The Hundred Years' War on Palestine
A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917–2017
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Summary
In "The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine," Rashid Khalidi weaves a tapestry of resilience and resistance through the lens of Palestinian history. This compelling narrative reimagines a century-long struggle not merely as a territorial dispute but as a relentless colonial campaign marked by the interventions of powerful nations. Anchored in unpublished archives and the intimate recollections of his own family, Khalidi challenges widely held perceptions and invites readers to witness the enduring spirit of a people caught in the crossfire of geopolitics. This book stands out as an essential voice, offering profound insights into the complexities of Middle Eastern history with clarity and empathy.
Introduction
In the spring of 1899, a remarkable exchange of letters took place between two men who would never meet face to face, yet whose correspondence would illuminate the fundamental nature of a conflict that continues to this day. Yusuf Diya al-Khalidi, the former mayor of Jerusalem and a man of extraordinary learning, wrote to Theodor Herzl, the founder of modern Zionism, with a prescient warning that would prove tragically accurate. While acknowledging the historical connection of Jews to Palestine, al-Khalidi delivered a stark message: "in the name of God, let Palestine be left alone." His letter contained a simple yet profound observation that would echo through the decades: "Palestine is inhabited by others" who would never accept being supplanted. This exchange reveals the colonial essence of what would become a century-long struggle over Palestine. Through six pivotal moments spanning from 1917 to the early 2000s, we witness how great powers repeatedly intervened to reshape the fate of an indigenous population, each intervention constituting what can only be understood as a declaration of war on the Palestinian people. The story that unfolds is not merely one of competing nationalisms, but of a systematic colonial project backed by successive global powers, from Britain to the United States. This historical examination serves anyone seeking to understand how colonial projects operate in the modern world, how indigenous populations resist displacement, and why certain conflicts prove so intractable. It offers essential context for comprehending contemporary Middle Eastern politics and the ongoing struggle for justice in Palestine.
Colonial Foundations: From Balfour Declaration to Nakba (1917-1948)
The transformation of Palestine from an Arab-majority land into the foundation of a Jewish state began not with military conquest, but with a carefully worded diplomatic document. The Balfour Declaration of November 2, 1917, represented the first formal declaration of war on the Palestinian people by a great power. In sixty-seven words, British Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour promised to facilitate "the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people," while relegating the existing Arab population—then 94 percent of the inhabitants—to the status of "existing non-Jewish communities" whose rights were merely "civil and religious," not national or political. This linguistic sleight of hand reflected a deeper colonial logic. The Zionist movement, having failed to secure Ottoman or German patronage, had finally found its great power sponsor in wartime Britain. The declaration was not an act of altruism but of imperial calculation, serving British strategic interests in controlling a vital corridor to India and the Suez Canal. As Balfour himself admitted in a confidential 1919 memo, the powers had "made no statement of fact which is not admittedly wrong, and no declaration of policy which, at least in the letter, they have not always intended to violate." The interwar period witnessed the systematic implementation of this colonial project through the League of Nations Mandate system. The 1922 Mandate for Palestine went far beyond the Balfour Declaration, granting the Zionist movement quasi-governmental powers through the Jewish Agency while denying any such recognition to the Palestinian majority. Seven of the Mandate's twenty-eight articles were devoted to facilitating Jewish immigration and settlement, creating what amounted to a state within a state. Meanwhile, Palestinian demands for representative institutions and self-determination were consistently rejected, as they would have threatened the entire colonial enterprise. The Nakba of 1948 was not the result of a war between equals, but the culmination of decades of colonial preparation. While Palestinian society remained fragmented and leaderless after the crushing of the Great Revolt, the Zionist movement had built a sophisticated para-state with its own military, economy, and diplomatic apparatus. By the war's end, over 750,000 Palestinians had been driven from their homes, their property confiscated by the new Israeli state, leaving only fragments of their homeland under Arab control.
Occupation and Resistance: Six-Day War to Lebanon Invasion (1967-1982)
The third declaration of war emerged from the aftermath of Israel's stunning victory in June 1967. The Six-Day War, launched with American approval against Arab states that posed no real threat to Israel's existence, completed the conquest of historic Palestine. More significantly, it marked the beginning of a new phase in the colonial project: the systematic settlement and annexation of the remaining Palestinian territories. Security Council Resolution 242, crafted primarily by the United States, represented this third declaration of war through its systematic erasure of Palestinian national rights. The resolution treated the conflict as purely a state-to-state matter between Israel and the Arab countries, reducing Palestinians to a "refugee problem" requiring humanitarian rather than political solutions. By failing to mention Palestinians by name or acknowledge their national rights, Resolution 242 provided international legitimacy for their continued dispossession. The post-1967 period witnessed the emergence of a new Palestinian resistance movement, centered on the Palestine Liberation Organization. The PLO's rise represented a paradox: Israel's military victory had inadvertently resurrected Palestinian nationalism by demonstrating the inability of Arab states to liberate Palestine. Organizations like Fatah and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine emerged from the refugee camps and universities, offering a new generation of Palestinians the promise of armed struggle and eventual return. Yet the PLO's strategy of armed resistance from neighboring Arab countries proved ultimately counterproductive. The movement's presence in Jordan led to the 1970 civil war and its expulsion, while its role in Lebanon's civil war from 1975 onward created new enemies and vulnerabilities. The 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, designed by Defense Minister Ariel Sharon to destroy the PLO once and for all, succeeded in expelling Palestinian forces from Beirut but at enormous cost. The siege of the Lebanese capital, broadcast live on television worldwide, damaged Israel's international image while inadvertently shifting the center of gravity of the Palestinian movement back to the occupied territories themselves.
Failed Peace and Intifadas: Oslo Deception to Gaza Wars (1987-2014)
The First Intifada, erupting spontaneously in December 1987, marked a fundamental shift in Palestinian resistance strategy. Unlike the armed struggle of previous decades, this uprising was largely nonviolent, grassroots-driven, and took place within Palestine itself. The images of Palestinian youth confronting Israeli tanks with stones created a powerful new narrative that challenged Israel's carefully cultivated image as a perpetual victim. The intifada's success lay not in military achievements but in its political impact. For the first time since 1948, Palestinians had seized the initiative and forced the world to confront the reality of military occupation. The uprising demonstrated that the status quo was unsustainable, that a new generation of Palestinians would not accept permanent subjugation, and that Israel's "enlightened occupation" was a myth. Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin's orders to "break bones" only highlighted the brutal nature of Israeli control. Yet this moment of Palestinian strength was squandered through a series of strategic miscalculations by the PLO leadership. The Oslo Accords, signed in 1993, promised Palestinian self-rule in exchange for recognition of Israel and renunciation of armed resistance. In reality, they created a Palestinian Authority with responsibility for governing a captive population while Israel retained control over borders, resources, and security. The "interim" arrangements were designed to become permanent, with final status negotiations perpetually deferred. The Second Intifada, which erupted in 2000 following the collapse of final status negotiations, took a dramatically different form from its predecessor. Unlike the largely nonviolent First Intifada, this uprising featured extensive use of suicide bombings against Israeli civilians, provoking massive Israeli retaliation. The period from 2000 to 2014 witnessed the fragmentation of Palestinian politics, with Hamas challenging Fatah's dominance, and Israel's imposition of increasingly severe restrictions on Palestinian movement and development, particularly in Gaza, which became the target of three major military assaults that left much of the territory in ruins.
Contemporary Struggle: Trump Era and Future of Palestine
The election of Donald Trump in 2016 marked a decisive shift in American policy toward Palestine, abandoning even the pretense of neutrality that had characterized previous administrations. Trump's team, led by his son-in-law Jared Kushner and including bankruptcy lawyer turned ambassador David Friedman, openly embraced Israeli positions while systematically dismantling decades of established American policy. The recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, the closure of Palestinian diplomatic missions in Washington, and the endorsement of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights signaled that the United States had effectively become Israel's advocate rather than a mediator. This transformation reflected broader changes in American politics, where evangelical Christian support for Israel and major donors' influence had created an environment where challenging Israeli policies became increasingly difficult. The Trump administration's "Deal of the Century," unveiled in 2020, offered Palestinians limited autonomy in disconnected enclaves while legitimizing Israeli annexation of large portions of the West Bank, representing perhaps the most brazen attempt yet to formalize Palestinian dispossession under the guise of peace. Meanwhile, Palestinian society faced unprecedented challenges as the traditional two-state solution appeared increasingly impossible. Israeli settlements had grown to over 600,000 people in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, creating facts on the ground that made territorial partition extremely difficult. The Palestinian Authority had become a permanent fixture that many Palestinians viewed as collaborating with occupation rather than resisting it, while Hamas's control of Gaza had created a divided Palestinian polity. The period also witnessed the emergence of new forms of Palestinian resistance, particularly the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement that sought to pressure Israel through economic and cultural isolation. Student activism on American campuses and growing criticism of Israeli policies in mainstream media suggested that the narrative battle over Palestine was far from over. However, these developments occurred against the backdrop of regional upheaval that had weakened traditional Palestinian allies while strengthening the alliance between Israel and authoritarian Arab regimes that viewed Iran as a greater threat than Israeli occupation.
Summary
The century-long war on Palestine reveals the enduring power of colonial logic in the modern world. From the Balfour Declaration through the Oslo process, each supposed solution to the Palestine question has actually deepened Palestinian dispossession while providing international legitimacy for the colonial project. The pattern is consistent: great powers intervene not to resolve the conflict but to manage it in ways that serve their strategic interests and those of their Israeli ally. This history demonstrates that colonial projects do not simply impose themselves through force alone, but require sophisticated legal, diplomatic, and narrative frameworks to sustain themselves over time. The transformation of Palestine from an Arab land into a Jewish state was accomplished through international law, UN resolutions, and peace processes as much as through military conquest. Each intervention by external powers has served to further entrench Palestinian subjugation while presenting it as progress toward peace. The Palestinian experience offers crucial insights for understanding contemporary struggles against colonialism and injustice worldwide. It shows that indigenous peoples can maintain their identity and aspirations across generations of displacement and oppression, that resistance takes many forms beyond armed struggle, and that the most dangerous moments often come when oppressors offer the appearance of concessions while deepening their control. For anyone seeking to understand how power operates in the modern world, this century-long struggle provides essential lessons about the gap between the rhetoric of international law and the reality of power politics.
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By Rashid Khalidi
