Sunday Times Literary Awards, 2024 (Long-listed) Decolonizing the Palestinian Mind is a sharp critique of the Oslo surrender, the Israeli apartheid system established in the name of a two-state solution, and the tokenization of Palestinian struggle and emancipation. It calls for a radical change in consciousness in a new period of unprecedented pressure on Palestinian culture, identity, and futures. Drawing on the works of Edward Said, Ghassan Kanafani, Paolo Freire, Rosa Luxemburg, and Antonio Gramsci, Haidar Eid provides an in-depth look at how alternative political programs and struggles can offer prospects for a just peace. Afterword by Victoria Brittain What People Are Saying “This insightful book is a call to action for freedom that envisions the decolonization and liberation of Palestine. Written by a Palestinian refugee from Zarnouqa living in Gaza, and published during a genocide, this book shows how the two-state ‘solution’ has perpetuated colonization and the apartheid system. Haidar Eid redefines Palestinian anti-colonial resistance by evoking the South Africa model, urging us to use this historical precedent to learn lessons about the real meaning of equal rights and coexistence.” Dr. Nadia Naser-Najjab, senior lecturer, European Centre for Palestine Studies-Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter “Largely written before the genocide, Eid’s trenchant critique of the status quo ante, a vindication of Edward Said’s exposé of the Oslo Accords, remains pertinent. In the same way the Oslo Accords were imposed on Palestinians after the incredibly courageous and creative First Intifada, this concise book should be read as a warning of what a two-state dénouement will portend—a perpetuation of an apartheid system replete with Bantustans. Palestinians, who have been subjected to depraved crimes and unspeakable horror, deserve better.” Salim Vally, professor, University of Johannesburg “In this brilliantly articulated argument Haidar Eid—a courageous Gazan activist and revolutionary scholar—strides proudly in the footsteps of Edward Said and makes clear the relevance of the South African analogy. This book is an impassioned call for breaking down the constraints of the Oslo surrender—a strategy imposed from above that has led to a dead end and worse. It is said that dynamite comes in small packages. This book offers ideas that will make the earth shift within historic Palestine, the Middle East, and beyond. As was the case in the settler colonialism of apartheid South Africa, such an outcome is only a matter of time.” Ronnie Kasrils, former South African liberation fighter, government minister, and writer “Decolonizing the Palestinian Mind is a powerful critique of the Oslo Accords and an inspiring call for the way forward. This critical text is an essential read so that mistakes already made are not repeated, and so that lessons are learnt from South Africa, Haidar Eid’s other home.” Zukiswa Wanner, author of Black Pimpernel: Nelson Mandela on the Run “This book is a significant contribution to the ongoing endeavour of a growing number of Palestinian intellectuals and activists to reconstruct the Palestinian liberation project based on full decolonization and to reshape the pathway to liberation from Zionist colonization. While Dr. Haidar Eid writes from inside the barbaric siege of Gaza and in the shadow of the horrific Zionist-Western genocidal war, he does not give up his humane vision premised on universal values. His determination provides hope and inspiration to present and future generations to fight for freedom and a better world.” Awad Abdelfattah, political writer and coordinator of the One Democratic State Campaign in historic Palestine “Words can seem meaningless when the Palestinian people face total destruction. But through them we can find solace and, more importantly, a way forward, a light. Haidar Eid’s book is just that: a way to understand, to put things into context, and, crucially, to understand that the journey to freedom will be a long, tortuous, and exhilarating one.” Frank Barat, film producer and journalist About the Author Haidar Eid is an associate professor of postcolonial and postmodern literature at Al-Aqsa University in Gaza, Palestine and a research associate at the Centre for Asian Studies at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. He is a policy advisor with Al-Shabaka, the Palestinian Policy Network, on the advisory board of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), and a member of the Board of Directors of BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights. He is the author of Worlding Postmodernism: Interpretive Possibilities of Critical Theory, Countering the Palestinian Nakba: One State for All, and Decolonizing the Palestinian Mind. Table of Contents October 31, 2023 Prologue One: Even Ghosts Weep in Gaza October 26, 2023 Prologue Two: Audio Files from Gaza, Palestine Introduction Chapter 1 The Oslo Accords: A Critique Chapter 2 Israel as an Apartheid State Chapter 3 Edward Said’s Spectre and the End of the Two-State Solution Chapter 4 The Crisis of Palestinian Representation Chapter 5 Solidarity with Anti-Apartheid Resistance in Post-Oslo Palestine Conclusion An Alternative Vision Afterword by Victoria Brittain Notes
