Rashid Khalidi: “We Are Seeing a Horrifying Attempt to Shut Down Speech Around Palestine”
Palestinian-American historian Rashid Khalidi spoke to Jacobin about the horrific human cost of Israel’s war on Gaza, the growing protests in solidarity with Palestinians, and the effort by Israel’s supporters to shut down free discussion.
Thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters march by the Washington Monument during a demonstration calling for a cease-fire in Gaza on October 21, 2023, in Washington, DC. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)
Rashid Khalidi is one of the leading historians of modern Palestine. He spoke to Jacobin on October 30 about the human cost of Israel’s war on Gaza so far, the wider regional context in which events are unfolding, and what is likely to happen next. He also discussed the growing protests in solidarity with the Palestinian people that have been organized in the United States and Europe as well as the McCarthyite efforts by Israel’s supporters to shut down free discussion about Palestine. This is an edited transcript from Jacobin Radio’s Long Reads podcast. You can listen to the interview here.
Daniel Finn
What has been the material impact so far of the Israeli offensive on the people of Gaza, along with the parallel developments unfolding in the West Bank?
Rashid Khalidi
We’re hampered by the information blackout that Israel has imposed on the Gaza Strip. They haven’t allowed journalists in, and they’ve halted electricity supplies and fuel shipments. Some of the journalists who were there have been killed by Israeli bombardment and those who are still alive are very much hampered in their reporting. We have much less information than we should have about what’s happening.
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