As the festive spirit of Black Friday swept across America, President Joe Biden seemed to be indulging in a different kind of shopping.
As reported by The New York Post, the President was spotted exiting Nantucket Bookworks, a local bookstore, with a copy of The Hundred Years War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917-2017 in his possession.
Penned by Rashid Khalidi, a professor emeritus at Columbia University, the book paints Israel as a colonial power, facing off against Palestinian resistance. According to Gateway Pundit, Khalidi's work is seen as an anti-Israel narrative. In an essay for The Guardian titled A new abyss: Gaza and the hundred years war on Palestine, Khalidi argues that the conflict initiated by Hamas with its October 7 massacre is merely a new phase in a bigger conflict, rather than a terrorist attack on civilians involving kidnapping and rape as a weapon of war.
In his book, Khalidi asserts, "Events in Palestine since 1917 resulted from a multi-stage war waged on the indigenous Palestinian population by great power patrons of the Zionist movement a movement that was both settler colonialist and nationalist, and which aimed to replace the Palestinian people in their ancestral homeland. These powers later allied with the Israeli nation-state that grew out of that movement. Throughout this long war, the Palestinians have fiercely resisted the usurpation of their country. This framework is indispensable in explaining not only the history of the past century and more, but also the brutality that we have witnessed since 7 October."
Khalidi, who announced his retirement in 2024, was a vocal supporter of anti-Israel protests at Columbia University. However, he seemed unimpressed by Biden's apparent endorsement of his book, stating it was four years too late.
In a statement to The New York Post, Khalidi said, I do not speak to the Post (or the Times for that matter), so this is not for publication, but my reaction is that this is 4 years too late. The Post did not agree to any terms conditioning that response as off the record or on background.
It remains unclear whether Biden purchased the book or received it as a gift during his visit to the bookstore. This event occurred after he and his son, Hunter Biden, dined with first daughter Ashley Biden and other family members at the Brotherhood of Thieves restaurant, ahead of the islands annual Christmas tree-lighting ceremony. The President's choice of reading material raises questions about his stance on the Israel-Palestine conflict, a topic of significant importance in international relations.
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