Description
Book SynopsisThe diaries of Dr Hussein Fakhri al-Khalidi offer a unique insight to the peculiarities of colonialism that have shaped Palestinian history. Elected mayor of Jerusalem – his city of birth – in 1935, the physician played a leading role in the Palestinian Rebellion of the next year, with profound consequences for the future of Palestinian resistance and British colonial rule. One of many Palestinian leaders deported as a result of the uprising, it was in British-imposed exile in the Seychelles Islands that al-Khalidi began his diaries. Written with equal attention to lively personal encounters and ongoing political upheavals, entries in the diaries cover his sudden arrest and deportation by the colonial authorities, the fifteen months of exile on the tropical island, and his subsequent return to political activity in London then Beirut. The diaries provide a historical and personal lens into Palestinian political life in the late 1930s, a period critical to understanding the catastrophic 1948 exodus and dispossession of the Palestinian people. With an introduction by Rashid Khalidi the publication of these diaries offers a wealth of primary material and a perspective on the struggle against colonialism that will be of great value to anyone interested in the Palestinian predicament, past and present.
Trade ReviewKhalidi's diaries are vivid and intimate...the reader is drawn into Khalidi's private world of exile. * Times Literary Supplement *
Table of Contentsi. Acknowledgement ii. About the Diaries by Leila Khalidi Husseini iii. Note from the Editorial Team iv. Introduction: A Historian's Perspective by Professor Rashid Khalidi v. Hussein Fakhri Khalidi: A Short Biography vi. Historical and Political Context by Rafiq Husseini 1. From Palestine to Mahe Island 2. The Seychelles: The Early Months 3. 1938 and the Woodhead Comission 4. Challenging the Empire 5. Hunger Strike 6. Ending the Strike 7. The End is in Sight 8. From Seychelles to Egypt 9. To London: The St. James' Conference 10. Back to Cairo: The British White Paper Debate 11. Between Cairo and Beirut: Denied from Palestine
