Laila Parsons

Laila Parsons is a Professor in the Department of History at McGill University, affiliated with the Institute of Islamic Studies. She specializes in 20th-century Middle Eastern history, focusing on conflict dynamics, biographical studies, and colonial governance. Her research challenges conventional narratives of key historical events such as the Palestinian refugee crisis and Arab-Israeli conflicts.

Education: DPhil in History from the University of Oxford (1996).

Research interests include Arab nationalism, Ottoman military history, and the role of biographical narratives in historiography. Her current project examines Palestinian participation in British Mandate-era commissions, analyzing procedural frameworks and colonial governance strategies.

Publications include The Druze between Palestine and Israel (2000) and The Commander: Fawzi al-Qawuqji (2016), which recontextualizes transnational Arab nationalist movements. She has contributed to debates on war origins and refugee displacement through articles like 'The Druze and the Birth of Israel' (2001).