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During his career, spanning more than 40 years of teaching in some of the world's most prestigious academic institutions, Said published multiple works. None, however, made a more defining impact than his magnum opus - Orientalism.
Published in 1978, the book laid the foundation of what is now known as the field of postcolonial studies. In this groundbreaking text, Said lays out how the situation of supposed Western superiority over the East is maintained through the application of clichéd discourses and prejudices.
Orientalism influenced a whole cohort of writers and critics in the formerly colonised world and inspired them to reverse this patronising Western gaze.
Said's political activism, mainly for the Palestinian cause, also made him a controversial figure in American academic and political circles. Ludicrously calling him the "Professor of Terror", Edward Alexander once wrote in Commentary Magazine that being an unhindered advocate for the rights of Palestinians made Said an "ideologue of terrorism".
This didn't stop Said from discussing the historical injustices that Israelis have inflicted upon the Palestinians and the Palestinians' right to seek justice.
Resigning from his formal executive position on the Palestinian National Council in 1991, Said later changed his stance from supporter of a two-state solution for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict to seeking one state with equal rights for both people.
Realising the irreconcilable disparity of power between the two sides, his predictions on how disastrously the Oslo process would unravel proved to be prophetic.
More than 24 years after the signing of the Oslo Accords, Palestinians still live under a pervasive military occupation, the question of refugees is far from solved and Israelis continue to colonise more Palestinian land each day.
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Said would have been deeply disturbed by the fact that many public intellectuals, particularly on the left, blindly rallied in support of Assad in Syria | ![]() |
At the time, Said's opposition towards the Arafat-led Oslo process made him deeply unpopular - but there is now an increasing agreement on how the Accords have reached a dead end.
Said's unmatched quality of grappling with the realities of the world beyond the binary lens of "ours" and "theirs" was a powerful instrument to overcome hate, prejudice and tribalism that continues to challenge the contemporary world.
Said would have been deeply disturbed by the fact that many public intellectuals, particularly on the left, blindly rallied in support of Assad in Syria - despite the crimes committed by his regime against its own people.
Read more: Jack Shaheen, a powerful voice against Arab stereotypes in popular culture, dies at 81 |
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