In this deep and wide-ranging conversation, historian Rashid Khalidi breaks down the political landscape of Palestine today — from the legacy of the Oslo Accords and the failures of the PA to the rise of Hamas, the nature of armed resistance, and the meaning of Oct 7 (Al-Aqsa Flood).

Khalidi explains how he understands Trump’s new plan, comparing aspects of it to the British Mandate era, where promises of statehood were made without any real intention of delivering them. He argues that the Israeli cabinet has no intention of allowing a Palestinian state, so Washington’s talk of “moving toward statehood” has no grounding in political reality.

We also explore the plan’s claims about reconstruction in Gaza. Khalidi questions whether Trump is serious about reconstruction at all — insisting that governance and security must be addressed first, otherwise reconstruction is impossible.

The discussion examines:

• Hamas as a form of resistance, and how Palestinians perceive different forms of resistance
• Hamas governance, its community networks and its political evolution
• How the PA relates to resistance, and why it has lost legitimacy
• Why Arafat and the Tunis leadership misread the Oslo Accords
• Why Russia and China abstained at the UN Security Council
• The shift in U.S. public opinion on Israel–Gaza — and why political change will still be slow
• The role of Arab states, their focus on regime stability, and their complicity in Israel’s actions
• How Khalidi now assesses Oct 7, its causes, and its consequences

This is one of Khalidi’s most comprehensive analyses on Palestinian resistance, global geopolitics, and the future of statehood.

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