Israel’s Reliance on the Greatest Powers in World History

With Professor Rashid Khalidi

The timing for today’s interview, I think, needs no introduction. Professor Rashid Khalidi, a Palestinian-American historian of the Middle East, details Israel’s long history of relying on outside powers to build a Jewish state: first, the British, and later, of course, the U.S. That record reveals the sizable influence outside forces have to end the violence unfolding in Palestine (and now Lebanon). Public opinion shifting against Israel suggests to Professor Khalidi that “both sides are almost fated to have to figure out how to reconcile,” though as you’ll see, that’s not exactly a source of hope for him right now.

Professor Khalidi is the Edward Said Professor Emeritus of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University. He served as editor of the Journal of Palestine Studies from 2002 until 2020. He was also president of the Middle East Studies Association and has taught at the Lebanese University, the American University of Beirut, Georgetown University, and the University of Chicago. Professor Khalidi has authored several books including, most recently, The Hundred Years' War on Palestine, the subject of our conversation today.

A condensed transcript of our conversation, edited for clarity, is below. You can also listen to the podcast audio:

Just a couple of New Yawkas

Ben: From one New Yorker to another, if I interrupt you today, please feel free to say, “Hey, I’m talkin’ here!”

Let’s begin where your book begins. What was Palestine like before Zionism?

RK: In the mid-1800s, Palestine was pretty underdeveloped, but things were changing rapidly by the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Railways were built, modern education was starting, and there was a massive export of things like oranges to Europe. Society was changing quickly, with modern ports, sewage systems, piped water, and electricity. 

So, it was a place in transition. All of this was happening under Ottoman rule, which had been in place for centuries. One feature of that rule was the co-optation of local elites, a process common throughout the empire. In Palestine, this elite class—people involved in government, law, or commerce—dominated local society and politics until 1948.

Ben: Catching us up to that point a bit, after World War I, the Ottoman Empire collapsed—swiftly. Can you talk about what you call the “disconcerting prospect” of Palestine shifting from Ottoman to British control?

RK: Right. I mean, the Ottoman Empire lasted for 600 years, one of the longest empires in modern history. For people in the region, its disappearance was a massive shock because it was all they had ever known for generations. Amid World War I, there was disease, the Armenian genocide, and hundreds of thousands more war-related casualties. 

In this traumatic situation, foreign troops began occupying Palestine—in this case, the British, who’d always had ambitions of taking over bits and pieces of the Ottoman Empire. 

Ben: Then came the Balfour Declaration. How did one sentence alter the course of history?

RK: I really start The Hundred Years’ War with the Balfour Declaration in 1917. Of course, there was Zionism, Palestinian nationalism, and friction between the two before, but the Balfour Declaration marks the moment when the British Empire officially became the sponsor of the Zionist project. 

And that’s the thing people often don’t understand. The British Empire—the greatest power in world history up to that point—decided to implant a colony under its control, to serve its interests, in Palestine. The declaration stated that “His Majesty's Government” favored “the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people,” a pledge that the British cabinet crafted with the intention of creating a Jewish state. Key figures like Winston Churchill, Balfour, and Lloyd George made it clear to Chaim Weizmann, the head of the Zionist movement, that they intended to make this happen.

The Balfour Declaration became the foundation of British policy in Palestine, and it was later incorporated into the League of Nations Mandate for Palestine, which governed the region until 1948. The Palestinians understood what was happening—they were being displaced by a colonial power that had a plan to hand over their land to another group.

Ben: Balfour wasn’t exactly a champion of justice elsewhere. He earned the nickname “Bloody Balfour” when serving as Britain’s chief secretary in Ireland.