Je activist

From a family of Palestinian Christians

Raised Protestant but then became an agnostic in his later years

Professor of literature at Columbia University, he was among the founders of post-colonial studies

Best known for his book Orientalism (1978), a foundational text which critiques the cultural representations that are the bases of Orientalism—how the Western world perceives the Orient

His model of textual analysis transformed the academic discourse of researchers in literary theory, literary criticism, and Middle Eastern studies

As a public intellectual, he was a member of the Palestinian National Council supporting a two-state solution that incorporated the Palestinian right of return, before resigning in 1993 due to his criticism of the Oslo Accords

Advocated for the establishment of a Palestinian state to ensure political and humanitarian equality in the Israeli-occupied territories, where Palestinians have witnessed the increased expansion of Israeli settlements

However, in 1999, he argued that sustainable peace was only possible with one Israeli–Palestinian state