Rashid Ismail Khalidi, is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and was educated at the UN International School as a child.
He was involved in the fighting in Lebanon and spoke out in favor of the PLO’s cause. Returning to America, Khalidi spent two years teaching at Columbia University before joining the faculty of the University of Chicago in 1987 where he spent eight years as a professor and director of both the Center for Middle Eastern Studies and the Center for International Studies at the University of Chicago. In 2003 he joined the faculty of Columbia University, where he currently serves as Professor of Modern Arab Studies. Regarding a dinner in his honor the LA Times wrote “ It was a celebration of Palestinian culture -- a night of music, dancing and a dash of politics. Local Arab Americans were bidding farewell to Rashid Khalidi, an internationally known scholar, critic of Israel and advocate for Palestinian rights, who was leaving town for a job in New York. A special tribute came from Khalidi's friend and frequent dinner companion, the young state Sen. Barack Obama. Speaking to the crowd, Obama reminisced about meals prepared by Khalidi's wife, Mona, and conversations that had challenged his thinking”
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