Palestine and India at the Dawn of Decolonization | Esmat Elhalaby

E580 | How did Palestine become central to anti-imperial movements and thought in the global south? In this episode, Esmat Elhalaby asks how Arabs and South Asians contended with the “parting gifts of empire” in the long twentieth century, often by turning to Palestine. He talks about how Arab writers in conversation with India reinvented Orientalism as a critique of empire and reinterpreted the political possibilities and limitations of Islam as a political force. We close with a discussion of Esmat’s new work on the intellectual history of Gaza, the importance of talking about “bad Palestinians,” and what it means to write history at a time of genocide. More at https://www.ottomanhistorypodcast.com/2026/02/elhalaby.html Esmat Elhalaby is an Assistant Professor of Transnational History at the University of Toronto. His first book, Parting Gifts of Empire: Palestine and India at the Dawn of Decolonization was published by the University of California Press in 2025. Susanna Ferguson is Assistant Professor of Middle East Studies at Smith College. She writes and teaches on the history of gender, sexuality, and political thought in the modern Arab world. CREDITS Episode No. 580 Release Date: 11 February 2026 Sound production by Susanna Ferguson and Chris Gratien Special thanks to Nada Moumtaz Music: Blue Dot Sessions Bibliography courtesy of Esmat Elhalaby at https://www.ottomanhistorypodcast.com/2026/02/elhalaby.html