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The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917–2017
There has been a century of war on the Palestinians by Zionists whose goal was to establish a Jewish state on their land.
More than 100 years ago, a Zionist Congress meeting in Vienna sent a delegation of several rabbis to Palestine to report back on what they saw. The rabbis telegraphed: “The bride is beautiful but she is married to another man.“
That is to say, Palestine was already settled by Palestinians who have been there for centuries. Thus the project of the Zionists was to ethnically cleanse Palestine by any means necessary.
It has taken 100 years and six declarations of war and the settler colonial project of the Zionists has been largely successful, so far. Three years ago President Donald Trump put his young son-in-law Jared Kushner in charge of American policy towards the Palestinians. Without consulting them last month Trump announced what he called “the deal of the century“.
The “deal” gave Israel large parts of the west bank of the Jordan River which embraced territory illegally conquered by Israel in the war they started in 1967 and where 600,000 Israelis have been settled since then.
The Palestinians were given several non-contiguous enclaves in the West Bank plus the Gaza Strip and told that those who were displaced in the 1947-48 War and the 1967 war could never come back to the land the Zionists claim was given to their ancestors by a God thousands of years ago. They were told they have four years to accept the offer.
We speak with Rashid Khalidi about his just published landmark history
Guest – Rashid Khalidi, Edward Said Professor of Arab Studies at Columbia University. He is also the author of Under Siege: PLO Decision Making During the 1982 War, Brokers of Deceit: How the US Has Undermined Peace in the Middle East and recently The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917–2017. Professor Khalidi’s article on the Sabra and Shatila massacre in The Nation magazine.
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Venezuelan Embassy Protection Collective Update 2020
In a violation of international law, on May 16, 2019 more than 100 police, many with military gear, invaded the embassy of Venezuela in Washington, DC and arrested four Embassy Protectors who were in the embassy with the permission of the Venezuelan government to protect it from takeover as part of a US coup against the elected Venezuelan government of Nicolas Maduro.
The United States had at that time attempted to install Juan Guida as the president of Venezuela and Guida’s right wing supporters attempted to take over the Venezuelan embassy in Washington DC. Under international law, the embassy is the property of Venezuelan government and is considered untouchable.
The US had attempted to install Juan Guaida as the president of Venezuela and on May 30th right wing coup supporters attempted to take over the Venezuelan embassy in Washington DC. This coincided with another attempted coup by Juan Guaida in Venezuela. Guaido failed in his coup attempt.
The embassy in Washington, DC is the property of Venezuela and under international law the United States must protect and is not allowed to enter it.
A group of Americans known as the Embassy Protection Collective moved into the embassy to prevent its hostile takeover. Up to 70 people were sleeping in the embassy as embassy protectors.
The State Department, Secret Service, and the Metropolitan police force allowed a pro-coup mob to lay siege on the embassy. People were blocked from entering the embassy. Food was prevented from being brought in. The electricity and water were cut off.
Although the coup against the Maduro government failed, the Embassy Protectors were arrested when the US government raided the Venezuelan embassy. The final four Embassy Protectors, Kevin Zeese, Margaret Flowers., Adrian Pine, and David Paul were arrested and face federal prosecution. If convicted they could be imprisoned up to one year and fined up to $100,000 each.
Guest – Kevin Zeese is a US lawyer and political activist. He helped organize the 2011 Occupy encampment in Washington DC. Kevin Zeese is currently the co-director of The Organization Popular Resistance.
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