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theseusfall's review against another edition
I'm going to revisit this later. I cannot get past the beginning without the words floating around and It's clear I need another text about this before I start with this one to try and understand whats going on in the middle east at the moment.
dcalacci's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Packed with argument for why Palestine struggled to formalize / organize into a state structure. An in depth, nuanced narrative that gave me much needed complex background on the history of palestinian governance and its international role. Busted wide open the simplistic “free Palestine” narrative that I know as a leftist. helped me understand how colonial pressures and international disenfranchisement played against dysfunctional leadership to astoundingly fail a people that deserve dignity and self determination. It’s an academic book, so it assumes quite a bit of reader knowledge on basic events surrounding Palestine.
antony_monir's review against another edition
4.0
The Iron Cage by Rashid Khalidi is a very levelheaded book about the failure of Palestinians to form a state before and after the formation of the state of Israel. What is peculiar about this book is that Khalidi focuses on the actions of Palestinians as well as their shortcomings. Yet, this is done without blaming the victims as is done so often by other historians, mainly with a given agenda. Palestinians are not to blame for having their land encroached upon by a superior force. Yet, they can definitely be questioned for their failure throughout the years to produce a solid governmental apparatus when they had the chance to do so. The book looks at the history of the Palestinian conflict starting from the British Mandatory period and going until the date of publication (about 2006). Khalidi is absolutely right in his analysis that the Palestinian leadership has often failed the people, from the Great Mufti to the Yasser Arafat. Despite what these people did to invigorate the fighting spirit of the people, they are worthy of criticism with regards to their ability to organize a mass movement. The Mufti’s shortsightedness to support the Germans during WW2 as an act of resistance to the British led to a deterioration of the image of the Palestinian movement. Similar mistakes were made by the PLO and its leadership under Arafat. These mistakes and their failure to build a state during the decades after 1967 had made the Palestinian people lose faith in Fateh and “peaceful” option. This directly led to the election of Hamas which further deteriorated the image of the Palestinian movement. What is peculiar about this book is its clarity of analysis. Khalidi does not blame anyone in particular for the situation and he does not dwell on the methods used by the Israelis to build their state. While denouncing the war crimes committed by the Israeli forces, Khalidi also observes that the Israelis had a plan and actual ideas for the creation of a Jewish nation in Palestine, something that cannot be said for the Palestinians. Of course, he does not disregard the conditions that give such a massive advantage to the Israelis such as better monetary inflows as well as superior international support (particularly from the UK and the US). Finally, Khalidi looks at the future possibilities for the conflict by analyzing the two outcomes that are most often discussed: the two-state and the one-state options. He analyzes the consequences of each of these two options and outlines clearly what they would mean to the Israelis and the Palestinians. As usual, Khalidi is very clear in his writing and makes solid arguments throughout the book. To sum it all, this book looks at an important aspect of the Palestinian struggle for independence that is often under-discussed (usually because of the inability of some to admit that the Palestinians are partially responsible for their own fate) and it is very much an important book. A must read for a balanced analysis of the situation in Palestine, even if it is dated. 4/5.
lilly71490's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
premxs's review against another edition
4.0
This was a hard book to read. Not simply because it's a thorough, academic work but because the egoistic and imperialist causes that have such severe repercussions for the Palestinian people are laid bare here. This is uniquely presented as emanating not just from Israel and the US, but the Palestinian leadership too, at the cost of the common people. The historical research is meticulously done, and for the most part, explained with clarity. There is a vast cache of important information to be gleaned here, but it'd help to have a good amount of background on this complex conflict, or you'll spend half your reading time looking up relevant information, like I did.
My issue with this book, however, is that for what is ostensibly a scholarly work, there were some parts that made me uncomfortable with their coded linguistic biases. The Holocaust and subsequent exodus of Jews are often passed off as 'events,' undercutting the gravity of what happened. And the way some of the historical barrage is framed comes off as the author being annoyed that the Zionists found a 'convenient' excuse for mass migration towards 'Palestinian lands' - these sections comes off as apathetic at best, and echoing anti Semitic conspiracies at worst. A lot of this is softened or balanced in the later chapters (which also feels tonally inconsistent), but the initial sourness lingered. Further, the Islamist component of Palestinian nationalism is severely underplayed, which comes off as deliberately disingenuous.
Nevertheless, this is an important read to understand an inescapable part of the modern world that is critical to understand, so the world may not repeat the mistakes made.
My issue with this book, however, is that for what is ostensibly a scholarly work, there were some parts that made me uncomfortable with their coded linguistic biases. The Holocaust and subsequent exodus of Jews are often passed off as 'events,' undercutting the gravity of what happened. And the way some of the historical barrage is framed comes off as the author being annoyed that the Zionists found a 'convenient' excuse for mass migration towards 'Palestinian lands' - these sections comes off as apathetic at best, and echoing anti Semitic conspiracies at worst. A lot of this is softened or balanced in the later chapters (which also feels tonally inconsistent), but the initial sourness lingered. Further, the Islamist component of Palestinian nationalism is severely underplayed, which comes off as deliberately disingenuous.
Nevertheless, this is an important read to understand an inescapable part of the modern world that is critical to understand, so the world may not repeat the mistakes made.
upthescene's review against another edition
3.0
I have to put this on hold because I lost the book! Boo.
bradley_jf's review against another edition
2.0
When I started reading this book, I wasn't very familiar with the details of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and I felt that the book was very argumentative and aggressive. After reading more books on the subject and coming back to this one to finish it, I didn't get that impression. It could be that from Ch.6 on his writing style changed, or it could be that I understood the issue more fully and had gotten over the idea that any attack on Israel is somehow inherently bad. Where did that idea come from anyway?
The Iron Cage is by no means light reading, but it's informative reading and a good supplement to a library of books on the Arab-Israeli / Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Don't let it be your first book on the subject, though.
The Iron Cage is by no means light reading, but it's informative reading and a good supplement to a library of books on the Arab-Israeli / Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Don't let it be your first book on the subject, though.