Dr. Abdul Latif Tibawi was a Palestinian

Palestinian people

The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...

 historian and educationalist. Born in Taybet El-Muthalath, near TulKarem, he was one of the earliest graduates of the Arabic College, Dar Al-Mu’allimin, in Jerusalem. He read history and Arabic literature

Arabic literature

Arabic literature is the writing produced, both prose and poetry, by writers in the Arabic language. The Arabic word used for literature is adab which is derived from a meaning of etiquette, and implies politeness, culture and enrichment....

 at the American University of Beirut

American University of Beirut

The American University of Beirut is a private, independent university in Beirut, Lebanon. It was founded as the Syrian Protestant College by American missionaries in 1866...

 and later earned a Ph.D from the University of London

University of London

-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...

 in 1948. Prior to the catastrophe of 1948

1948 Palestinian exodus

The 1948 Palestinian exodus , also known as the Nakba , occurred when approximately 711,000 to 725,000 Palestinian Arabs left, fled or were expelled from their homes, during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and the Civil War that preceded it. The exact number of refugees is a matter of dispute...

 he was a senior education officer in Jerusalem. He was in London when the crisis of 1948 unfolded. He became a refugee

Palestinian refugee

Palestinian refugees or Palestine refugees are the people and their descendants, predominantly Palestinian Arabic-speakers, who fled or were expelled from their homes during and after the 1948 Palestine War, within that part of the British Mandate of Palestine, that after that war became the...

 and was appointed Lecturer in Comparative Education at the Institute of Education

Institute of Education

The Institute of Education is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom specialised in postgraduate study and research in the field of education and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It is the largest education research body in the United Kingdom, with...

, London, where he taught until his retirement in 1977. Tibawi wrote extensively on many aspects of Middle Eastern history in both English and Arabic

Arabic language

Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...

.

He established a fund for Palestinian postgraduate students at the School of Oriental and African Studies

School of Oriental and African Studies

The School of Oriental and African Studies is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the University of London...

.

Select bibliography

• Arab Education In Mandatory Palestine, Luzac, 1956
• Jerusalem; Its Place in Islam and Arab History, Institute for Palestinian Studies, 1969
• British Interests In Palestine, 1800-1901, Oxford University Press, 1961
• Anglo-Arab Relations and The Question of Palestine, 1914-1921; Luzac, 1977
• A Modern History of Syria, Including Lebanon and Palestine, Macmillan, St Martin's P., 1969
• American interests In Syria, 1800-1901, Clarendon Press, 1966
• Islamic Education: Its Traditions and Modernization into the Arab National Systems, Luzac, 1972
• The Islamic Pious Foundations in Jerusalem: Origins, History and Usurpation by Israel, London, 1978