Biden spotted with controversial Palestine history book
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On Black Friday, President Joe Biden was seen exiting a Nantucket bookstore carrying a controversial book that critiques Israel’s establishment as a colonial endeavor. During his visit to Nantucket Bookworks, the 82-year-old president was photographed with “The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonial Conquest and Resistance, 1917-2017,” authored by Columbia University professor emeritus Rashid Khalidi.
Biden was seen holding The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonial Conquest and Resistance, 1917-2017 by Columbia University professor emeritus Rashid Khalidi at a local bookshop.
The book harshly criticizes what it describes as the Zionist movement's… https://t.co/N13QD7SqI0 pic.twitter.com/7UVs8Cmaiu
— Melissa Hallman (@dotconnectinga) November 30, 2024
When contacted about Biden’s choice of reading material, Khalidi commented that the president’s interest came “four years too late.” A vocal critic of American policies regarding Palestine and Israel, Khalidi has previously criticized Donald Trump’s administration as being Israel’s “mouthpiece” and condemned Benjamin Netanyahu’s leadership as the most extreme in Israeli history.
Published in 2020, Khalidi’s scholarly work employs various historical documents and firsthand accounts to present Israel’s establishment as a colonial project that displaced indigenous Palestinians. In the book, Khalidi states, “[T]he modern history of Palestine can best be understood in these terms: as a colonial war waged against the indigenous population, by a variety of parties, to force them to relinquish their homeland to another people against their will.”
The author’s son, Ismail Khalidi, responded more aggressively on social media platform X, demanding, “Hey, @JoeBiden, get my father’s book out of your blood-soaked hands, you genocidal maniac.”
Hey, @JoeBiden, get my father's book out of your blood soaked hands, you genocidal maniac. https://t.co/Ud9vsVhRU3
— Ismail Khalidi (@IsmailKhalidi) November 30, 2024
This literary choice appears to contrast with Biden’s publicly stated positions. At a recent meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Biden declared, “You don’t have to be a Jew to be a Zionist. I’m a Zionist.” He has consistently supported providing military aid to Israel and rejected accusations of genocide, stating at a White House event, “What’s happening in Gaza is not genocide. We reject that.”
Whether the book was purchased or gifted remains unclear. Following the bookstore visit, Biden joined his children Hunter, 54, and Ashley for a meal at Brotherhood of Thieves before attending the island’s Christmas tree lighting festivities.
