Edward Said — scholar, literary critic and the most eloquent supporter of the Palestinian cause — died in New York yesterday after a long battle against leukaemia. He was 67.
Born in 1935 in Jerusalem, then part of British-ruled Palestine, he spent almost all his adult life in the United States, where he became professor of comparative literature at Columbia University.
He wrote passionately about the Palestinian question but also on a huge variety of other subjects ranging from English literature — his academic speciality — to music and culture.
His most famous book, Orientalism, published in 1978, exposed the ideological biases behind western perceptions of ”the Orient” and changed the direction of academic study of the Middle East.
Despite criticisms from the right, and sometimes the left, the book is still influential today — though Orientalist paintings of the type abhorred by Professor Said are nowadays eagerly sought by wealthy Gulf Arabs.
His other books included The Question of Palestine (1979), After the Last Sky (1986) and Cultural Imperialism (1993).
Although once dubbed the ”professor of terror” by a right-wing magazine, he was independent-minded, criticising Yasser Arafat as well as the Oslo accords, and arguing that liberating the Palestinian people was more important than liberating territory.
He came under further fire in 2000, following the Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon. During a holiday visit to the border fence he was photographed throwing a small stone in the direction of Israel — an act which he later described as ”a symbolic gesture of joy”. This brought calls for academic demotion but Columbia University stood by him.
”His underlying message was one of very profound humanism,” said Hani Shukrallah, managing editor of the Egyptian al-Ahram Weekly, where Prof Said wrote a regular column. ”He continually urged the Israelis to take on board the Palestinians’ suffering and the Palestinians to take on board the history of suffering that the Jews had undergone.”
He took little or no interest in politics in the 1950s and much of the 1960s — and this was one of his strengths, Shukrallah said. ”He bypassed Arab nationalism to arrive at politics without carrying all the weight of this complex heritage.”
Paying tribute yesterday, the UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, said he admired the passion with which Prof Said pursued his vision of peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
”Both the Middle East and the United States will be the poorer without his distinctive voice,” he said.
Afif Safieh, the Palestinian representative in London, said: ”His memory and legacy will remain with us for ever.” – Guardian Unlimited Â