The surest way to eradicate a people’s right to their land is to deny their historical connection to it.
page 34, The First Declaration of War, 1917-1939
This book was in my to-be-read queue and my library hold list for a while. There was a long wait for this book due to the number of holds on it which considering current events is not surprising. The library system in fact ordered more copies to meet demand which was not enough. There are currently 201 holds and 34 copies. I think they need a few more copies.
Having finished the book, I can see why this book is in such high demand. It is a meticulously researched and well written history of the war on Palestine. The book goes through several significant moments in the history of Palestine all the way from 1917. It uses both accounts from diplomats and his own experiences as a Palestinian residing in Beirut during the Israeli invasion.
The author demonstrates clearly how ultimately the success of the Zionist movement in Palestine was kickstarted by British imperialism (and specifically Bloody Balfour) and how British support enabled the initial settlers to make their foothold permanent. Also demonstrated is how after the end of WW2, this sort of collaboration transitions from the much weakened British Empire to the United States of America.
Because of this knowledge, because of American backing for Israel and tolerance of its actions, its supplies of arms and munitions for use against civilians, its coercion of the PLO to leave Beirut and refusal to deal directly with it, and its worthless assurances of protection, the 1982 invasion must be seen as a joint Israeli-US military endeavor–their first war aimed specifically against the Palestinians. The United States thereby stepped into a position similar to that played by Britain in the 1930s, helping to repress the Palestinians by force in the service of Zionist ends. However, the British were the leading party in the 1930s, while in 1982 it was Israel that called the tune, deployed its might, and did the killing, while the United States played an indispensable but supporting role.
page 162, The Fourth Declaration of War, 1982
The book also explores the failures and successes of various Palestinian resistance movements with a focus on the PLO and what tactics it employed throughout the years. It is in some ways frustrating to read about the various mistakes that were made by resistance movement leaders in the past but it also is a lesson in what doesn’t work.
The book ends on a hopeful note pointing at the fact that the arc of history is never set in stone and that the US dominance over the region is not forever. I now consider this book a must read for anyone interested in the Palestinian struggle. As always with these non-fiction reviews, I’ll leave y’all with one final quote.
In the face of the heavy odds against them, however, the Palestinians have shown a stubborn capacity to resist these efforts to eliminate them politically and scatter them to the four winds. Indeed, more than 120 years after the first Zionist congress in Basel and over seventy years after the creation of Israel, the Palestinian people, represented on neither of these occasions, were no longer supposed to constitute any kind of national presence. In their place was meant to stand a Jewish state, uncontested by the indigenous society that it was meant to supplant. Yet for all its might, its nuclear weapons, and its alliance with the United States, today the Jewish state is at least as contested globally as it was at any time in the past. The Palestinians’ resistance, their persistence, and their challenge to Israel’s ambitions are among the most striking phenomena of the current era.
page 237-238, A Century of War on the Palestinians