Khalidi was born in Beirut, Lebanon in 1982 in the wake of the Israeli invasion but grew up primarily in Chicago, Illinois. He is the son of Rashid Khalidi and Mona Khalidi and the grandson of Ismail Khalidi. Khalidi received his B.A. from Macalester College in 2005 and his M.F.A. in Dramatic Writing from Tisch School of the Arts, New York University in 2009. Khalidi's MFA thesis play is titled, "Final Status."