In brief: Dr. Hisham Khatib was a well-known Jordanian politician and civil servant who owned an extensive collection of Middle Eastern art and artifacts from the 18th and 19th centuries. In 2015, Dr. Khatib paid Max Scott to publish a book on his collection but soon found himself struggling to get Max Scott to adhere to even basic commitments under their contract, including reporting sales figures and paying royalties. 

The story as relayed by Dr. Khatib's family:

Dr. Hisham Khatib was a well-known Jordanian politician and civil servant. He was the first Minister of Power and Mineral Resources in Jordan and Chairman of the Power Commission. During his later years, he served as a member of the Jordanian Senate. Dr. Khatib was a philanthropist of the arts and heritage, supporting many local and international organizations, including Darat al Funun, Tiraz Centre and the Palestine Exploration Fund.

Being of Palestinian origin and having spent much of his youth in Jerusalem, he developed a passion for the art and history of Palestine and the Holy Land, particularly of the 18th and 19th-centuries. Over 60 years, he personally collected an extensive collection of art from all over the Middle East and North Africa, especially Jerusalem, containing a variety of books, manuscripts, maps, photographs, paintings, Qurans and many other items.

Dr. Khatib wrote seven books based on his collection. For his third book “Jerusalem, Palestine and Jordan”, which he wrote in 2015, Dr. Khatib chose Max Scott of Gilgamesh Publishing at the time to publish it and paid him a large sum of money towards its production and printing.

Sadly Mr. Khatib’s had a bad experience publishing with Max Scott and was not paid the royalties due to him. In his emails to colleagues at the time Dr. Khatib described Max Scott as “a deceitful man… who was totally ignoring his commitments under the contract, even basic commitments like reporting sales figures, let alone paying his dues. This gives the worst publicity to the name of British publishers.”

Dr. Khatib sought to lodge formal complaints against Max Scott in the UK but wanted to avoid lengthy and expensive court action.

He passed away in 2022.

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Please refer to previous updates on the petition, see below, for details of other reports of publishing misconduct by Max Scott or visit the Defend Middle East Authors’ Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61569955141326