President Joe Biden is currently abroad in Angola, where he's having a bit of a rough go for his Africa trip. Leading up to such a trip, though, he was spending Thanksgiving in Nantucket. During the holiday weekend, he did some shopping, complete with a particularly anti-Israel book on hand for Black Friday, "The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonial Conquest and Resistance, 1917-2017."
The New York Post reported on how Biden was spotted with the book, as well as the response from the author, Rashid Khalidi, a professor emeritus at Columbia University, who retired on October 8 of this year.
Columbia, and college and university campuses in general, have been a hotbed of antisemitism as well as anti-Israel and pro-Hamas activity, including on the first anniversary of the attack against Israel on October 7, as well as on Veteran's Day.
Democrats just can’t help themselves. They just hate the Jewish state so damn much. It’s pathological. pic.twitter.com/SRk9w6cRI3
— Marina Medvin 🇺🇸 (@MarinaMedvin) November 30, 2024
What is Joe Biden's preferred reading?
— Shelley G (@ShelleyGldschmt) November 30, 2024
"The Hundred Years' War On Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism And Resistance"
I feel the purest contempt for ANYONE who ever dares again to gaslight me and anyone else that Biden and the Democrats are pro-Israel. pic.twitter.com/Qo1JHDLumG
As the report mentioned:
Khalidi, who is of Palestinian and Lebanese descent, refers to President-elect Donald Trump’s first administration as a “mouthpiece” for Israel and accuses Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of leading “the most extreme government” in his country’s history.
The Arab Studies academic also slams what he describes as slanted press coverage in favor of Israel.
“I do not speak to the Post (or the Times for that matter), so this is not for publication, but my reaction is that this is 4 years too late,” Khalidi told The Post, which did not offer or agree to any terms conditioning that response as off the record or on background.
It was not immediately clear if Biden purchased the book or if it was given to him while in the shop — after he and first son Hunter Biden, 54, dined with first daughter Ashley Biden and other family members at the nearby Brotherhood of Thieves restaurant ahead of the island’s annual Christmas tree-lighting ceremony.
The move was not only criticized by supporters of Israel, but of its opponents, including the author's son. In a post that tagged the president's political account, Ismail Khalidi told Biden to "get my father's book out of your blood soaked hands, you genocidal maniac."
For all of the ways in which Biden has been at odds with Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's enemies have often accused Biden of being complicit in a "genocide."
Hey, @JoeBiden, get my father's book out of your blood soaked hands, you genocidal maniac. https://t.co/Ud9vsVhRU3
— Ismail Khalidi (@IsmailKhalidi) November 30, 2024
The New York Post piece also serves as something of a lengthy write-up on how Biden has claimed to be pro-Israel, while his administration has also been at odds with our ally in the Middle East.
In sharp contrast is President-elect Donald Trump, who on Monday put out a strongly worded statement over Truth Social, indicating that if the remaining hostages being held in Gaza by Hamas are not released before he was inaugurated, "there will be ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East, and for those in charge who perpetrated these atrocities against Humanity."
Trump also ran a heavily pro-Israel campaign as part of his outreach to Jewish voters, while also seeking to appeal to Muslims and Arab-Americans in swing states like Michigan. Trump made inroads in 2024 with both demographics as part of his win last month. Vice President Kamala Harris, as part of her failed campaign, desperately tried to do the same with clips of her DNC speech airing in different states, edited so as to best appeal to the specific community there. She seriously faltered in such a move, and even CNN called her out for it in the final days of the campaign.
Biden was largely absent from the news when it comes to commemorating the October 7 anniversary to mark one year since Hamas terrorists attacks our ally in the Middle East. Harris clumsily planted a tree with Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff. It was also the same day that she posed for the cover of Vogue, and the same day that the edited and thoroughly criticized interview she did with "60 Minutes" was released, during which she threw Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu under the bus.
The Trump campaign meanwhile held a pro-Israel press call on the anniversary, with Trump earning the endorsement of a former Democratic congressman, Rep. Pete Deutsch of Florida's 20th Congressional District. Trump also appeared for a visit to Ohel Chabad Lubavitch, the final resting place of Rabbi Schneerson in New York and delivered remarks at the Trump National Doral Miami.
Before the anniversary, both Biden and Harris were both absent from Netanyahu's speech before a joint session of Congress in July, with Harris choosing to instead attend a sorority event in Indiana. Trump met with Netanyahu later that same week.
The Biden-Harris administration has also come under heavy criticism for halting arms shipments to Israel in May over their operations in Rafah.