Rashid Khalidi

Rashid Khalidi is the Edward Said Professor of Arab Studies in the Department of History at Columbia University. He is past President of the Middle East Studies Association, was an advisor to the Palestinian delegation to the 1991-1993 Arab-Israeli peace negotiations, and is the editor of the Journal of Palestine Studies. Khalidi is the author of Brokers of Deceit: How the U.S. has Undermined Peace in the Middle East (2013); Sowing Crisis: American Dominance and the Cold War in the Middle East (2009); The Iron Cage: The Story of the Palestinian Struggle for Statehood (2006); Resurrecting Empire: Western Footprints and America’s Perilous Path in the Middle East (2004); Palestinian Identity: The Construction of Modern National Consciousness (1997); Under Siege: PLO Decision-making during the 1982 War (1986); and British Policy towards Syria and Palestine, 1906-1914 (1980). He has written over ninety articles on aspects of Middle Eastern history.

Roundtable Politics

After Balfour: 100 Years of History and the Roads Not Taken

November 2, 2017

November 2, 2017 marks the 100th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, the British statement that paved the way for the state of Israel. Were there any points during the past century when the Palestinians could have influenced the course of events for a different trajectory? Al-Shabaka’s historians and analysts identify six forks in the road where things might have gone differently, and draw lessons for the future.

Commentary Politics

The US Elections, Attacks on Activists, and a Changing Discourse

April 25, 2016

The ongoing shift in discourse in the United States has as yet had little effect on politics and none on policy, argues Al-Shabaka Policy Advisor Rashid Khalidi. He discusses Israel’s attempts to close the floodgates of debate and activism that boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) tactics have forced open, as well as the dangerous Israel-Gulf alliance.

Commentary Politics

A Reset for U.S. Policy? Not Now, But Watch the Base

December 19, 2011

What can be expected from the final months of the Obama Administration on the Arab-Israeli conflict? Al-Shabaka Policy Advisor Rashid Khalidi is pessimistic about any policy shift in the foreseeable future. Indeed, he describes President Barack Obama's UN speech in September as the worst ever by an American president and AIPAC (the American Israel Public Affairs Committee) as far more effective today than it was in the 1970s and 1980s, partly due to the efforts of Dennis Ross. In this wide-ranging interview with Al-Shabaka Policy Advisor Victor Kattan, Khalidi explains why he sees no hope at present for a just U.S. policy, although this could change if public opinion -- which is much more enlightened than that of U.S. policy makers -- makes itself felt through the media and at the political level.