The Iron Cage, Rashid Khalidi
The Iron Cage, Rashid Khalidi
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The Iron Cage
The Story of the Palestinian Struggle for Statehood

Author: Rashid Khalidi

Narrator: Shawn K. Jain

Unabridged: 9 hr 32 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 08/20/2024


Synopsis

At a time when a lasting peace between the Palestinians and the Israelis seems unattainable, understanding the roots of their conflict is an essential step in restoring hope to the region. In The Iron Cage, Rashid Khalidi provides a lucid context for the realities on the ground today, a context that has been, until now, notably lacking in our discourse.

The story of the Palestinian search to establish a state begins in the mandate period immediately following the breakup of the Ottoman Empire, when fledgling Arab states were established by the colonial powers with assurances of eventual independence. But the British had already begun to construct an iron cage to hem in the Palestinians. The Palestinians' struggle intensified in the stretch before and after WWII, when colonial control of the region became increasingly unpopular, population shifts began with heavy Jewish immigration from Eastern Europe, and power began to devolve to the US. In this crucial period, Palestinian leaders continued to run up against the walls of the ever-constricting iron cage. They proved unable to achieve their long-cherished goal of establishing an independent state—a critical failure that set a course for the decades that followed. Rashid Khalidi's engrossing narrative of this torturous history offers much-needed perspective for anyone concerned about peace in the Middle East.

About Rashid Khalidi

Rashid Khalidi is the author of Palestinian Identity, Brokers of Deceit, and The Iron Cage, among others. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, and many other journals. He is the Edward Said Professor of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University in New York and editor of the Journal of Palestine Studies.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Senior on April 08, 2015

The Israeli / Palestinian conflict is always in the newspapers and the US always supports Israel. I figured it couldn't be this black and white. After reading "Lawrence in Arabia" I wanted to read more about the Balfour Declaration and the origins of Israel. After some research, I turned to Rashid K......more

Goodreads review by Phoenix on August 07, 2018

Disappointing. Only Fragments of Truth In the Introduction (pp xxxiii) Khalidi claims that the invading Arab armies, except for Egypt, did not cross into the territory designated by the U.N. as Israel. So begins a series of dissembling remarks that permeates this book, Firstly one should note that al......more

Goodreads review by Kraychik on October 27, 2012

Typical blame game from an anti-Israel mouthpiece for the former PLO. Still, one will learn a few things after reading this book. This book is ONLY worth reading in a broader context of other history books, because without reading Efraim Karsh, Benny Morris, Martin Gilbert, Bernard Lewis, Walter Laq......more

Goodreads review by Ramin on January 05, 2008

I decided to read this book after hearing this Democracy Now program, which had a debate between Khalidi and Ali Abuminah from the Electronic Intifada: [URL not allowed] It was a fascinating book, although a bit dry in parts. It is a very detailed and well-researched history of......more

Goodreads review by Taighe on December 18, 2022

A concise overview of the conflict, focused on Palestine. Would highly recommend this book to someone with knowledge of the conflict’a history, as it does not dive into the details of key events, but rather explains what was going on within Palestine and within Palestinian leadership at the time.......more