find myself occasionally using Wikipedia to get the basic understanding of certain events (like the six day war) before reading Khalidi's interpretation.
If you are new to this history the book is accessible but dense, and sometimes makes assumptions about your prior knowledge. I did find myself occasionally using Wikipedia to get the basic understanding of certain events (like the six day war) before reading Khalidi's interpretation.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, War, and Genocide
zombiezami's review
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.0
A bit dry, but very important information. I like how the author included his own experiences and family history in the narrative.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Hate crime, Racism, Torture, Confinement, Classism, Xenophobia, Death, Murder, Religious bigotry, Gun violence, Violence, Genocide, Police brutality, Colonisation, Gaslighting, Child death, Deportation, Grief, and Islamophobia
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Death of parent
Minor: Rape and Sexual assault
alexisgarcia's review against another edition
dark
informative
sad
medium-paced
5.0
an incredibly important book, especially right now. this gave a comprehensive look into the history of Palestine, most of which i wasn’t incredibly familiar with.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide, Colonisation, Murder, Child death, Classism, Death, Grief, and Violence