Edward Said’s Orientalism: The Most Influential Study on Cultural and Political Conflict (Video)

Edward Said, a scholar who reshaped academic thought in the Arab world, was born in Jerusalem, raised in Egypt, and educated in the United States, studying at Princeton, Harvard, and Columbia Universities. For much of his early life, he remained uninvolved in the political and military conflicts of the Middle East.

Everything changed in 1967, with the outbreak of the Israeli Six-Day War.

“The world I understood, the world I knew, changed completely at that moment.”

Witnessing the territorial losses and worsening conditions of his people, Said, who had previously been detached from political activism—became a leading voice in advocating for Palestinian self-determination.

“This is inhuman, and you know it. You are taking away the land and the home of these poor people. Don’t you feel it?”

Initially, Said aligned with Yasser Arafat in supporting the two-state solution. However, by 1994, while the world saw the historic Oslo Accords as a step toward peace, Said foresaw deeper issues. He criticized Arafat’s decisions, warning that his approach was flawed.

“Arafat went into the Oslo agreement alone. He isolated himself and made serious mistakes. Since the Gulf War, his ratings had already been low, and he was facing financial difficulties.”

By this time, Said had become a vocal critic of Arafat, advocating for a “one-state” solution and emphasizing that Palestinians could not secure peace through concessions alone.

“I believe he agreed to this deal simply to save himself.”

Two decades after Said’s passing, his warnings and analyses remain more relevant than ever, continuing to shape discussions on power, colonialism, and representation.