Outgoing US President Joe Biden, who has consistently backed the Jewish state, grabbed a copy of a book on Friday that characterised Israel as a colonial nation in the context of Palestinian resistance.
Biden was captured leaving Nantucket Bookworks and carrying a copy of “The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917-2017” written by Rashid Khalidi, an emeritus professor at Columbia University, according to the New York Post.
Speaking to the Post, Khalidi said that Biden was holding his book, “I do not speak to the Post (or the Times, for that matter), so this is not for publication, but my reaction is that this is four years too late.”
The Biden administration has continuously backed Israel’s operations in the Middle East military. Israel has frequently received military aid, weapons, and other forms of support from the United States.
Did Biden purchase the book?
However, it’s still unclear if Biden purchased the book or whether it was presented to him during his visit to the shop.
The creation of Israel is explained in “The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine” as a “settler-colonial conquest,” which was met with Palestinian resistance. Khalidi, who is well-known for his scathing criticism of US foreign policy toward Israel, attacked Biden’s successor, President-elect Donald Trump, in the 2020 book, calling his government a “mouthpiece for Israel.” He also referred to the government of Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu as “the most extreme government” in the history of the nation.
Both pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian activists have slammed Biden’s administration, and he has long identified as a Zionist. “You don’t have to be a Jew to be a Zionist. I am a Zionist,” he declared during his meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog last year.
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Netizens react to Biden grabbing anti-Israel book
Several social media users were quick to react to the picture showing Biden grabbing the anti-Israel book, with one writing on X, “He has no idea what he’s holding.”
“Where is ‘Palestine’?” another asked.
“Who is he kidding? Biden doesn’t have the mental power to read a comic book let alone serious non fiction,” a third user chimed in.
However, a fourth user stressed, “I wish all our presidents will read this book and stop supporting Israel,” while the fifth one called the whole Biden episode “staged”.
