The Hundred Years' War on Palestine

A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917--2017

By: Rashid Khalidi

Narrated by: Fajer Al-Kaisi, Rashid Khalidi - introduction

Length: 10 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

This program includes an introduction read by the author.

A landmark history of 100 years of war waged against the Palestinians from the foremost US historian of the Middle East, told through pivotal events and family history.

In 1899, Yusuf Diya al-Khalidi, mayor of Jerusalem, alarmed by the Zionist call to create a Jewish national home in Palestine, wrote a letter aimed at Theodore Herzl: the country had an indigenous people who would not easily accept their own displacement. He warned of the perils ahead, ending his note, “in the name of God, let Palestine be left alone.” Thus Rashid Khalidi, al-Khalidi’s great-great-nephew, begins this sweeping history, the first general account of the conflict told from an explicitly Palestinian perspective.

Drawing on a wealth of untapped archival materials and the reports of generations of family members - mayors, judges, scholars, diplomats, and journalists - The Hundred Years' War on Palestine upends accepted interpretations of the conflict, which tend, at best, to describe a tragic clash between two peoples with claims to the same territory. Instead, Khalidi traces a hundred years of colonial war on the Palestinians, waged first by the Zionist movement and then Israel, but backed by Britain and the United States, the great powers of the age. He highlights the key episodes in this colonial campaign, from the 1917 Balfour Declaration to the destruction of Palestine in 1948, from Israel’s 1982 invasion of Lebanon to the endless and futile peace process.

Original, authoritative, and important, The Hundred Years' War on Palestine is not a chronicle of victimization, nor does it whitewash the mistakes of Palestinian leaders or deny the emergence of national movements on both sides. In reevaluating the forces arrayed against the Palestinians, it offers an illuminating new view of a conflict that continues to this day.

Cover photograph © Amnon Bar Or--Tal Gazit Architects Ltd

©2020 Rashid Khalidi (P)2020 Macmillan Audio

Eye opening... Heart breaking...

Finished the book in 2 days. Couldn't stop listening. very educational! Narration was great and I really enjoyed it.

Incredibly insightful, excellent overview

This is an excellent overview of Palestine’s history. Full of facts on the fallacies that allowed Israel’s military occupation begin. A hopeful read. Free Palestine.

Excellent

Overall, this is an excellent book that every American should read. The author clearly has a bias and been personally affected by the conflict, but he tries (generally quite successfully) to be even handed.

He points out faults on all sides, including the Palestinian, PLO, and Hamas leadership, lack of support and infighting among other Arab states, along with Israel and the USA.

In a few cases he avoids inconvenient truths. Starting the story in 1917 avoids an analysis regarding a prior “state” of Palestine. In other cases he does not mention key factors, I suspect because (from the Palestinian perspective) they are too obvious to be mentioned, such as UN resolution 181 being passed without a single Islamic majority country voting yes (which seems to me was inherently unfair). Although the author strives to fairly present the facts, he seems to express some moral outrage at Israeli and US immortality, while treating Hamas immortality as unwise, imprudent, and unsuccessful in the long run. Nevertheless, this is a reasonably fair presentation of facts surrounding the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

The narration is excellent.

Magnum Opus!

If one is trying to understand how history brought us to this moment, start here

A clear presentation of the facts, with a logical interpretation of those facts

This really helped me understand some of the Israel-Palestine issues that are most bogged down by propaganda. It also provided a pragmatic solution for peace, which felt achievable.

A history ignored

I first became aware of the Israeli land grab and persecution of the Palestinians back in the mid-1980's. I also have Lebonese friends whose families escaped the Israeli assaults by becoming American citizens. Then there is the issue of how Israel has never really been an ally to the US and their attack on the USS Liberty their sharing our secrets with Russia, they are ungrateful recipients of tremendous amounts of official & unofficial aid (I refer to Israel was our supreme Welfare Queen), and then there is their constant interference in our Democracy / Elections and bribing our Leaders. And should I forget how they drag us into the Middle East problems of their own making.

This is purely a critic of the Israeli Government and the Zionist movement, not of the Jewish / Hebrew people.
It is good the world is becoming aware of the truth.

Apartheid 101

This book could and should be taught in schools one day when discussing colonialism, apartheid, slow ethnic migration and the many forms of oppression of an entire indigenous population can take.

I just wish this book was shortened as a lot of the historical details may not be of interest to the general population. The Palestinian cause requires better PR: a shorter more accessible book that the general audience can pick up and get introduced to the history of apartheid in Palestine. Otherwise this is a great resource.

An important summary of the Palestinian experience

This was a Thorough review of important events from a perspective too often overlooked. The author does not shy away from acknowledging the failures and shortcomings of Palestinian leadership, or that of the other neighbouring Arab countries, while nonetheless focussing on the great injustices done to those people by Israel and it’s Alice.

Outstanding historical

Anyone who wants to learn about Israel and Palestine should read this comprehensive masterclass. Very thorough and explains is the current situation.

Excellent Work

The book is excellent. The voice narrator did a good job reading and has a pleasant vocal cadence. However his pronunciation of Arabic words is quite puzzling. He is proficient at producing the sounds of Arabic letters, but somehow 90% of the Arabic words, even the most basic and well known, are almost irrrecognizably mispronounced. It’s very strange.