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Edward Said: Controversial literary critic and bold advocate of the Palestinian cause in America

Malise Ruthven 26 September 2003

Edward Said, who has died aged 67, was one of the leading literary critics of the last quarter of the 20th century. As professor of English and comparative literature at Columbia University, New York, he was widely regarded as the outstanding representative of the post-structuralist left in America. Above all, he was the most articulate and visible advocate of the Palestinian cause in the United States, where it earned him many enemies. Malise Ruthven remembers Said in The Guardian. 

A tribute to Edward Said

Tanweer Akram 26 September 2003

This morning, I learnt that Professor Edward Said is no more. Said was not only a scholar but an activist who worked tirelessly for peace and justice. His devastating critique of Western scholarship about Islam, Middle East, and the “Orient,” exposed the ingrained bias of intellectuals in service of power interest, economic and political imperialism, and cultural domination. His work was inspired by his life-long commitment to truth, justice, and peace. 

Edward Said: one of the architects of all reasonable discussion on Palestine

Ziad Asali 26 September 2003

A university professor of literature at Columbia University has died. He was witty, elegant and powerful, passionate about his field of study and a man of aristocratic bearing. He loved opera and art and wrote lovely, erudite books. What made him especially important, however, was none of the preceding. Edward W. Said was one of the architects of all reasonable discussion on the question of Palestine and commanded the moral authority to discuss the subject honestly and outside the rhetoric of hatred and violence. 

Edward Said's breadth of interest

Daniel Barenboim 26 September 2003


Perhaps the first thing one remembers about Edward Said was his breadth of interest. He was not only at home in music, literature, philosophy, or the understanding of politics, but also he was one of those rare people who saw the connections and the parallels between different disciplines, because he had an unusual understanding of the human spirit, and of the human being, and he recognized that parallels and paradoxes are not contradictions. The Palestinians have lost one of the most eloquent defenders of their aspirations. I have lost my soul mate. 

Columbia community mourns passing of Edward Said, beloved and esteemed University Professor

26 September 2003

Edward W. Said, Professor of English and Comparative Literature, a member of the Columbia faculty since 1963 and University Professor since 1992, died on Thursday, September 25, at 6:45 a.m. One of the most influential scholars in the world, Said was also a devoted and beloved teacher to generations of Columbia students. The University mourns his passing. 

More than just a wall

Maureen Lynch 26 September 2003

By any name —- separation barrier, security fence, transfer wall —- the controversial enclosure under construction within the West Bank violates international humanitarian law and threatens Palestinian communities and livelihoods. Maureen Lynch just completed an assessment mission to the Middle East. 

Weekly report on human rights violations

25 September 2003

This week Israeli forces killed 3 Palestinians, including 2 children. One of the children died in Nablus from a previous injury, while the other was killed in an Israeli raid on Rafah. Israeli forces demolished 22 houses in Rafah and Khan Yunis leaving dozens of Palestinian families homeless. Israeli forces raided homes and arrested Palestinian civilians. Israeli forces razed agricultural land in Gaza and demolished two homes in Jenin and Hebron as collective punishment. The construction of the separation wall in the West Bank continued. Israeli forces shelled three schools in Rafah, wounding a teacher and a student. The comprehensive closure on the West Bank and Gaza Strip remained enforced.