The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: A History of Settler-Colonial Conquest and Resistance, 1917–2017
by Rashid Khalidi
It’s funny how caught up we can get in our lives where we don’t make an effort to learn more about the things that interest us. How’s that for an opening sentence? And I don’t necessarily mean it in a reprimanding way. If anything, I’m reprimanding myself. I think we would all benefit from learning more about the Israel/Palestine conflict. I’ve certainly been interested, but I only possessed a cursory knowledge. Maybe now is the time to escalate?
There’s really a plethora of books out there on the conflict (how could there not be?), and I’m glad I dipped my toes into the water with The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine. It’s surprisingly concise and focuses on key events that impacted the Palestinians for the past 100+ years. From the Balfour declaration and the impact the British had on the Zionist cause , the second declaration of war in 1947-1948, the 1967 war, the 1982 war and the invasion of Lebanon, the Oslo accords of the late 80s and early 90s, and the Israeli attacks on Gaza all throughout the early 2000s. Khalid covers these events just enough to help the reader understand what influenced the outcome. He also uses plain language which makes this a lighter read than one would expect. The book is also peppered with his own personal events and how his family had been affected by these events, which makes this book a little bit of a memoir. Khalid seems to have had close involvement in the negotiations as well so provides an insider’s perspective. According to him, the factors that have led to the current situation of the Palestinians involve lack of support from a major power, lack of unity among the Palestinian population, poor foresights on how Zionists had been organizing, lack of negotiation skills, internal corruption, and poor leadership. So really, everything.
The only aspect of this book I didn’t like very much is Khalid’s defaulting to criticism of anyone involved on the Palestinian side. He seems to know exactly how leadership should have behaved, what the correct decisions would have been, what the PLO should have done, how things should have been negotiated (wasn’t he at the table for some of this?), and how disasters could have been avoided. As if things might have turned out different if he were put in charge. He might be right, but it might also be him looking back in hindsight. I think everyone was just trying to figure things out as they happened, and truly, no one was prepared for how events were going to unfold.
The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine is an important book. It breaks down the important events in way that a laymen can understand. Aren’t we all dummies, after all? But still, I learned a lot from this book, and like I said, it was an easier read than I had anticipated. Highly recommended.
