Journal on Rashid Khalidi's The Iron Cage, Chapters 1-4

Rashid Khalidi claims that the goal of his book, The Iron Cage, is to explore the rigid constraints imposed upon Palestinians and the powerful actors who are responsible for having created the delicate situation the Palestinian people are faced with (p. X-XI). Palestinians are quick to claim dependency upon others, Khalidi asserts, explaining that the Palestinian people lack the guidance of a political agency. He also aims to illuminate the context in which the powerful actors were operating in when bestowing upon the Palestinians this particular ordeal. Palestinian people continue to engage in conflict with Israelis in opposition of their displacement. Khalidi claims that until the Palestinians are offered a variety of options, they cannot learn from the past and begin making sound decisions. They continue to make bad decisions because of the rigid constraints they are living under; they must balance this with the little freedom they are given.

I found myself diving into Khalidi's book to further explore his accusation of America and Israel acting cooperatively to seemingly eliminate the discussion of a Palestinian state. The author describes America's role in this in detail. First, he claims, America is attempting to force Palestinians into going back on their democratic choice. I can only assume this is to create further dissension among political factions in the area. Secondly, America is involved in the active financial and diplomatic boycott of the Palestinian Authority. Finally, America is utilizing its many resources in training and funding to encourage the Fetah to attack enemies in the area, with the ultimate goal of eliminating Palestine. Khalidi also points out Israel's blatant involvement in this scheme. It insists on withholding Palestinian taxes and refuses to ease restrictions on the movement of goods in the West Bank and Gaza Strip (p. X).

But America's involvement in insisting the state of Palestine never come to fruition goes back further than claims about the recent Bush administration and Israeli government's involvement. Khalidi talks about the development of the Jewish state in 1948 and the blatant “abortion” of the Palestinian state (p. XVII). An independent Arab state in Palestine posed a grave threat to the world then and now, Khalidi mentions. This is the statement that I've lingered on throughout my reading of this book. Why is an independent Arab state more threatening than a democratic Jewish state? I am concerned with this question because I wonder why one culture is preferred by the Western audience; is this a religious, philosophical, or merely political issue? Khalidi explains that the British Mandate included the entire text of the Balfour Declaration, which insisted that the Palestinians support the endeavor to create a nation for the displaced Jews. Because the Palestinians did not agree with the mandate and the order to be displaced from their country (Arabs constituted 90 percent of the Palestinian population), they were ostracized and deemed by the League of Nations and Great Britain to definitely not be recognized as a people (p. 32).

The next stop on this train of thought is the irony in the United States' relationship with the very entities that caused a catastrophe the magnitude of 9/11. Khalidi explains that the United States is responsible for promoting the same “reactionary, obscurantist, and illiberal Islamic tendencies” that eventually were used against us during the attacks (p. XX). He also highlights the fact that the media obscures the United States' actual relationship with these terrorists and paints for us a picture that Palestinians “hate our freedom,” and “resent our culture” (p. XXI). In fact, the United States is responsible for many of the disastrous consequences that have been faced by the people of Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, and throughout the Arab and Islamic worlds.


Work Cited
Khalidi, Rashid. The Iron Cage: The Story of the Palestinian Struggle for Statehood. Boston: Beacon Press, 2006-7.