Walid Khalidi was born in Jerusalem in 1925 into a family that has lived in Jerusalem since the eleventh century and has produced a line of respected scholars and judges. After the family was forced to leave their home in Jerusalem in 1948, they settled in Lebanon.

Dr. Khalidi received his BA from the University of London and his Master of Literature from Oxford University. He taught at the Faculty of Oriental Studies at Oxford University until he resigned in protest over the British involvement in the invasion of Egypt to retain control of the Suez Canal. Dr. Khalidi then took up a position at the American University of Beirut, where he remained until 1982. Subsequently, he became a research fellow at the Harvard Center for International Affairs, also teaching at Princeton University. Dr. Khalidi is a co-founder of the Royal Scientific Society of Amman, a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and influential in scholarship, institutional development, and diplomacy.

 

In 1963, Dr. Khalidi co-founded the Institute for Palestine Studies and remained its secretary until 2017. This is the foremost academic institute dealing with Palestinian affairs. It has published hundreds of books in English and Arabic on Palestine as well two highly respected English and Arabic journals. He has published many books, including From Haven to Conquest and Before Their Diaspora.