The Hundred Years' War on Palestine: A History of Settler-Colonial Conquest and Resistance, 1917-2017

In the final chapter, Khalidi revisits each of his main themes. Khalidi underscores how narratives helped define the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and shaped public opinion around the world. Israeli propaganda has convinced many Americans and Europeans that Palestinians are anti-Semitic Muslims. Israeli government officials have framed Palestinian resistance to a Jewish nation-state as being born out of hatred of Jewish people rather than an attempt to throw off the yoke of colonialism. Khalidi believes “the propagation of this image [Palestinians as anti-Semitic Muslims] is one of the greatest achievements of Zionism” (240).

Khalidi presents a stark warning to readers. While the colonization of Palestine has so far failed, he believes that the complete expulsion of Palestinians from their homeland has become even more possible. Khalidi attributes these fears to religious nationalists and settlers dominating Israeli governments over the last several decades. These right-wing, religiously conservative government officials have called for the annexation of the West Bank, explicitly discussed the removal of Palestinians, and created policies that force Palestinians from their land, including through fake property sales and rezoning.

Khalidi suggests that there are three ways to help the broader global community, and especially the US, understand the plight of the Palestinians. First, he suggests comparing the Palestinian experience with other colonial-settler experiences, such as Indigenous peoples in the US. This approach has been especially difficult to establish with American audiences for three reasons. First, the biblical dimension of Zionism sways many evangelical Protestants toward the Israeli side. Second, many Americans view the word “colonial” in a positive manner because they associate this word with the country’s founding (the 13 original colonies). Finally, Americans associate the terms “settler” and “pioneer” with the country’s heroic westward expansion. Many do not consider how this expansion decimated Indigenous populations. Comparing Palestinians to the experiences of Indigenous peoples or Black Americans in the US is also unsuccessful because the nation has yet to fully address its own systemic racism, inequalities, and discrimination.

Second, Khalidi recommends framing the conflict in terms of the imbalance of power between Israel and Palestine; this is a characteristic of colonialism. Palestinians have struggled with this approach primarily because the superpowers have for decades supported the Zionist movement over the liberation of the Palestinians. Government officials from the superpowers, including the US, have created a narrative in which David and Goliath respectively symbolize Israel and Palestine. As a result, members of the global community believe the narrative that “Israel has constantly wished for peace, only to be rebuffed by the Palestinians (‘there is no partner for peace,’ as the phrase goes, leaving Israelis, the victims, to defend themselves against unjustifiable terrorism and rocket fire)” (242).

Finally, Khalidi believes that the issue of inequality is the most promising for reframing the global community’s perception of Palestinians. A defining feature of both Zionism and modern-day Israel is systemic ethnic discrimination. The Israeli government denies Palestinians living in Israel fundamental rights, such as the right of self-determination, access to land, and ease of movement. People living within democratic countries should be especially outraged at the conditions faced by Palestinians living in Israel since the Palestinian treatment goes against everything for which they should stand. He uses the adoption of the “Basic Law on the Jewish Nation-State” in 2018 to support this assertion. This law institutionalizes an exclusive Jewish identity for Israel. One government official who advocated for this law noted that Palestinians do “not have the right of self-determination because he is not the proprietor of the land. […] I regret to say it, but they suffer from one major defect: they were not born Jews” (244).

While Khalidi focuses on the colonial nature of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, he does not deny that “there are now two peoples in Palestine” (246). Khalidi suggests two ways to build a better future for both Israelis and Palestinians and achieve lasting peace. First, the Israeli government must remove its systemic discrimination of Palestinians. Unless Israel plans to completely expel Palestinians from their homeland, removing the unequal status quo between Israelis and Palestinians is the only way to achieve a sustainable solution.

Second, superpowers, especially the US, must reduce their influence over the conflict. To Khalidi, the Trump presidency policies made the situation worse for Palestinians. The most egregious policies included: recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and subsequent relocation of the US embassy there; endorsing Israel’s annexation of Jerusalem and the Golan Heights; and casting doubt on Palestinians’ ability to self-rule. Both Israelis and Palestinians consider Jerusalem to be the center of their culture, worship, identity, and history. Israelis and Palestinians were supposed to negotiate Jerusalem since both desired the city as their country’s capitol. These Trump-era policies steamrollered the desires of Palestinians, reinforcing both the lack of impartiality and interest by the US in creating a two-state solution. To Khalidi, these policies put Palestinians “on notice that the prospect of an independent future in their homeland was closed off and that the Israeli colonial endeavor had a free hand to shape Palestine as it wished” (250). These policies reiterate that the US especially cannot be the only mediator of this conflict.

Khalidi ends this chapter by noting that, despite the continuation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, there are many, including himself, who still desire peace. One prominent example is Zeev Sternhell who was a peace activist and advocate for Palestinian rights. In his writings, Sternhell pondered when Israelis would realize that their cruelty toward Palestinians undermines “the moral legitimacy of their national existence” (243). Here, Sternhell clearly acknowledged the systemic discrimination against Palestinians by Israelis. Khalidi underscores that equality and justice must be at the center of this quest for long-lasting peace and security.