Overview

An acclaimed economist and lifelong Palestinian nationalist Yusif Sayigh (1916-2004) came of age at a time of immense political change in the Middle East. Born in al-Bassa, near Acre in northern Palestine, he was witness to the events that led to the loss of Palestine and his memoir therefore constitutes a vivid social history of the region, as well as a revealing firsthand account of the Palestinian national movement almost from its earliest inception. Family and everyday life, co-villagers, landscapes, pleasures, outings, schooling, and political figures recreate the vanished world of Sayigh's formative years in the Levant. An activist in Palestine, he was taken prisoner of war by the Israelis in 1948. Later, as an economist, he wrote extensively on Arab oil, economic development, and manpower, teaching for many years at the American University of Beirut and taking early retirement in 1974 to work as a consultant for a number of pan-Arab and international organizations. A single chapter on Palestinian politics provides insights into his later activist work and experiences of working as a consultant with the Palestine Liberation Organization to produce an economic plan for an eventual Palestinian state.This fascinating memoir by a pioneer and major figure of the Palestinian national movement is a welcome addition to the growing literature on Palestinian life during the first half of the twentieth century as well as an account of some of the most pressing political and economic issues to have faced the Arab world for the better part of the twentieth century.

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9789774166716

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Reviews

"""[Yusif Sayigh: Arab Economist, Palestinian Patriot] is ... a privileged read. You'll be glad to feel that you've known him.""--Middle East Eye; ""Yusif's memoir is not only a labour of love but also a window on the history of this region."" Michael Jansen, The Gulf Today; ""Throughout the book, [Sayigh] managed to preserve Yusif's distinctive voice, his conversational asides, and even his tone of bitter disappointment when Arab, particularly Palestinian, leaders who were in great need of advice and strategic planning ignored his suggestions and efforts."" Michael Jansen, The Jordan Times; ""His memoir stands as a precious example of a life that successfully combined professional brilliance with political and moral convictions. It is also a document of everyday life in the early 1900s and a bird's-eye view of the famous and not so famous people and events that constitute contemporary Palestinian history."" Sally Bland, Jordan Times;"

[Yusif Sayigh: Arab Economist, Palestinian Patriot] is . . . a privileged read. You'll be glad to feel that you've known him. --Middle East Eye

Author Information

Rosemary Sayigh, the wife of Yusif Sayigh, is an oral historian and anthropologist and the author of Palestinians: From Peasants to Revolutionaries, Too Many Enemies: The Palestinian Experience in Lebanon, and Voices: Palestinian Women Narrate Displacement. She is a currently visiting professor at the Center for Arab and Middle Eastern Studies at the American University of Beirut.

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