Fact Check: Yes, Picture of Biden Carrying Rashid Khalidi's Book 'The Hundred Years' War on Palestine' Is Real
Claim:
A photograph authentically shows U.S. President Joe Biden exiting a Nantucket bookstore holding a copy of writer Rashid Khalidi's book, "The Hundred Years' War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917–2017."
Rating:
In late November 2024, a photograph of U.S. President Joe Biden went viral, in which he appeared to be exiting a bookstore holding a book by writer Rashid Khalidi called "The Hundred Years' War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917–2017."
Some conservative media outlets, including Fox News and the New York Post, called it an "anti-Israel" book.
The above image is real, and does show Biden holding the book in question while leaving the Nantucket Bookworks store in Massachusetts. The photograph was taken Nov. 29, 2024, when numerous photos of Biden were taken during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. As such, we rate this claim as true.
However, the characterization of the book by Fox News and other media outlets is a matter of perspective. The book has been described by Macmillan Publishers, its publishing house, as "the first general account of the conflict told from an explicitly Palestinian perspective." The book says Palestinian displacement is a result of settler colonialism, supported by Western powers:
In 1899, Yusuf Diya al-Khalidi, mayor of Jerusalem, alarmed by the Zionist call to create a Jewish national home in Palestine, wrote a letter aimed at Theodore Herzl: the country had an indigenous people who would not easily accept their own displacement. He warned of the perils ahead, ending his note, "in the name of God, let Palestine be left alone." Thus Rashid Khalidi, al-Khalidi's great-great-nephew, begins this sweeping history, the first general account of the conflict told from an explicitly Palestinian perspective.
Drawing on a wealth of untapped archival materials and the reports of generations of family members—mayors, judges, scholars, diplomats, and journalists—The Hundred Years' War on Palestine upends accepted interpretations of the conflict, which tend, at best, to describe a tragic clash between two peoples with claims to the same territory. Instead, Khalidi traces a hundred years of colonial war on the Palestinians, waged first by the Zionist movement and then Israel, but backed by Britain and the United States, the great powers of the age. He highlights the key episodes in this colonial campaign, from the 1917 Balfour Declaration to the destruction of Palestine in 1948, from Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon to the endless and futile peace process.
We found examples of Biden holding the book in Nantucket on Getty Images. They were posted with the caption: "US President Joe Biden holds the book "The Hundred Years' War on Palestine" by Rashid Khalidi as he walks out of Nantucket Bookworks in Nantucket, Massachusetts, on November 29, 2024. Biden and family are in Nantucket, Massachusetts, for the Thanksgiving holiday."
(Getty Images)
(Getty Images)
Khalidi's name is visible when zooming in on Biden's hand, and the cover matches the cover of his book.
Khalidi, a professor emeritus at Columbia University and a prominent historian on Palestine, referred to Israel as a "settler colonial" state in the book and has called Israel's actions in Gaza a "genocide." He is described as a preeminent Arab-American intellectual and a foremost critic of U.S. involvement in the crisis in Israel and Palestine. He was also a supporter of the pro-Palestine student demonstrations at Columbia.
In a response to the New York Post — which said it did not offer terms about Khalidi's words being off the record — about Biden's book purchase, Khalidi said: "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 4 years too late."
A post on X, written by someone identifying himself as Khalidi's son, also went viral, in which he stated, "Hey, @JoeBiden, get my father's book out of your blood soaked hands, you genocidal maniac."
Biden has stated he is a Zionist, and often pledged support for Israel before and after the Hamas attacks on Israel in October 2023. More than 44,000 people have been killed by Israeli attacks in Gaza since then.
Sources:
Casiano, Louis. "Biden Seen Holding Anti-Israel Book during Black Friday Shopping Excursion." Fox News, 29 Nov. 2024, https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-seen-holding-anti-israel-book-black-friday-shopping-excursion. Accessed 2 Dec. 2024.
"Death Toll in Gaza from Israel-Hamas War Passes 44,000, Palestinian Officials Say." AP News, 21 Nov. 2024, https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-hamas-war-lebanon-hezbollah-iran-news-11-20-2024-5da3ce43df8662fe9eeab4ad804bdc0f. Accessed 2 Dec. 2024.
Khalidi, Rashid. "The Neck and The Sword." New Left Review, no. 147, July 2024, pp. 5–38. Accessed 2 Dec. 2024.
Nelson, Steven. "Biden Picks up Anti-Israel Book during Black Friday Shopping— "4 Years Too Late," Says Author." 29 Nov. 2024, https://nypost.com/2024/11/29/us-news/biden-picks-up-anti-israel-book-during-black-friday-shopping-4-years-too-late-says-author/. Accessed 2 Dec. 2024.
O'Connell, Mark, and Rashid Khalidi. "Israel's Revenge: An Interview with Rashid Khalidi." The New York Review of Books, vol. 71, no. 20, 19 Dec. 2024. www.nybooks.com, https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2024/12/19/israels-revenge-an-interview-with-rashid-khalidi-mark-oconnell/. Accessed 2 Dec. 2024.
Spetalnick, Matt, et al. "'I Am a Zionist': How Joe Biden's Lifelong Bond with Israel Shapes War Policy." Reuters, 21 Oct. 2023. www.reuters.com, https://www.reuters.com/world/us/i-am-zionist-how-joe-bidens-lifelong-bond-with-israel-shapes-war-policy-2023-10-21/. Accessed 2 Dec. 2024.
"The Hundred Years' War on Palestine - Tradebook for Courses." Tradebooks for Courses, https://academic.macmillan.com/academictrade/9781250787651/thehundredyearswaronpalestine/. Accessed 2 Dec. 2024.
"US President Joe Biden Holds the Book "The Hundred Years' War On..." Getty Images, 29 Nov. 2024, https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/president-joe-biden-holds-the-book-the-hundred-years-war-on-news-photo/2186864238. Accessed 2 Dec. 2024.
