It wasn’t until I was in Saudi Arabia on a teacher exchange that I saw the Arabian point of view in the middle east. This book helped but also created more questions for me. I understand the author’s belief that Palestine was always just a pawn in western colonization. The author’s comparison of the Palestinian conflicts with the Irish conflicts sums the story up. Neither side was perfect, but the colonizers never took the point of view of those who lived there into consideration when making decisions. Lots and lots of source material is given.

A must read for anyone interested in the history of Palestine or the middle East very well written and researched.

5 stars for a book that is both depressing and illuminating. This book tells the story of an indigenous people colonized and deprived of their own land over a 100 year period. The first colonization was by the British who conquered Palestine during World War I from the Ottoman Empire. They had issued the Balfour declaration in 1917, stating their intention to provide a national home for Jewish people in Palestine. Although 94% of the population in Palestine in 1917 was Palestinian, the declaration did not promise them the same political or national right guaranteed the Jews.
Britain then embarked on a program granting Jewish immigrants preferred status in their new colony.
Britain even armed Jewish immigrants to help suppress the great revolt against the British from 1936-1939. Britain was following an old colonial strategy of divide and rule, setting two groups against each other. It had used this strategy, before, in India, Muslim against Hindu and Ireland, Protestant against Catholic. Britain savagely suppressed the revolt, killing , wounding or exiling 10% of the adult male population. This provided the Zionist movement 2 advantages: they had a nascent military force and it greatly weakened the native population. The subsequent 1947-48 war between the Palestinians and Jewish settlers saw the Zionists win and steal land and homes from thousands of Palestinians. This theft is continuing today. Israel calls it "settlements."
The Palestinian point of view is rarely presented in the US today.
The author frequently compares the Irish rebellion of 1919-21 to the Palestinian rebellion of 1936-39. he comments that the British even used veteran "Black and Tan" soldiers of the Irish rebellion. The "Black and Tans" were renowned for their cruelty. Many of them were criminals that Britain released in return for being part of the force suppressing the Irish rebellion..
The US is actually complicit in the theft of Palestinian land, in that gives billions of dollars yearly to Israel.
There are extensive footnotes, some of which have links to documents in the public domain.
Thanks to the author and Henry Holt & Co for sending me this eARC through NetGalley.
#TheHundredYearsWarOnPalestine #NetGalley

With all the ties and history the United States has with the state of Israel, this should be required reading for all Americans. Learn about the folks that have been in Palestine for thousands of years, not just the settler-colonists that are in power. Parallels between the Palestine experience and the black and native experience in the U.S. abound. The universe can't arc toward justice fast enough for the people of Palestine.