This is a history book that is fact-heavy, copiously footnoted with references to back up the points and historical events it alludes to. Yet, it reads smoothly and is definitely engaging and riveting, peppered with the author's first-hand experiences, in the region, in the UN, and in the US. The
author definitely has a knack for composing literary prose, which makes it easier to work your way…mehrThis is a history book that is fact-heavy, copiously footnoted with references to back up the points and historical events it alludes to. Yet, it reads smoothly and is definitely engaging and riveting, peppered with the author's first-hand experiences, in the region, in the UN, and in the US. The author definitely has a knack for composing literary prose, which makes it easier to work your way through this otherwise rather heavy, dry, and at times difficult and contested subject matter. It's accessible to the general public with limited previous knowledge, though demanding to read.
In a relatively short couple hundred pages, a great deal of history is packed in this work, starting from the late 19th century beginnings of Zionism as a project in Europe, all the way to 2019, and the US foreign policy under Donald Trump. The narrative is punctuated by various wars conducted on Palestinians during this period such as the ones in 1982, 1967, and 1948, among others, involving carnage; but also turning points in the dispossession of Palestinians, such as the Balfour Declaration, UN resolutions 181, 242, etc.; how the whole process of the settler colonialism of Palestine was aided and abetted by its patrons, i.e. the UK in its early stages, and the US in its later stages; and how various streams of Palestinian leadership were incompetent, ignorant, unable to lead negotiations or to further the cause of Palestinian liberation. The book is a scholarly work written by a clear-headed historian, and the fact that it has been written way before Oct 7, 2023 and spans a period of over a century adds to the value it brings to understand the current catastrophe ongoing in the region.
I found this compact book very illuminating, putting the events of the past decade or so that I have followed in real time in historical context and gave it more texture and exposed patterns of dispossession repeating over and over again. It stands up very well to the scrutiny that this type of scholarship is subjected to and very well written. It might very well be the most comprehensive yet short introduction on the subject, detailing the settler colonial conquest of Palestine and how its resistance has been futile but unwavering.
