Palestinian Historian Walid Khalidi Dies in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Aged About 101

Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi died in Cambridge, Massachusetts, at about 101 years old, a loss noted by multiple Palestinian and regional outlets.

“Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi died today, Sunday”

Al-Jazeera Net

Al-Jazeera reports that Khalidi "died Sunday in Cambridge, Massachusetts, at about 101 years old," and notes his status as a member of the prominent Khalidi family of Jerusalem.

Al-Jazeera Net

شبكة يافا الإخبارية likewise reported that "Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas mourned the death of prominent historian and thinker Professor Walid Khalidi, who died in Cambridge, Massachusetts at age 101," underscoring the attention his passing drew across Palestinian institutions and media.

The reports differ slightly on his age, with Al-Jazeera using "about 101 years old" and شبكة يافا الإخبارية saying "age 101".

Khalidi’s career combined scholarship and institution-building.

Al-Jazeera highlights that he “founded the Institute for Palestine Studies in Beirut in 1963, became a key reference for research on the Palestinian cause, and authored several books,” describing him as a central reference for studies of Palestine.

شبكة يافا الإخبارية

شبكة يافا emphasizes his stature as a historian, reporting that Abbas praised his “long scientific, intellectual and national contributions.”

This reporting reflects how Khalidi’s institutional work and publications shaped Palestinian historical research and advocacy.

Khalidi's academic trajectory stretched across the Arab world and the United States.

“Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi died today, Sunday”

Al-Jazeera Net

Al-Jazeera records that Khalidi was born in occupied Jerusalem on July 16, 1925, graduated from Oxford in 1951, taught political studies at the American University of Beirut until 1982, and later worked as a researcher at Harvard's Center for International Affairs and lectured at Princeton and Oxford, mapping a long career in teaching and research.

شبكة يافا frames these achievements within the broader appraisal by Palestinian leadership, noting Abbas’s depiction of Khalidi as one of the foremost Palestinian and Arab historians.

Observers and officials highlighted Khalidi's role documenting Palestinian history and defending the Palestinian narrative.

Al-Jazeera states he 'documented Palestinian history and the crimes of the Israeli occupation' and quotes President Mahmoud Abbas mourning him 'saying Khalidi devoted his life to defending the Palestinian historical narrative.'

شبكة يافا الإخبارية

شبكة يافا echoed Abbas's tribute, stressing Khalidi's importance as a leading figure in modern historical research and thought, and underlining the national as well as academic dimensions of his legacy.

Al-Jazeera also lists his notable books, including Before the Diaspora (1987) and The Arab-Israeli Conflict and the New Mandate (1997), works that helped cement his reputation.