Arab College (Jerusalem)

Among the educational institutions introduced under British rule in Palestine was the Government Arab College in Jerusalem. Initially, the chief role of the Arab College was to train teachers for the new primary schools opening around the country.{{Cite web |title=Nicola Ziadeh - Scholars and Historians (1907 - 2006) |url=https://www.palquest.org/en/biography/16106/nicola-ziadeh |access-date=2024-11-18 |website=Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question – palquest |language=en}}{{cite book|title=Arab Jerusalem: Explorations in community mental health|last=Caplan|first=Gerald|year=1980|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-04315-2|page=[https://archive.org/details/arabjewinjerusal00capl/page/179 179]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/arabjewinjerusal00capl/page/179}} For that reason, it was sometimes referred to as a teachers' training college.

For a time its principal was Ahmad Samih Khalidi, father of Walid Khalidi and Tarif Khalidi.{{cite book|title=Hasib Sabbagh: From Palestinian refugee to citizen of the world | editor-last=Deeb | editor-first=Mary-Jane | editor-link=Mary-Jane Deeb | editor-first2=Mary E. | editor-last2= King | editor2-link=Mary King (political scientist) | year=1996 | publisher=Middle East Institute | isbn=978-0-916808-43-3 | page=33}} It used to be located at Bab al-Zahirah (Herod's Gate) in Jerusalem.Khalidi, Walid. Before Their Diaspora : A Photographic History of the Palestinians, 1876-1948. Washington, D.C.: Institute for Palestine Studies, 1991, 172–3. Later it moved to Jabal al-Mukabbir, south of Jerusalem. The college badge was a falcon clutching an ink-horn.

Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi described the college as "the highest Palestinian educational institution in the country." It was distinguished for its stringent admissions requirements and equal emphasis on Islamic-Arab heritage and Western classical and liberal traditions. He writes that the end of the Mandate, it was a university-level college; whose graduates qualified for London University's B.A. degree. Many were sent on scholarship to the United Kingdom." After the school closed, the buildings were used as UN headquarters. {{Citation needed|date=November 2024}}

A common practice was for students to visit a nearby orchard during free time, in which to study. It provided a quiet atmosphere, optimal for the rigorous curriculum. According to former graduate Sadiq Ibrahim ‘Odeh, “We grew and the trees grew with us, and now we don‘t know what has happened to them. Many must have grown old and tired and died just like those Arab college students who loved them and sat underneath them.”{{cite web |title=The Arab College in Jerusalem, 1918-1948: Recollections |url=https://www.palestine-studies.org/en/node/78129 |website=Institute for Palestine Studies |access-date=5 April 2024 |language=en}}

{{alumni|date=April 2021}}

• Ihsan Abbas{{Cite web |title=Ihsan Abbas - Writers and Novelists (1920 - 2003) |url=https://www.palquest.org/en/biography/14251/ihsan-abbas |access-date=2024-11-18 |website=Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question – palquest |language=en}}
• Haidar Abdel-Shafi{{Cite web |title=Haydar Abd al-Shafi - Politicians (1919 - 2007) |url=https://www.palquest.org/en/biography/14593/haydar-abd-al-shafi |access-date=2024-11-18 |website=Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question – palquest |language=en}}
• Abd el-Aziz el-Zoubi
• Halil-Salim Jabara
• Ismail Khalidi
• Salem Hanna Khamis
• Abdullah Rimawi
• Hasib Sabbagh
• Jabra Ibrahim Jabra
• Nicola Ziadeh{{Cite web |title=Nicola Ziadeh - Scholars and Historians (1907 - 2006) |url=https://www.palquest.org/en/biography/16106/nicola-ziadeh |access-date=2024-11-18 |website=Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question – palquest |language=en}} (who later returned to join the teaching faculty)
• Anwar Nuseibeh{{Cite web |title=Anwar Nuseibeh - Political Leaders (1913 - 1986) |url=https://www.palquest.org/en/biography/16034/anwar-nuseibeh |access-date=2024-11-18 |website=Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question – palquest |language=en}}
• Hanna Abu-Hanna{{Cite web |title=Hanna Abu Hanna - Writers and Novelists (1928 - 2022) |url=https://www.palquest.org/en/biography/14214/hanna-abu-hanna |access-date=2024-11-18 |website=Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question – palquest |language=en}}

{{reflist}}

Category:Defunct schools in Palestine

Category:Mandatory Palestine

Category:History of Palestine (region)

Category:Educational institutions established in 1918

Category:Educational institutions disestablished in 1948

Category:1918 establishments in British-administered Palestine

Category:Organizations based in Mandatory Palestine

Category:1948 disestablishments in the West Bank Governorate

Category:Defunct secondary schools

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