Intellectual Resistance and the Struggle for Palestine

Intellectual Resistance and the Struggle for Palestine looks at the Question of Palestine as a site of controversy, a place of physical and intellectual repression as well as physical and intellectual resistance, a memory not to be forgotten, and a topos for thinking about liberation and empowerment. By examining the intellectual example of the late Edward Said in his advocacy for Palestinian self-determination, who emerged out of the tradition of the New York Intellectuals, Abraham explores Said's resistance as a Palestinian intellectual to the discourse of Zionism within the United States. In addition to Said's intellectual resistance, Intellectual Resistance and the Struggle for Palestine looks at the most extreme forms of Palestinian physical resistance against Israeli occupation (suicide bombing), arguing that it constitutes a form of biopolitical intervention to advance communal memory and goals, although it is most frequently dismissed in the West as a nihilistic act with no connection to politics. By bringing together intellectual interventions such as Said's together with the most violent form of resistance on the ground, Abraham posits that the Question of Palestine is an issue that cannot be ignored as it intrudes into daily life, domestic debates, and foreign policy considerations.

Matthew Abraham is Associate Professor of English at the University of Arizona, USA. He is the co-editor of The Making of Barack Obama: The Politics of Persuasion (2013) and the special issue of Cultural Critique on 'Edward Said and After: Toward a New Humanism' (2007). Abraham was presented with the Rachel Corrie Courage in the Teaching of Writing Award in 2005 by The Special Interest Groups and Caucuses of the Conference on College Composition and Communication.