Massachusetts (Quds News Network)- Outgoing US President Joe Biden surprised onlookers on Black Friday by leaving a Nantucket bookstore holding a book about the ethnic cleansing of Palestine. The book, The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonial Conquest and Resistance, 1917-2017, is authored by Columbia University professor emeritus Rashid Khalidi. It describes the creation of Israel as colonialism met with Palestinian resistance.
The image of Biden with the book sparked immediate attention. Khalidi, of Palestinian and Lebanese descent, responded to the news. “This is four years too late,” he told The New York Post. He criticized Biden’s timing, given the book’s focus on historical injustices and the role of US administrations in the Gaza genocide.
Biden, who often refers to himself as a Zionist, made no public comment about the book. It remains unclear if he bought it or received it during his visit to Nantucket Bookworks. Biden has consistently expressed support for the occupation state of Israel, telling Israeli President Isaac Herzog earlier this month, “You don’t have to be a Jew to be a Zionist.”
The timing of Biden’s appearance with Khalidi’s book comes as debates over US foreign policy in the Middle East continue to intensify. Khalidi’s statement highlights the growing divide between US rhetoric and the lived realities of the Palestinian people.
