Arab College (Jerusalem)



The Arab College in Jerusalem was a secondary school in British Mandatory Palestine. The Arab College existed from 1918 until 1948, when it was swept away during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. The British administration began an education system in the former Ottoman lands which consisted of primary schools in the largest towns and a boarding secondary school, the Government Arab College, in Jerusalem. Initially, the chief role of the Arab College was to train teachers for the primary schools, which were gradually being added to smaller towns and villages. For a time its principal was Ahmad Samih Khalidi, father of Walid Khalidi and Tarif Khalidi.

After the school was disbanded, the buildings were converted and used UN headquarters for a short time for a few years after the war.

A common practice was for students to visit a nearby orchard during free time, in which to study. It provided a quiet atmosphere, opimal 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.”

Alumni

 * Ihsan Abbas
 * Haidar Abdel-Shafi
 * Abd el-Aziz el-Zoubi
 * Halil-Salim Jabara
 * Ismail Khalidi
 * Salem Hanna Khamis
 * Abdullah Rimawi
 * Hasib Sabbagh