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4.51 AVERAGE
4.51 AVERAGE
challenging
informative
slow-paced
Took a while for me to get through but I think that's more of my own fault than an issue with the book. Overall very informative and thought-provoking.
challenging
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
informative
slow-paced
challenging
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
This was a deeply thought-provoking book which challenges the prevailing narrative about Palestine, centering it as the subject of a century-long war of colonization. The author seeks to inform the reader about the immense military might brought against an indigenous people who have been denied civil and human rights solely because of their birth identity and location. Though the text is very well researched and opened my eyes to a great many details, events, and consequences I was unaware of, Khalidi's arguments are remarkably selective in ways which undermine his scholarship, and the text itself feels awkwardly contained by its organizational structure.
Given that the topic at large, and this book as a part of that discourse, is unbelievably controversial and heated, I think it's worth noting my approach to reading related materials. For as long as I can remember, my understanding of other's perspectives has always been driven primarily by writing, and secondarily by extended conversation. In myself and others, I've always been able to more meaningfully understand, consider, and converse through written word. In many ways, books (and to a limited extent, long-form social media) have been my map for navigating difficult topics and finding where I stand. In high school, undergraduate, and graduate school, I read at least one book by each major political candidate. Following the Ferguson protests, which occurred just as I was coming into my own as a teenager and developing critical thinking skills, I deep-dived on books about the criminal justice system. In these cases, I didn't agree with everything (and sometimes, hardly any) that I read - Trump and Clinton, Harris and Vance, Marx and Ramsey, etc. - but I understood other perspectives much better. I plan on doing the same for this issue, and anticipate it will be a lifelong process of reading, reflecting, revising my thinking, and repeating.
Khalidi's primary premise is that beginning with the Balfour Declaration, Palestine has been subjected to over 100 years of warfare. This century can be divided into six conflicts, each of which has a distinct declaration (such as the Balfour Declaration or the Oslo Accords) and generally a specific conflict (such as the Six Days' War or the Second Intifada). This framework emphasizes the violence conducted against Palestine, which reinforces Khalidi's broader thesis, but it sometimes feels like a stretch. Some chapters lack specific documents, and other documents feel stretched to fit the narrative setup he establishes. This isn't to say there hasn't been a century of war waged on Palestinians - Khalidi makes this clear in a compelling argument - but the organization of the text is stretched a little too thin for me.
In addition, Khalidi's depiction of this warfare is somewhat misdirected. Rather than the book detailing the actual conflicts, they focus far more centrally on the political circumstances which led to and were used to justify these conflicts. The text is far more interested in intellectual history than military history, more politics than personal vignettes. This is totally fine - once I was aware that was the approach I enjoyed it more - but the organizational structure which emphasizes violent conflict doesn't quite match the object of Khalidi's attention (and best-written passages).
I felt the book got stronger as it went on, as Khalidi's narrative of a people subject to constant, escalating violence, particularly against civilians, solidifies with the passage of time and occurrence of disturbing hostilities. The first half of the book was much tougher to get through, as Khalidi noted that warfare against the Palestinian people was happening, but opted not to detail it, choosing instead to focus on political and intellectual developments at the root of such fighting. For all I learned about the political apparatus allowing and prosecuting this violence, I learned far less about the violence itself than I expected. The second half really takes off, though, allowing your scaffolded knowledge about the political actors to contextualize more specifically defined military actions. Beginning with the section about the Israel-Lebanon War, Khalidi takes more care to explain the violence his political narrative centers upon. It strengthens both the text itself and his arguments.
Apart from my textual frustrations with the book's organization and mismatched structure/emphasis, I felt Khalidi's argument was quite good at times and weak at others. His core idea - that violence against Palestine is fundamentally colonialist in nature and is routinely used against civilian populations - is excellently argued, particularly in the back half of the book. He writes compellingly about massacres of unarmed civilians, especially children, which dispel ideas of simple self-defense and have heartbreaking echoes in the mass murder of children even still. On the other hand, he routinely sidesteps instances of violence conducted by Palestinian or Palestinian-affiliated organizations. While he mentions airplane hijackings and the infamous Olympics attack, he does not detail them at all or consider how they fit within his own context of 100 years of war. A belated consideration of the use of suicide bombing by pro-Palestinian agents emphasizes the negative media consequences, rather than their impact on the conflict, their targeting of civilians, or the rationalization for their use by the bombers themselves. Such omissions of detail and failures to address this type of violence weakens his argument - not just from a "But Hamas targets civilians, too" angle, but more importantly because these actions constitute meaningful parts of the discourse on this topic, both in principle and in action.
At the same time, Khalidi argues that violence by Palestinians or those who support them (nominally, at least) has been deeply overemphasized while routine, disporportionate, and American-faciliated violence against civilians by the Israeli military has been ignored or even justified. Such a lens does provide a rationale for ignoring or sidestepping these events in Khalidi's narrative, but it's a rationale I disagree with. Certainly Khalidi is right - that American media downplays violence against Palestinians and overplays violence by Palestinians - but a history of a thing is different than a news broadcast of a thing. I wish there was a more comprehensive, cognizant argument than the one Khalidi lays out.
I could probably talk about the book for a long, long time, and it deserves that level of attention. Sections about internal conflict with the PLO and Yasser Arafat, given Khalidi's inside knowledge, are especially illuminating (though his bias is also quite evident in these sections). Overall, I found it a challenging, important book which contributes meaningfully to scholarship on the issue but should not be the only book you read on the topic. I certainly think it is a more advanced text and requires a knowledgeable familiarity on Middle Eastern history to appreciate. Because some parts of his argument are much stronger than others, having some awareness before you begin reading also helps you identify the areas where he is brushing past something. Like with any broader discourse, this book is best understood as one perspective, with valuable insights worth digging into, but far from perfect. I would recommend the book to my friends Carter and Matt.
Finally, if you have books you'd recommend on the topic, from any perspective - whether Israeli or Palestinian, militant or diplomatic, neutral or opinionated - I'd be very interested to hear. I may not read it soon, but this is an issue I'd like to continue learning about and meaningfully engaging with.
Given that the topic at large, and this book as a part of that discourse, is unbelievably controversial and heated, I think it's worth noting my approach to reading related materials. For as long as I can remember, my understanding of other's perspectives has always been driven primarily by writing, and secondarily by extended conversation. In myself and others, I've always been able to more meaningfully understand, consider, and converse through written word. In many ways, books (and to a limited extent, long-form social media) have been my map for navigating difficult topics and finding where I stand. In high school, undergraduate, and graduate school, I read at least one book by each major political candidate. Following the Ferguson protests, which occurred just as I was coming into my own as a teenager and developing critical thinking skills, I deep-dived on books about the criminal justice system. In these cases, I didn't agree with everything (and sometimes, hardly any) that I read - Trump and Clinton, Harris and Vance, Marx and Ramsey, etc. - but I understood other perspectives much better. I plan on doing the same for this issue, and anticipate it will be a lifelong process of reading, reflecting, revising my thinking, and repeating.
Khalidi's primary premise is that beginning with the Balfour Declaration, Palestine has been subjected to over 100 years of warfare. This century can be divided into six conflicts, each of which has a distinct declaration (such as the Balfour Declaration or the Oslo Accords) and generally a specific conflict (such as the Six Days' War or the Second Intifada). This framework emphasizes the violence conducted against Palestine, which reinforces Khalidi's broader thesis, but it sometimes feels like a stretch. Some chapters lack specific documents, and other documents feel stretched to fit the narrative setup he establishes. This isn't to say there hasn't been a century of war waged on Palestinians - Khalidi makes this clear in a compelling argument - but the organization of the text is stretched a little too thin for me.
In addition, Khalidi's depiction of this warfare is somewhat misdirected. Rather than the book detailing the actual conflicts, they focus far more centrally on the political circumstances which led to and were used to justify these conflicts. The text is far more interested in intellectual history than military history, more politics than personal vignettes. This is totally fine - once I was aware that was the approach I enjoyed it more - but the organizational structure which emphasizes violent conflict doesn't quite match the object of Khalidi's attention (and best-written passages).
I felt the book got stronger as it went on, as Khalidi's narrative of a people subject to constant, escalating violence, particularly against civilians, solidifies with the passage of time and occurrence of disturbing hostilities. The first half of the book was much tougher to get through, as Khalidi noted that warfare against the Palestinian people was happening, but opted not to detail it, choosing instead to focus on political and intellectual developments at the root of such fighting. For all I learned about the political apparatus allowing and prosecuting this violence, I learned far less about the violence itself than I expected. The second half really takes off, though, allowing your scaffolded knowledge about the political actors to contextualize more specifically defined military actions. Beginning with the section about the Israel-Lebanon War, Khalidi takes more care to explain the violence his political narrative centers upon. It strengthens both the text itself and his arguments.
Apart from my textual frustrations with the book's organization and mismatched structure/emphasis, I felt Khalidi's argument was quite good at times and weak at others. His core idea - that violence against Palestine is fundamentally colonialist in nature and is routinely used against civilian populations - is excellently argued, particularly in the back half of the book. He writes compellingly about massacres of unarmed civilians, especially children, which dispel ideas of simple self-defense and have heartbreaking echoes in the mass murder of children even still. On the other hand, he routinely sidesteps instances of violence conducted by Palestinian or Palestinian-affiliated organizations. While he mentions airplane hijackings and the infamous Olympics attack, he does not detail them at all or consider how they fit within his own context of 100 years of war. A belated consideration of the use of suicide bombing by pro-Palestinian agents emphasizes the negative media consequences, rather than their impact on the conflict, their targeting of civilians, or the rationalization for their use by the bombers themselves. Such omissions of detail and failures to address this type of violence weakens his argument - not just from a "But Hamas targets civilians, too" angle, but more importantly because these actions constitute meaningful parts of the discourse on this topic, both in principle and in action.
At the same time, Khalidi argues that violence by Palestinians or those who support them (nominally, at least) has been deeply overemphasized while routine, disporportionate, and American-faciliated violence against civilians by the Israeli military has been ignored or even justified. Such a lens does provide a rationale for ignoring or sidestepping these events in Khalidi's narrative, but it's a rationale I disagree with. Certainly Khalidi is right - that American media downplays violence against Palestinians and overplays violence by Palestinians - but a history of a thing is different than a news broadcast of a thing. I wish there was a more comprehensive, cognizant argument than the one Khalidi lays out.
I could probably talk about the book for a long, long time, and it deserves that level of attention. Sections about internal conflict with the PLO and Yasser Arafat, given Khalidi's inside knowledge, are especially illuminating (though his bias is also quite evident in these sections). Overall, I found it a challenging, important book which contributes meaningfully to scholarship on the issue but should not be the only book you read on the topic. I certainly think it is a more advanced text and requires a knowledgeable familiarity on Middle Eastern history to appreciate. Because some parts of his argument are much stronger than others, having some awareness before you begin reading also helps you identify the areas where he is brushing past something. Like with any broader discourse, this book is best understood as one perspective, with valuable insights worth digging into, but far from perfect. I would recommend the book to my friends Carter and Matt.
Finally, if you have books you'd recommend on the topic, from any perspective - whether Israeli or Palestinian, militant or diplomatic, neutral or opinionated - I'd be very interested to hear. I may not read it soon, but this is an issue I'd like to continue learning about and meaningfully engaging with.
Bleak and tedious at times but important and eye opening!
If someone wrote a piece of fiction with the same story beats as the history of Israel readers would complain that its unrealistic, that's how comically evil it is.
slow-paced
This is a more academic read, and I would recommend doing at least some basic research on the history of Palestine if you don’t already have some knowledge of its history before diving into this book. This is told from a Palestinian perspective from the author and his families history.
This was a really informative read, and really highlighted the perspectives of colonialism against an indigenous population and external powers such as the US and Britains enablement of the dispossession of the Palestinian people over the last century.
*listened to the audiobook
This was a really informative read, and really highlighted the perspectives of colonialism against an indigenous population and external powers such as the US and Britains enablement of the dispossession of the Palestinian people over the last century.
*listened to the audiobook
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
challenging
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
I think this is one of the best possible introductions to any topic I have ever read. Highly recommend this to anyone as Khalidi interweaves his own family history and personal stories with the broader history of the Palestinian people and that, in and of itself, makes the book worth reading.
challenging
informative
slow-paced