Under Siege: PLO Decisionmaking During the 1982 War

by Rashid Khalidi

"Under Sieg"e is Rashid Khalidi's firsthand account of the 1982 Lebanon War and the complex negotiations for the evacuation of the P.L.O. from Beirut. Utilizing unconventional sources and interviews with key officials and diplomats, Khalidi paints a detailed portrait of the siege and ensuing massacres, providing insight into the military pressure experienced by the P.L.O., the war's impact on Palestinian and Lebanese civilians, and diplomatic efforts by the United States. A new preface by Khalidi considers developments across the Middle East in the thirty years since the conflict. The preface also cites recently declassified Israeli documents to offer surprising new revelations about the roles and responsibilities of both Israeli leaders and American diplomats in the tragic coda to the war, the Sabra and Shatila massacres.

Genres: History, Middle East, Politics, Lebanon, Nonfiction, War, 20th Century

247 pages, Paperback

First published December 15, 1985

About the author

Rashid Ismail Khalidi (Arabic: رشيد إسماعيل خالدي; born 18 November 1948) is a Palestinian-American historian of the Middle East and the Edward Said Professor Emeritus of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University. He served as editor of the Journal of Palestine Studies from 2002 until 2020, when he became co-editor with Sherene Seikaly.

He has authored a number of books, including The Hundred Years' War on Palestine and Palestinian Identity: The Construction of Modern National Consciousness; has served as president of the Middle East Studies Association; and has taught at the Lebanese University, the American University of Beirut, Georgetown University, and the University of Chicago.

For his work on the Middle East, Professor Khalidi has received fellowships and grants from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, the American Research Center in Egypt, and the Rockefeller Foundation, among others.

In October 2010, Khalidi delivered the annual Edward Said memorial lecture at the Palestine Center in Washington. He is the Edward Said Professor Emeritus of Modern Arab Studies at Colombia University. On October 8, 2024, Khalidi retired from Columbia University citing the university's crackdown on pro-Palestinian student protests, which he had vocally supported, and the transformation of the university into a "hedge fund-cum-real estate operation, with a minor sideline in education" as reasons for his retirement.

Reviews

[El · Rating 4 out of 5]

يمكن إضافة عنوان فرعي للكتاب "قصة خيانة"، كيف تعرضت الثورة الفلسطينية للتصفية في بيروت على أيدي النظام العربي كله بالتواطؤ مع الصهاينة والإمبرياليين، كما يفتح الكتاب مجالاً لمزيد من المرارة حول الدور الذي لعبته سوريا الأسد في تقويض النضال الفلسطيني بشراكة مع السعودية، وفي امتداد للدور الخياني الذي لعبه الأسد في حرب السنتين حين فك المشنقة عن عنق اليمين اللبناني!