Palestinian Identity Book
Palestinian Identity (Hardcover)
by Rashid Khalidi (Author)
Product Details
Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Columbia University Press (October 15, 1998)
Language: English
Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
Editorial Reviews
Review
"[Khalidi's] historiographic method is pathbreaking... Highly recommended." -- Library Journal "A major contribution to historical Palestinian nationalism." -- Foreign Affairs "An impressive, thoughtful, layered, and well-documented study of key aspects of the evolution of modern Palestinian nationalism." -- Kirkus Reviews
A major contribution to historical Palestinian nationalism. -- Foreign Affairs
An impressive, thoughtful, layered, and well-documented study of key aspects of the evolution of modern Palestinian nationalism. -- Kirkus Reviews
An impressively thoughtful, layered, and well documented study of key aspects of the evolution of modern Palestinian nationalism. Those expecting either a comprehensive history of the modern Palestinian movement or a polemic against Zionism and Israel should look elsewhere. Khalidi, who teaches history and directs the Center for International Studies at the University of Chicago, and who was a member of the Palestinian delegation to the Mideast peace negotiations, focuses almost entirely on the late Ottoman and early Mandate period (1880s through 1920s). He sees Palestinian nationalism emerging far earlier than is generally thought - in the pre-WW I period, when absentee landlords in Beirut and elsewhere sold large tracts of Palestinian land to the Jewish Colonization Association. Yet while modern Palestinian history is inextricably intertwined with that of Zionism, Khalidi focuses as much on other constituents of modern Palestinian identity, which include "patriotic feelings, local loyalties, Arabism, religious sentiments, [and] higher levels of education and literacy." He demonstrates how the long-term influence of modernization, the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, and concomitant European incursion in the pre-WW I era, followed by the betrayal of promises made by both the British and French, contributed as much to Palestinian nationalism as the 1917 Balfour Declaration and Zionist immigration. The only flaw here is that Khalidi races through the last 70 years of the development of Palestinian identity. Even here, however, he offers a fascinating analysis of why Palestinian nationalism seemingly became "submerged" after the first Arab-Israeli War (1947-49) and until the PLO's founding in 1964. At a time when the end of the hundred years' war between Zionism/Israel and the Palestinians appears on the horizon, this illuminating study will help readers gain a sophisticated understanding of how the Palestinians came to be who they are. (Kirkus Reviews)
[Khalidi's] historiographic method is pathbreaking. . . . Highly recommended. -- Library Journal
Review
"[Khalidi's] historiographic method is pathbreaking.... Highly recommended." -- Library Journal
"A major contribution to historical Palestinian nationalism." -- Foreign Affairs
"An impressive, thoughtful, layered, and well-documented study of key aspects of the evolution of modern Palestinian nationalism." -- Kirkus Reviews
Review
"Khalidi's massive study of the construction of Palestinian national identity is a pathbreaking work of major importance. It is the first book to work from the premise that such an identity does in fact exist, and then proceeds to uncover its overlapping layers, historical phases, and tragic setbacks with a complete mastery of the relevant literature in Arabic, Hebrew and Western sources." -- Edward Said
Palestinian Identity Book Description
Khalidi critically assesses the narratives that make up Palestinian history and identity and examines the ways in which the Palestinian national consciousness has come full circle.
About Palestinian Identity Book Author
Rashid Khalidi is professor of history and director of the Center for International Studies at the University of Chicago, and past president of the Middle East Studies Association. |
