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sydapel's review against another edition
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: Violence, Murder, and Colonisation
Moderate: Genocide, Gun violence, Religious bigotry, War, and Deportation
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: Death, Genocide, Islamophobia, Colonisation, and War
Minor: Confinement and Torture
deenmachine's review
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: Genocide, Colonisation, and War
zombiezami's review against another edition
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: Child death, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Gaslighting, Colonisation, War, Classism, and Deportation
Moderate: Death of parent and Injury/Injury detail
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: Child death, Death, Genocide, Violence, Grief, Murder, Colonisation, and Classism
rorikae's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
5.0
The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917-2017 by Rashid Khalidi is an essential book for anyone interested in learning more about Palestine. Khalidi breaks down a hundred years worth of history into digestible chapters that explore different historical moments (many of violence) in Palestine. From Britain’s colonial project to the creation of the State of Israel to the Nakba and Trump declaring Jerusalem the capital of Israel, Khalidi explores each important moment with care and personal reflection. As someone who has deep ties to Palestine and saw some of these moments firsthand, Khalidi’s commentary is important and necessary. I think everyone should read this book to be more informed about what is happening in Gaza.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Violence, Grief, Colonisation, and War
jiao_li's review against another edition
dark
informative
slow-paced
2.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Genocide and War
krispyyk's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
4.5
Great introduction to the history of Palestinian resistance with an emphasis on global engagement, policy, and media coverage. Mostly read like a history book, but the addition of direct experiences recounted by the author helped demonstrate the actual effects of policy and politics. I particularly appreciated the dialogue on the influence that US citizens have, it gives me hope that better days are coming for Palestinians with this new wave of American media attention
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Violence, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Murder, Colonisation, and War
Moderate: Child death and Religious bigotry
almostqualified's review against another edition
challenging
informative
slow-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation
Moderate: Genocide, Violence, and War