# Professor Walid Khalidi: A Reflection May 29, 2026 On March 8, 2026, Walid Khalidi died at the age of 100, and with his death we have lost one of the foremost scholars of modern Middle Eastern history. Throughout his century of life—and for over 80 consistent years of work—Professor Khalidi, who was a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, changed the way we understood Palestinians and their past and the Middle East more broadly. A mentor to myriad academics, among whom I humbly include myself, his legacy extends to the untold number of students he taught and who, through his prodigious research and writing, have benefited from his profound intellect and courageous scholarship. In the summer of 1994—almost 32 years ago—CMES published in its then newsletter, *The Middle East at Harvard*, a special issue that focused on research on Palestine in which Professor Khalidi was featured. I quote at length from this issue, which I found in my archives, since it provides a detailed overview of some of his many significant and extraordinary works. “For nearly 50 years, Walid Khalidi has chronicled the modern history of the Palestinian people. Khalidi, a senior research fellow at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, has dedicated his life’s work to preserving the Palestinian historical record in order that the world will know something of their rich culture, history, politics, and economics, as well as their diaspora during the past half a century. Born in Jerusalem, Palestine, and educated at London and Oxford Universities, Khalidi has personally witnessed the effects that British colonialism, Zionism, and war have had on the Palestinian people and has documented thoroughly the slow erosion of their society and their struggle for survival. "Khalidi, considered today to be a leading expert on the Palestinian problem and the Arab-Israeli conflict, has produced numerous articles and several volumes on this subject. His other interests include Islam, in general; the domestic, regional, and international politics of the Middle East; nuclear proliferation and arms control; and conflict resolution. His research contributions to Arabic scholarship are considerable. Two particularly significant works, *Before Their Diaspora: A Photographic History of the Palestinians, 1876-1948*, and *All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948*, both written during the past decade, record in photographs, text, maps, and demographic statistics the past 100-year history of the Palestinian people and their exodus from their homes in villages, towns, and cities in 1948. These accounts reflect days of political and cultural vibrancy for the Palestinian people, as well as days of despair as a result of their diaspora. "Khalidi began his professional career just at the end of World War II as a researcher in the Arab Office in Jerusalem, which was created by the Arab League to investigate specifically the Palestinian problem. Two-to-three years later this 'problem' would explode because of the United Nations partition of Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states and Jerusalem under international control. During the early 1950s, Khalidi returned to England to study at Oxford University, where he taught for several years, resigning from his University lectureship in protest against the British participation in the invasion of Egypt in 1956. After Oxford, he accepted a professorship in political studies at the American University of Beirut in Lebanon. Khalidi spent the next 20 years in Beirut, researching and teaching on the Arab-Israeli conflict. During his tenure there, Khalidi made two significant contributions to Palestinian scholarship: he became a founding member of the Institute for Palestine Studies (IPS) in 1963 and of the *Journal of Palestine Studies* in 1971. He has been directing the research and publication activities of IPS since 1963. In 1976, he became affiliated with Harvard, first at the Center for International Affairs (1976-79), then as Visiting Professor of Government (1978-82), and most recently, at CMES (1982-present). "IPS, the first of its kind, is a non-profit, inter-Arab organization research center dedicated to producing research and publications on the Arab-Israeli conflict, especially Palestinian issues. It has offices in Beirut, where the main library is located, and in London, Paris, Cyprus, and Washington, DC, During its 31-year history, IPS has published approximately 400 books, monographs, and documentary collections. The Journal of Palestine Studies, also published by IPS, has been an essential resource for scholars working on issues related to the Arab-Israeli conflict and Palestine for more than 20 years. Published in English, the *Journal* includes articles by American, European, Palestinian, and Jewish scholars, as well as prominent journalists and public figures. In addition to the Journal, IPS publishes a quarterly in French and another in Arabic. Among its scholarly collaborators, IPS has co-published with Columbia University, and its English journal is printed and distributed by the University of California, Los Angeles. "*Before Their Diaspora* and *All That Remains* were both produced under the auspices of IPS. The former, a pictorial history published in 1984, uses nearly 500 photographs from eight sources, mainly public and private collections, to illustrate the last days of Ottoman rule in Palestine at the turn of the century, the 30 years of British Occupation, the 'Great Rebellion' of the late 1930s, the UN partition resolution in 1947, and then the tragic years of exodus and war during 1947-48. This work portrays a thriving Palestinian society during the first half of the 20th century. It is a touching and intimate view of the Palestinian people in their daily life, revealing families and craftsmen and artisans, businessmen, builders, farmers, and printers, all at the trades. *Before Their Diaspora* also depicts a culture in active resistance to British colonialism and Zionism. Critics of the work have suggested that this pictorial history reflects the demise of Palestinian culture, but Khalidi asserts that this is not a society in 'shambles' but rather one fully involved in its economy and culture and resistant to attempts to obliterate it. "*All That Remains* is a monumental and sobering work, documenting the results of partition on the Palestinian people and their way of life. The culmination of six or more years of research involving 30 participants, this demographic history describes the approximately 418 villages that were systematically destroyed in 1948. Khalidi points out that much of current Palestinian ideology and political action was shaped by this historical experience, during which inhabitants were exiled to refugee camps in the Occupied Territories or in neighboring Arab countries. Exhaustive field research went into the production of the book, which is organized village-by-village in alphabetical order and includes site coordinates, population figures, numbers of homes, and other demographics for the villages. Historical narratives about each village and its environs and Israeli and Arab military accounts of events leading to the seizure of these villages are also incorporated in the entries. "Khalidi stated in his preface to *All That Remains* that his research to reclaim the history of those lost Palestinian communities had two purposes: 'to compile the most authoritative list possible of the depopulated and destroyed villages on the basis of clearly defined methodology and criteria' and 'to present the villages swept away in the catastrophe that was 1948 individually, as ends in themselves.' In essence, Khalidi created a 'snapshot' of more than 400 villages before 1948 and then as they appear today, using thorough demographic research, photographs, and maps. Through this work, Khalidi wants the world to remember these villages, some of which were centuries old and have remained virtually 'anonymous' to the world during the past 45 years. "Khalidi’s arguments in support of the Palestinian people are forceful, and his research into their history exhaustive. What is most impressive about his work is that he lifts up a vivid portrait of the Palestinian people as parents, grandparents, children, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles; and as farmers, businessmen, publishers, politicians, and resistance fighters. In many respects, Khalidi has been the bearer of the Palestinian people to the rest of the world in order that they not remain faceless and nameless.” He continued writing to just before his death. Professor Khalidi was not only a historian but also a diplomat whose diplomacy was based, fundamentally, on the need for a negotiated settlement between Palestinians and Israelis. Throughout my decades long friendship with him, he did not waver from that belief. It was my great honor and privilege to know him and to have benefitted from his invaluable support and unfailing generosity. *Sara Roy* *Associate of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies* See also:- [ 2025-26 ](/academic-year/2025-26) - [ Palestinian Territories ](/research-region/palestinian-territories) Share on:- [ Facebook ](#) - [ Twitter ](#) - [ Linkedin ](#)