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A review by deeb_reads
The Hundred Years' War on Palestine by Rashid Khalidi
challenging
informative
medium-paced
4.0
I don't read a lot of historical nonfiction, but I thought that the subject of this book is an important topic to read up on given the current invasion of Gaza and the brain-numbing discourse in the Western world surrounding Israel and Palestine.
Khalidi is very thorough and provides a hundred years of historical context, which helps deepen readers' understandings of more recent events. One of the ways that popular discourse seeks to misinform people about Israel/ Palestine is by simply ignoring the history leading up to this current moment-- mainly, complaining that Palestinians are too militant and are uninterested in diplomatic solutions, without providing the decades of history where the Israelis violently attacked Palestinians or how diplomatic solutions have almost always proven to be disadvantageous to Palestine. It's kind of slow to read and there are a lot of names, especially at first, but I guess that is to be expected from a history text.
The more recent chapters I found especially enlightening, about the First and Second Intifadas, as well as Israel's attacks on Lebanon. These events are relatively recent but seem to be either ignored or misunderstood by most Americans. In the later chapters, Khalidi's analysis on the state of Gaza and the rise of Hamas are particularly relevant, and they provide a more complex picture on why a religious fundamentalist militant group would gain power. (In large part, because of the failure of other more moderate political groups.)
I also enjoyed Khalidi's own personal and family stories about the events of the book. Khalidi personally witnessed some of these historical events, such as the bombing of Lebanon, and he at some points advised Palestinian leaders in the diplomatic process. His anecdotes about his experiences and the various personalities involved help bring the historical narrative down to a human level.
This book is of course a heavy read, but I appreciated Khalidi's thorough research, clear writing, personal anecdotes, and overall, an ending that insists that another way is possible.
Khalidi is very thorough and provides a hundred years of historical context, which helps deepen readers' understandings of more recent events. One of the ways that popular discourse seeks to misinform people about Israel/ Palestine is by simply ignoring the history leading up to this current moment-- mainly, complaining that Palestinians are too militant and are uninterested in diplomatic solutions, without providing the decades of history where the Israelis violently attacked Palestinians or how diplomatic solutions have almost always proven to be disadvantageous to Palestine. It's kind of slow to read and there are a lot of names, especially at first, but I guess that is to be expected from a history text.
The more recent chapters I found especially enlightening, about the First and Second Intifadas, as well as Israel's attacks on Lebanon. These events are relatively recent but seem to be either ignored or misunderstood by most Americans. In the later chapters, Khalidi's analysis on the state of Gaza and the rise of Hamas are particularly relevant, and they provide a more complex picture on why a religious fundamentalist militant group would gain power. (In large part, because of the failure of other more moderate political groups.)
I also enjoyed Khalidi's own personal and family stories about the events of the book. Khalidi personally witnessed some of these historical events, such as the bombing of Lebanon, and he at some points advised Palestinian leaders in the diplomatic process. His anecdotes about his experiences and the various personalities involved help bring the historical narrative down to a human level.
This book is of course a heavy read, but I appreciated Khalidi's thorough research, clear writing, personal anecdotes, and overall, an ending that insists that another way is possible.