The Hundred Years' War on Palestine

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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 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.

The Vanishing Half

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It was a solid and fun read. The blurb and the string of accolades the book has received promised quite a bit that the book only partially delivered on. The theme of identical twins choosing different lives across color lines is too complicated, aspects of which I thought were dealt with in a rather perfunctory way.

How the twins grow up and form their personalities and how they diverge ostensibly contrary to their personalities was worked out well I thought, but then the novel focuses a little bit too much on certain aspects of the twins' lives to the detriment of everything else: Stella on living lies, especially with regards to her daughter; Desiree on a sense of loss. Each of the main characters, i.e. the twins, their parents, and their daughters are very sophisticated by definition, yet only certain aspects of their characters were played out in the novel.

The denouement in particular was a bit rushed after dragging on with the denials by Stella without going deep into her mental struggles or giving the reader the space to appreciate it. All in all, a fun read, though.

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The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy

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This book looks at the special relations between the US and Israel, including the US aid and arms transfer to Israel, putting that in context by comparing its dollar value as well as its no-strings-attached nature to the US relations to other nations. It then dives deeper into the rationale behind this exorbitant flow of tax-payer's money, considering the strategic alliance and the moral case of the US supporting Israel to the extent it does, and invalidates said justifications, arguing that Israel is becoming more of strategic liability to the US and the moral case is dwindling.

In search of the true reason, the book introduces the Israel lobby. It defines the lobby as "the loose coalition of individuals and organizations that actively work to shape US foreign policy in a pro-Israel direction". It includes organizations such as American Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), by far the most well-known, but also Anti-Defamation League (ADL), Conference of Presidents, and Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), to name a few; but also a host of individuals who shape public discourse by writing op-eds, putting pressure on university administrations and such.

There's been a clear distinction made between the lobby, which is not an organized central effort, and the American Jewry on the one hand, and the American public opinion on the other, showing myriad examples in which the policies favored by the lobby differed from either. Then in painstaking detail, a host of examples are shown in which the lobby influenced American policy through, especially in the Middle East, especially the hawkish sentiments inside the beltline against Syria, Iraq, and Iran, in particular; and the war on Iraq very specifically.

The book is very well-research and extensive, citing a variety of sources. While this adds to the scholarly credibility of the book, I found it somehow detracts from its readability. For each point made, there is example after example supporting it, with extensive notes to back up the presented examples. In that sense, it feels more of an expanded journal article than a book. I understand the draft version of the book was indeed a journal article, the authors decided to expand into a book, and tried to address criticism they received, by among others presenting a host of examples for each point they made. As a layperson reading the book, I found that rather unnecessary.

Being factual, the book cites a lot of examples with details and being written in 2006, many examples were from before the time I started following the issue and hence did not direct context on them. I would have loved to be reading a newer version of the book, where it cites examples I remember from the time they were happening. Having said that, I would say the book has aged very well, in that the arguments presented are as relevant and valid today as they were at the time the book was first written. It is indeed very depressing to realize, reading this two decades later, that the US policy has not shifted from its course and the adverse effects the book is cautioning against continue happening and have in face come to a head as I write this.

In short, I found the book top-notch scholarly work, well reasoned and abundantly documented and referenced in excruciating detail. It's a must-read for anyone interested in American politics, foreign policy, and international relations; Israel, or Palestine, despite being twenty years old now.