The Hundred Years' War on Palestine: A History of Settler-Colonial Conquest and Resistance, 1917-2017

In Chapter 6, Khalidi focuses on four episodes between 2000 and 2014. The first is the rise of Hamas (an acronym that stands for Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiya), a militant organization and rival of the PLO. Hamas rejected diplomacy, the end to armed conflict, and the Oslo accords. Hamas rose in popularity in part because of Palestinians’ frustrations with the PLO.

The second episode is the failure of the 2000 Camp David Summit, where Palestinians and Israelis tried to negotiate the two-state solution. Israeli negotiators wanted control of the Jordan River Valley, Palestine airspace, and water resources in the West Bank. They also wanted to annex several new areas of the West Bank and exclusive rights to Jerusalem. Palestinians refused to accept these terms since they infringed on Palestine being a truly sovereign nation. US President Bill Clinton blamed Arafat for the summit’s failure, even though he pledged not to do so before the summit.

The Second Intifada (2000-2005) represents the third episode. In contrast to the First Intifada, violence marked this campaign. Khalidi argues that “the Second Intifada constituted a major setback for the Palestinian national movement” (214). The Israeli army damaged and occupied many parts of the Occupied Territories.