Overview

For thousands of years, Palestine and the Eastern Mediterranean have been subject to constant colonial interference, which has disenfranchised the indigenous population from their own history. Basem L. Ra'ad uncovers this history and begins the process of reconnecting it with its rightful owners. Orientalist ideologies, colonial projects and Zionist cultural takeovers have contributed profoundly to the revisionism of Palestine's history. Drawing upon research in archaeology, linguistics and history, Ra'ad dispels many of the myths relating to religions, languages, peoples and sites. What emerges from this recovery is the presence of native people, a forgotten, submerged and subaltern, who stubbornly endure, from ancient Canaan to contemporary Palestine. Demanding that we 'unlearn' whitewashed, colonial histories, Hidden History is a process of recovery, de-colonization, revision and inclusivity.

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9780745328300

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Reviews

Basem Ra'ad's book is right on the mark. ... [He explains how scholars] have created a politically tendentious history of Palestine, which has effectively marginalised every alternative history, and which has supported an intensifying effort to displace modern Palestinians from their cultural roots. -- Thomas L. Thompson, Professor emeritus, University of Copenhagen A courageous foray into one of the most fraught terrains of history. ... Those who seek to arrive at any understanding of one of the world's most misunderstood regions would do well to read [this] closely. -- Djelal Kadir, The Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Comparative Literature, Pennsylvania State University Basem Ra'ad draws upon the latest research in archaeology, linguistics and history to expose how Palestine's past has been appropriated for orientalist and colonialist purposes. ... This is a brilliant tour-de-force of recovery, de-colonization, revision and inclusivity. -- Hilton Obenzinger A sane careful book that seeks to restore the history of the Eastern Mediterranean from an interested sociology of knowledge. This is a study in deep time, wide space. Particularly moving is the discussion of Palestinian epistemological self-colonization, a regrettable result of the appropriation of history. An anthropology of the present. -- Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Professor of Humanities, Columbia University

A thoughtful, engaging, and original book, it is perhaps the first corrective history of Palestine, its people, its region, and its culture -- Naseer Aruri, Chancellor Professor (Emeritus) of Political Science, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth <br> Hidden Histories is a brilliant tour de force of recovery, decolonization, re-vision, and inclusivity -- Hilton Obenzinger, Stanford University <br> Those who seek any understanding of a most misunderstood region should read carefully Ra'ad's meticulous retracing of its overwrought human record -- Djelal Kadir, Pennsylvania State University<br> A study in deep time, wide space.... an anthropology of the present -- Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Columbia University<br>

A sane careful book that seeks to restore the history of the Eastern Mediterranean from an interested sociology of knowledge. This is a study in deep time, wide space. Particularly moving is the discussion of Palestinian epistemological self-colonization, a regrettable result of the appropriation of history. An anthropology of the present. -- Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Professor of Humanities, Columbia University Basem Ra'ad draws upon the latest research in archaeology, linguistics and history to expose how Palestine's past has been appropriated for orientalist and colonialist purposes. ... This is a brilliant tour-de-force of recovery, de-colonization, revision and inclusivity. -- Hilton Obenzinger A courageous foray into one of the most fraught terrains of history. ... Those who seek to arrive at any understanding of one of the world's most misunderstood regions would do well to read [this] closely. -- Djelal Kadir, The Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Comparative Literature, Pennsylvania State University Basem Ra'ad's book is right on the mark. ... [He explains how scholars] have created a politically tendentious history of Palestine, which has effectively marginalised every alternative history, and which has supported an intensifying effort to displace modern Palestinians from their cultural roots. -- Thomas L. Thompson, Professor emeritus, University of Copenhagen

Author Information

Basem L. Ra'ad is a Professor at Al-Quds University, Jerusalem. He is the author of Palestine and the Eastern Mediterranean (Pluto, 2010). He has been an editor and community organiser, and taught in various countries, including Canada, Bahrain and Lebanon.

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