Revisiting the legacy of Edward Said, the voice of the Palestinian cause in the West

In parallel to Israel's killing and destruction rampage, a new wave of symbolic extermination against the Palestinians unfolds, accompanied by concerted efforts to obliterate their history.

Israel tries to impose a narrative that reduces Palestine and its people to mere political or military actors.

Attuned to the nuances of cultural confrontation and active struggle, Edward Said knew just how important the narrative war was for the struggle for dominance and control over public discourse.

Israel's occupation is more than just a battle to control territory; it is also a battle — like colonial projects before it — to purge the narrative and rewrite history.

Said advocated for cultural confrontation, grounded in "the imperative for the Palestinian struggle to seize the world's attention and thoughts." He questioned why the Palestinian struggle did not resonate with the world as the South African struggle led by Nelson Mandela to end apartheid did. 

Said stressed the need for the Palestinian struggle to present "material foundations, derived from an ethical vision transcending pragmatism or utilitarianism."

He insisted, "We must capture the minds of not only our people but also our oppressors. We must adhere to human democratic values as a pathway to influence the prevailing narrative of the conflict, mobilise global public opinion, and collaborate with peace activists in Israel and worldwide."

Engaging with elites

Drawing from his intellectual and experiential interaction with Western cultural society, specifically the spheres of American elites, including many Jewish intellectuals with whom he had forged friendships and professional connections, Said remained vigilant about preventing violence from distorting the image of the Palestinian struggle.

This distortion often emanated from Israeli propaganda, bolstered by networks within intellectual and media hubs in America and the broader Western world, which was still contending with the historical guilt of the Holocaust, inadvertently leading to a calamity for another people (Palestinians)— one no less devastating.

Immersed in Western political and intellectual circles, Edward Said embarked on a fearless cultural struggle. His exploration of behaviour, perception, and theorisation through phenomenology shaped his unique understanding.

Confident and audacious, Said confronted a vast intellectual and media arsenal of think tanks, institutions, and foreign policies, boldly deeming it one of the "largest and most terrifying propaganda machines in the world."

Armed with acute awareness, eloquence, and an unwavering belief in the justice and human essence of his cause, Said left a lasting imprint on the complex arena of ideas.

Timothy Brennan, the author of Said's biography Places of Mind, suggests that his impact reached beyond scholarly circles and compelled many supporters of Israel to reassess their stances. 

In a notable shift in her steadfast backing of Israel, Mary-Kay Wilmers, then editor-in-chief of the London Review of Books, acknowledged in one of her articles that "the Palestinians have a compelling case."

The last Jewish intellectual

Jewish and Irish history expert Eoin Beatty highlights how Said, backed by Jewish American investigative journalist Isidor Feinstein Stone, turned the cause of his oppressed people into a matter as sensitive as the Jewish issue in Europe.

In his later years, "marked by considerable courage in expression," according to Beatty, Said began to refer to himself as "the last Jewish intellectual", opining that supporters of Israel had no understanding of what it means to be a Jewish intellectual committed to worldly Judaism and global justice.

To Said, James Baldwin and Malcolm X were kindred spirits.

In an article titled "The Embattled Edward Said" published on the Jewish Currents magazine website, Nubar Hovsepian, a political science and international studies professor at Chapman University and a personal friend and publisher of Said, highlights an unpublished letter in which Said emphasises: "We are either to fight for justice, truth, and the right to honest criticism, or we should quite simply give up the title of intellectual."

In the face of what Said deemed a widespread epidemic of hostility among certain American Jewish intellectuals of his time — particularly their unequivocal support for Israel and its policies that marginalised and demonised Palestinians — Said did not yield to despair.

Despite being attacked, he found solace in the support of friends. He later became an American citizen throughout his decades-long residency in America.

Identity struggle

The narrative of Edward Said unfolds as a profound interplay between the personal and intellectual realms, mirroring the essence of Palestine's story. Said, living as an "outsider" and a "contemplator in exile," recounted a striking paradox he had encountered when he had applied for an American passport.

Though he wrote "Jerusalem, Palestine" in the birthplace slot on his application, he contested the imposed "Jerusalem, Israel" upon receiving the passport.

He returned it with a letter of objection, to which the Passport Agency retorted: "Palestine no longer exists." In defiance, Said replies: "But when I was born in Jerusalem, Israel did not exist." Because of his insistence, the passport agency ended up writing only "Jerusalem" as his place of birth on his passport.

Despite his commitment to intellectualism, he recognised the need to move beyond a symbolic role and join the national movement.

He joined the Palestinian National Council as an independent member — a decision that reflected his dynamic aspirations and belief in the culture of engagement. However, he would eventually resign in protest against the Oslo Accords, which he perceived as a compromise of Palestinian rights and an unwarranted concession to Israelis.

Years earlier, Said had penned Yasser Arafat's historic first speech at the United Nations in 1974 — a message that resonated with general Western audiences and Americans.

This marked a rare instance where Arafat heeded the counsel of Said, whose ideological divergence with the Palestinian leadership reached its apogee following the Oslo Agreement.

Political impasse in the grip of violence

In the Palestine envisioned by Edward Said, the quest for liberation is intertwined with the principles of democracy, self-criticism, and the courage to confront uncomfortable truths.

Said emphasised the crucial link between freedom and democratic processes, critiquing the absence of elected leaders in the Palestinian struggle. His collection of essays entitled The Treason of the Intellectuals exposed the calamity of perpetuating corruption and favouritism across generations.

Said passionately called for increased engagement with Jewish intellectuals, peace activists, historians, and academics, both within Israel and globally, advocating for a collective effort to explore humane alternatives beyond the military dominance of Israel's political elite.

Throughout, Said consistently urged Palestinians to foster dialogue and collaboration with influential figures like Amira Hass, Gideon Levy, David Grossman, Yitzhak Laor, Ilan Pappé, and others, questioning the absence of Arabic translations of their works.

He perceived violence as a political impasse, maintaining a critically cautious stance toward armed struggle. Still, he made sure to communicate intermittent reminders that the region had witnessed the earliest forms of terrorism at the hands of Zionist gangs and their colonial accomplices.

He often noted how the agenda supplemented the geographic displacement of the Palestinian people with cultural intimidation in a bid to erase the Palestinian identity and rewrite history, presenting a narrative where there was no room for Palestine and the Palestinians.

Call to reignite cultural struggle

Contemplating Edward Said today isn't a matter of sombre recollections; it is a call to reignite the cultural struggle and to question where Palestine and its people stand in the global cultural dialogue.

As the streets of world capitals witness an unprecedented surge of conscience, seen in solidarity campaigns with Palestinians and a rejection of Western political stances, it is a must today to draw inspiration from Said's life and use it as an active institutional endeavour that seizes this momentum to engage others authentically in the language they understand.