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

academic but essential reading

This book gives a thorough and even-handed history of the region, and makes a clear case for the continued existence of Palestine. For too long, Israel has tried to control the narrative and present itself as the victim, but the information age has broken through to the truth of the conflict. This book also looks at how different groups claiming to support Palestinians along the way used them for their own purposes, and at the critical support that Israel receives from the U.S. in maintaining its stranglehold on the Arab population.

Even-handed history from someone who was witness to much of it

Khalidi has written the definitive one volume history of the conflict in the Holy Land. Starting the narrative 100 years ago provides the necessary context to understand what’s happening there today, and why. He skillfully avoids the spinning and propaganda which pervade so much of what is written on the subject today. The narrative is understandable and interesting. 

Palestinian narrative much needed in the west.

Khalidi weaves his personal story with that of the larger Palestinian tragedy. And offers a path for a sustainable peace.

Biased recounting of history

If you are looking for an objective, unbiased accounting of this ongoing conflict, keep looking. Very disappointing. The narrater is good though.

Eye opening !!

Well written and documented account of events that also is objective of the mistakes, faults and violations of retribution. The suffering & loss of human life over displacement and beliefs in causes and how colonization has a disastrous cost to humanity

Refreshing Point Of View.

It’s a book written by the people that have been there or have intimate knowledge of what’s really going on. Not just what the media wants us to know. I appreciated that the writer did not gloss over the a Palestinian and other Arab leaders role in the situation. That said all the information of inequality and mistreatment made it hard to get through easily. I had to take mental health breaks.

An essential book for anyone wanting to understand Palestine

I gained an enormous amount of understanding of the conflict between Palestine and Israel. This book is not overly academic in its rendering of a complex history, therefore readable by most. Highly recommend this book.

Amazing book

Amazing book on the history of Palestine and the details of what happened there. Must read for anyone wanting to gain more knowledge about the situation.

Deeply informative, and important

A beautifully written, and well performed important book that details the struggles of the Palestinian people in the face of the twin evils of colonialism and zionism. Exceedingly well researched. This book is deeply pertinent to understanding how the colonialist apartheid state of Israel came to be, and why it needs to fall for peace and safety of all inhabitants of the region.

Very informative

Excellent book. Well written and the narrator was great. Very informative and useful. I recommend strongly.