Exiled from Jerusalem
The 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.
Hussein Fakhiri al-Khalidi (1895-1962) was the mayor of Jerusalem from 1935 to 1937 before being sent into exile by the British colonial authorities in 1937. He later returned to political life, holding positions as secretary of the Arab Higher Committee in 1945, member of the All-Palestine Government in 1948 and briefly Prime Minister of Jordan in 1957.
Leila Khalidi Husseini is the daughter of Hussein Fakhiri al-Khalidi and author of The Art of Palestinian Embroidery (1999).
Rashid Khalidi is Edward Said Professor of Arab Studies at Columbia University. He is past President of the Middle East Studies Association, and the editor of the Journal of Palestine Studies. He is the author of numerous award-winning books including Brokers of Deceit: How the U.S. has Undermined Peace in the Middle East (2013) and The Iron Cage: The Story of the Palestinian Struggle for Statehood (2006), translated into French, Arabic and Hebrew.
Rafiq Husseini has been Chief Executive Officer of Al-Makassed Islamic Charitable Hospitable in East Jerusalem (2013-2017) and Chief of Staff for the Office of the President of the Palestinian National Authority (1999-2010), as well as Chairman of the Steering Committee for Jerusalem Capital of Arab Culture 2009. He has a PhD in Medicinal Chemistry from Loughborough University, UK.