The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine

Review by Ruhama Bekele

The short:

An intimately written historical analysis of Palestinian history and social development in the eyes of a Palestinian academic.

The long:

Khalidi’s The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine follows the development of Palestinian political and social life since the issuance of the Balfour Declaration in 1917. To Khalidi, the conflict is not merely a series of isolated incidents but a prolonged struggle marked by systematic dispossession and resistance. Khalidi intricately weaves together his personal experiences as a refugee and his academic analysis of Israeli-Palestinian history to create a comprehensive retelling of the past 100 years in Palestine.

To read or not to read:

An absolute must-read! Having been born in exile to a Jerusalem family months after the establishment of Israel, Khalidi’s perspective on the ongoing struggle is incredibly eye-opening. Rather than removing the reader from history like most historical analyses, his personal experiences in each phase of the “Hundred Years’ War” place the reader in the shoes of a Palestinian living under a constant threat of violence.