It is with great sorrow that we announce the passing of Dr. Walid Khalidi, whose name for decades was synonymous with his beloved homeland, Palestine.
Walid Khalidi was born in Jerusalem on July 16, 1925. He received his primary education at the Friends School in Ramallah, then moved to St. George’s School in Jerusalem, where he completed his secondary education. He graduated from Oxford University in 1951 and worked as a lecturer in political studies at the American University of Beirut until 1982, after which he became a research fellow at the Harvard Center for International Affairs. He also lectured at Princeton and Oxford Universities and was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
In 1963, Walid Khalidi co-founded the Institute for Palestine Studies together with the Arab nationalist thinker Constantine Zurayk and the Palestinian economist Burhan Dajani. He went on to serve as Director of the Institute, making it the first of its kind devoted to researching and analyzing the Arab–Israeli conflict and the various dimensions of the Palestinian cause. Khalidi laid the foundations for the study of the Nakba, a field whose establishment had been called for by his colleague Constantine Zurayk. He was a pioneer in uncovering many long-concealed features that explained how the Zionist movement succeeded in occupying Palestine in 1948. Khalidi was the first to reveal its master plan for the occupation of Palestine and the expulsion of its people, known as “Plan Dalet,” which he did in the early 1960s. His books All That Remains and Before their Diaspora are considered foundational works for understanding the Nakba and what befell Palestine and its people. In addition to these seminal works, Khalidi authored more than 40 books and hundreds of studies, articles, and research papers. The Arabic Maljjalt al Dirasat al Filistiniyya (Journal of Palestine Studies) published a special supplement in issue 143 (Summer 2025) under the title “Walid Khalidi: A Hundred Years of Giving.”
Khalidi’s books and scholarship have contributed significantly to shaping, disseminating, and solidifying the Palestinian narrative worldwide. His scholarly legacy will remain an essential reference for any serious researcher studying the Palestinian question. In recognition of his rich intellectual contributions, Khalidi received numerous awards and honors, including the prize of Distinction in Cultural Achievement in the Arab World awarded by the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO) in 2002, and the Jerusalem Order of the Star of Honor in 2015, awarded by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. He was also awarded an honorary doctorate by Birzeit University in 2011. In 2025, he was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award during the 14th Palestine Book Awards, in recognition of his long-standing contributions to documenting the history of the Palestinian cause and supporting the Institute for Palestine Studies.
Our heartfelt condolences to his family, to the people of Palestine, and to all who knew him.
